24971: Wilcken: (announce) MASTER ARTISTS FROM HAITI HOLD DRUM AND DANCE CLASSES IN BROOKLYN (fwd)

[Bob Corbett <corbetre@webster.edu>]

From: Lois E Wilcken <makandal-ny@juno.com>

For immediate release

Contact:  Lois Wilcken, 718-953-6638, makandal-ny@juno.com

MASTER ARTISTS FROM HAITI HOLD DRUM AND DANCE CLASSES IN BROOKLYN

La Troupe Makandal, New York's Center for Haitian Drum and Dance,
announces classes in Afro-Haitian drum and dance with Frisner Augustin
and Pierre Desrameaux on Tuesdays from 6 to 8  pm at One World/De-Carib
in Brooklyn.  Classes begin May 10.

People with a passion for Afro-Caribbean performing arts will find two
compelling reasons to take this class.  First, it utilizes a traditional,
holistic approach that combines sound and movement.  The instructors
devote the first 45 minutes to drumming, percussion, and song and the
balance of the class to dance.  This method recognizes the intimate
connection between music and movement, and the power of one to reinforce
the other.  Second, the instructors stand out among their colleagues for
the breadth and authenticity of their repertory.  Besides the
Afro-Haitian dances commonly seen on today's stages, they offer mazòn,
batonis, maskawon, chay o pye, kita, boumba, koy, wangòl, and others that
have been fast disappearing.  Students will enlarge their repertory of
Afro-Caribbean dances.

Master Drummer Augustin is Artistic Director of La Troupe Makandal.  In
1999 the National Endowment for the Arts honored him with its
distinguished Heritage Fellowship.  Mr. Augustin has been teaching more
than 30 years, and he has recorded for jazz artist Kip Hanrahan and
filmmaker Jonathan Demme, among others.  Master Dancer Desrameaux is a
veteran dancer, instructor, and choreographer.  Born in Port-au-Prince,
Haiti, he worked with such notables as Lina Blanchet, Jean Léon Destiné,
and Vivian Gautier, and for such companies as the National Folkloric
Troupe.  Today, he divides his time between Port-au-Prince and New York.

Classes begin May 10.  They run from 6 to 8 pm at One World/De-Carib, 520
Nostrand Avenue, corner of Macon Street (enter on Macon Street).  The
location, one block north of the Nostrand/Fulton intersection, may be
reached from the A or C subways to Nostrand Avenue and the B25 or B44
buses to Fulton and Nostrand.  Instruments are provided, but you may
bring your own.  Fee: $10.

Classes are made possible, in part, by support from the New York State
Council on the Arts and the New York City Department of Cultural Affairs.

Further information: 718-953-6638 or makandal-ny@juno.com