Footworks Percussive Dance Ensemble, which recently celebrated its 25th anniversary, has been delighting audiences the world over with its bright, infectious programs of percussive dance and traditional bluegrass music. Featuring clogging from Southern Appalachia, stepdances from Ireland, England, and Canada, and hamboning, hoofin', and early jazz tap of the American South, Footworks next season will tour its signature work, "Incredible Feets" in 2008-09.The troupe, under the direction of artistic director, Eileen Carson, and musical director, Mark Schatz, features
six dancers and three musicians who play fiddle, banjo, bass, mandolin, and guitar. A favorite of the national and international festival circuit, the company has also performed at colleges and universities through the U.S. as well as in such venerated venues as the Kennedy Center, Lincoln Center, and the Glasgow Royal Concert Hall. The troupe has also appeared as guest artists in the London production of "Riverdance."In addition to performance, Footworks also offers a full range of residency activities for young people and adults that include lecture-demonstrations, one-hour programs, and workshops in traditional music and dance. A Study Guide for "Steps Around the World," the company's Arts-in-Education presentation, is also available as are lesson plans for teachers hosting a Footworks residency.
"They present beat-based folk dance as a continuum of good old-fashioned inventiveness and ingenuity. The vigor of the choreography and the eruptive joy of Footworks' dancers are as contagious as laughter. By the end of the evening, the group had the audience on its feet to produce some music of its own." - Washington Post
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