LaTasha Barnes (born 1981) is an American dancer, educator, coach, tradition-bearer, and cultural ambassador. She is the creator and director of The Jazz Continuum, an African roots-based performance encompassing Lindy Hop, house dance, locking, breaking, voguing, and jazz dance, which draws a direct line from the swing era to the present day. The show debuted at the Guggenheim in 2021, and continues to tour in the U.S.[1][2]

Barnes has received numerous awards for her work. In 2023, she received the Bessie Outstanding Creator/Choreographer Award for The Jazz Continuum. In 2021, she received a Bessie Award as an outstanding performer for her sustained achievement in dance, and that same year was named a “breakout star” by The New York Times. She has collaborated with Dorrance Dance, Timbre Arts Group in Singapore, Ephrat Asherie Dance, and Caleb Teicher, among others. Barnes is also Chair of the Board for Ladies of Hip Hop, Vice President of Marketing and Outreach for the International Lindy Hop Championships, and a board member of both the Black Lindy Hoppers and the Frankie Manning Foundation. Barnes currently teaches at Arizona State University in the Dept. of Film, Dance, and Theatre.[3][4]

Early Years

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Growing up in Richmond, Virginia with a dee-jay father, Barnes was exposed to music and dance at home and at family gatherings. She took classes during her elementary years, and later traded moves with her cousins and friends, who brought moves from New York and Washington, DC. After graduating from high school, she enlisted in the Army in 1998 and became a sergeant first class, serving in Belgium.[5] Two years later, she returned to the US, spent three more years in the Army, and was selected for an engineering position at the White House in 2004.[6] Meanwhile, Barnes was also participating in fitness competitions. During a competition, Barnes tore her gluteus muscle and needed a year to heal from the injury. Shortly after her year of rehab, Barnes was hit by a car, injuring her lower back, hip, and breaking her wrist. While coming back from these injuries, Barnes took a popping class and found that it was excellent for regaining her mobility. Her popping teacher recognized her outstanding skill and introduced her to Junious Brickhouse, founder of Urban Artistry company in Washington, DC. Barnes began studying house dance and in time joined the leadership team, which required proficiency in five different styles. In 2011, Barnes and her partner Toyin Sogunro placed first in a well-known dance battle at Juste Debout in Paris. She decided to give notice at her job and make dancing her career.[7]

Performing Career

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In the 2010s, Barnes became more interested in jazz dance and its African American origins, and particularly Lindy Hop, realizing it was connected to the house styles she had been doing. She quickly became an expert, and attended the International Lindy Hop Championships, where she earned praise for her dancing. At times, she mingled her house and jazz styles.[8] In 2013, she won the House Dance Internation 1x1 House Dance Battle in Queens, New York as well as the Juste Debout USA Championships/World Battle Pre-Selection, and the Level7 to Smoke: 1x7 House Battle in New York City. Many more awards followed each year of that decade. In 2016, she won a solo dance jazz competition at the Herräng Dance Camp in Sweden, and was a finalist in the Classic Lindy Hop Competition in Asheville, North Carolina. In 2017, her solo jazz team won first place at the Lindy Hop Championships in Washington, D.C.[9] Barnes continued placing in dance competitions and also developed her performing career outside the competition arena. One of the groups she created during this time period was HellaBlackLindyHop, which performed at the International Swing Dance Championships in Houston, Texas in 2018, and at Lincoln Center in New York City in 2019. Also in 2018, Barnes began a collaboration with Caleb Teicher & Friends, which eventually resulted in the show “Swing Out,” touring the U.S. This show, rooted in African American dance from the late 1800 and early 1900s, is a mix of tap and vernacular jazz (e.g. the cakewalk, the Charleston, the Black Bottom and the Lindy Hop). Company members dance to a live, onstage band playing tunes from the swing era. Barnes’ triple roles with the company include co-choreographer, researcher, and performer.[10]

Education

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Barnes received an Associate’s Degree in Fine Arts (cum laude) from Northern Virginia Community College in 2005, and later in 2014 a BS in Business Management & Entrepreneurship (cum laude) from DeVry University in Arlington, VA. She received her MA in Ethnochronlogy, Black Studies, and Performance Studies in 2019 at New York University, Gallatin. She is also certified as a Personal Trainer through the National Academy of Sports Medicine.{Barnes, LaTasha. (2022). Curriculum Vitae.</ref>

Educator and Cultural Ambassador

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While Barnes continues to perform with many different people in a variety of venues, she is also a “carrier of traditions” who educates others about the role of African Americans in developing African diasporic dance forms including hip hop, swing dance, and jazz dance.[11] Barnes is a member of organizations that “strive to give Black dancers greater representation and more access to education and resources.” These groups are the Frankie Manning Foundation, HellaBlackLindyHop, and the Black Lindy Hoppers Fund.[12] Beginning in 2009, Barnes began cultural exchanges with dancers in other countries. In 2009, she attended Jam On It 10 in Sofia, Bulgaria; in 2011, she was part of the US Dept. of State Eastern Caribbean Exchange in St. Vincent, St. Lucia, and Barbados. In 2016, she was the Frankie Manning Foundation Scholar to Herräng Dance Camp, Herräng, Sweden; she was a Singapore Artist in residence at Timbre, Arts House & 10 Orchard Central in 2017. She served as a guest artist at the Boogaloo Jazz & Blues Festival in Shanghai, China in 2018, and at the Mother City Hop Jazz Festival, in Cape Town, South Africa in 2019.[13] In addition to her work abroad, she has taught workshops, judged competitions, given lectures, and served as a consultant throughout the U.S. A small sample of these credits follows. In 2019, she taught jazz and Lindy Hop classes in Hebron, New Hampshire as well as at the Ladies of Hip-Hop Festival in New York City. She also served as a judge for the International Lindy Hop Championships and for a Hip-Hop weekend in Malmo Sweden, and the Atlantic Swing Festival in Lisbon, Portugal. She has also lectured on House Dance for “Get Empowered” in Brooklyn, New York, as well as on jazz dance for Amherst College and the Five College Consortium. She has done script consulting for Documentary Arts, Inc. in New York City.[14] In 2017, Barnes began a self-designed master’s program in Ethnochoreology, Black Studies, and Performance Studies at New York University’s Gallatin School. Barnes interviewed Black dancers for her thesis, “The Absence of Blackness in African-American Social Dance: Cultural Surrogacy and Its Effects.”[15] Her thesis and research bridge the gap between “communities of practice and academic cultural dance research, performance, preservation, and pedagogy.”[16] In 2021, Barnes was hired as an Assistant Professor of Dance at the Arizona State University School of Music, Dance, and Theatre. She teaches several courses including all levels of Hip Hop; House dance; Authentic Jazz Dance; Dance in U.S. Popular Culture; Creative Practice, and others. In addition, she co-directs the yearly Sol Power Street Dance Festival in Tempe, Arizona.[17]

The Jazz Continuum

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All of her experiences as a performer as well as her academic work for her thesis have served as important precursors to her current show, The Jazz Continuum, an “ongoing project to close the gap between contemporary Black dances and their predecessors.”[18] Barnes’ performance is backed by her scholarly research into a variety of African diasporic forms, and also includes improvisation; Barnes calls it “an offering back to all those people that made us who we are.”[19] She also notes that it is not a traditional show with a sharp separation between the audience and the performers; the show is meant to represent dancing from social spaces including clubs, ballrooms, and parties, and includes “that deep improvisational spirit.[20] This performance has been touring the U.S. at venues including The Guggenheim Museum in New York, Jacob’s Pillow in Massachusetts, The Kennedy Center in Washington, D.C., the University of Michigan, and Columbia College in Chicago.[21]

References

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  1. ^ Burke, Siobhan. "LaTasha Barnes: Let The Circle of Influence Be Unbroken". New York Times. New York Times. Retrieved 2023-06-16.
  2. ^ Gantz, Jeffrey. "LaTasha Barnes's "The Jazz Continuum" Can't Stop Moving". The Boston Globe. The Boston Globe. Retrieved 2023-06-16.
  3. ^ Barnes, LaTasha. "About". LaTasha Barnes. LaTasha Barnes. Retrieved 2024-02-23.
  4. ^ Chaffee, Lacy. "ASU Faculty Member Wins 2021 Bessie Award". ASU News. Arizona State University. Retrieved 2024-03-22.
  5. ^ Wingenroth, Lauren. (2022). “LaTasha Barnes: Reclaiming Black Vernacular Dances, One Performance at a Time.” https://www.dancemagazine.com/latasha-barnes-cover-story. Dance Magazine. Retrieved 6-14-23. « Her dance training began at home—her father was a deejay, and movement flowed through all of the family’s gatherings…”; “Barnes took several years of dance classes in elementary school…[her most rigorous training] consisted of swapping moves with her cousins and friends, who brought steps from New York City and Washington, DC…”
  6. ^ Barnes, LaTasha. (2022). Curriculum Vitae.
  7. ^ Wingenroth, Lauren. (2022). “LaTasha Barnes: Reclaiming Black Vernacular Dances, One Performance at a Time.” https://www.dancemagazine.com/latasha-barnes-cover-story. Dance Magazine. Retrieved 6-14-23. “Back in the States two years later, Barnes was selected for an assignment at the White House. Meanwhile, she was entering fitness competitions…she suffered a tear in her left glute, which necessitated a year of recovery. Then, just as she was getting back into the gym, she was hit by a car and dislocated her hip, injured her low back and fractured her wrist…It was while in recovery from that set of injuries that Barnes took up formal dancing training again…’The popping was actually what I needed to regain mobility…’; …her teacher introduced her to Junious Brickhouse…founder of Urban Artistry company, based in the DC area. Barnes …[joined] the company’s leadership team—a position that required dancers to be proficient in at least five styles”; “In 2011, Barnes and her house partner Toyin Sogunro placed first at Juste Debut in Paris, one of the biggest battles in the world…just before leaving for Paris, she’d given notice at her job.”
  8. ^ Wingenroth, Lauren. (2022). “LaTasha Barnes: Reclaiming Black Vernacular Dances, One Performance at a Time.” https://www.dancemagazine.com/latasha-barnes-cover-story. Dance Magazine. Retrieved 6-14-23. “It was around this time that Barnes was becoming more interested in jazz dance—Lindy Hop in particular—and more aware of its origins as a Black art form…At the International Lindy Hop Championships…she won accolades for her dancing…[and] also reiterated to Barnes the need to bridge the communities of house and Lindy Hop…”
  9. ^ Barnes, LaTasha. (2022). Curriculum Vitae.
  10. ^ Mulgrew, Anne-Marie. (2023). Penn Live Arts, May 31. “Tap Wunderkind Caleb Teicher Brings Swing Out, A Lindy Hop Big Band Sensation. “Caleb Teicher & Company performs a mix of tap and vernacular jazz…” https://pennlivearts.org/blog/tap-wunderkind-caleb-teicher-brings-swng-out-a-lindy-hop-big-band-sensation. Accessed 3-13-24.
  11. ^ Hoyer, Sharon. (2024). “A Powerful Marriage of All the Things: LaTasha Barnes’ The Jazz Continuum Comes to Chicago.” https://www.newcitystage.com/2024/02/28/a-powerful-marriage-of-all-the-things-latasha-barness-the-jazz-continuum-comes-to-chicago/ NewCity Stage. Retrieved 3-11-24. “LaTasha Barnes refers to herself as a carrier of traditions.”
  12. ^ Siebert, Brian. (2021). “From the Lindy Hop to Hip-Hop in One Improvising Body.” https://www.nytimes.com/2021/05/12/arts/dance/LaTasha-Barnes-lindy-hop.html. New York Times, May 12. Retrieved 11/16/22.
  13. ^ Barnes, LaTasha. (2022). Curriculum Vitae.
  14. ^ Barnes, LaTasha. (2022) Curriculum Vitae.
  15. ^ Wingenroth, Lauren. (2022). “LaTasha Barnes: Reclaiming Black Vernacular Dances, One Performance at a Time.” https://www.dancemagazine.com/latasha-barnes-cover-story. Dance Magazine. Retrieved 6-14-23.
  16. ^ Munoz, Danielle. (2021). “Internationally Recognized Dancer Joins ASU’s School of Music, Dance, and Theatre.” School of Film, Dance, and Theatre website. https://news.asu.edu/20210607-internationally-recognized-dancer-joins-school-music-dance-and-theatre Retrieved 11-16-22. “Her thesis and continuing research are working to bridge the gap…”
  17. ^ Munoz, Danielle. (2021). “Internationally Recognized Dancer Joins ASU’s School of Music, Dance, and Theatre.” School of Film, Dance, and Theatre website. https://news.asu.edu/20210607-internationally-recognized-dancer-joins-school-music-dance-and-theatre Retrieved 11-16-22.
  18. ^ Hoyer, Sharon. (2024). “A Powerful Marriage of All the Things: LaTasha Barnes’ The Jazz Continuum Comes to Chicago.” https://www.newcitystage.com/2024/02/28/a-powerful-marriage-of-all-the-things-latasha-barness-the-jazz-continuum-comes-to-chicago/ NewCity Stage. Retrieved 3-11-24.
  19. ^ Thompson, Candice. (2023). “LaTasha Barnes looks for the roots linking Black dance styles.” https://andscape.com/features/latash-barnes-looks-for-the-roots-linking-black-dance-styles/Andscape, November 16. “…an offering that sublimates her scholarly research into a raucous celebration.”…“The Jazz Continuum varies from performance to performance, with the artists responding to the environment and each other.”…“It is an offering back to all those people that made us who we are.”
  20. ^ ”Hoyer, Sharon. (2024). “A Powerful Marriage of All the Things: LaTasha Barnes’ The Jazz Continuum Comes to Chicago.” https://www.newcitystage.com/2024/02/28/a-powerful-marriage-of-all-the-things-latasha-barness-the-jazz-continuum-comes-to-chicago/ NewCity Stage. Retrieved 3-11-24. “The Jazz Continuum is best not thought of as a conventional show…” “…invite that deep improvisational spirit…”
  21. ^ The Jazz Continuum website. (2024). “Upcoming”; Hoyer, Sharon. “A Powerful Marriage…” (2024). (see above). “…The Jazz Continuum comes to…Columbia College in March.”
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