Creation, Afro- Rhythm in progress

8 weeks and counting. I'm creating a show titled SOLE Defined for the Intersections Festival: A New America Arts Festival. I'm really putting my heart out on the stage with this show. Defining my Sole musically. There's not one genre of music that defines my sole as a tap dancer. No matter if its jazz, blues, latin jazz, house, reggae, it doesn't matter. My sole starts with the drum.

Creating this show has been a growing experience for me. Right now my company Just Tap is working on a Afro-Rhythm piece. The tap dance takes the rhythm of West African drums and plays it through the sole of the tap dancer. YES! This dance is going to be HOT! Have you ever heard an African drum orchestra. Aww man its amazing. you have no choice but to move your body when you hear it. When we do this dance my goal is to make the music a part of our entire body. Following out of every limb. So much so that the audience has no choice but to rock to it. Moving to the groove. Ha! Here's a little bit of what we have

To check it out come to see Just Tap, SOLE Defined on March 11th at 2pm, Intersections Festival. Get your tickets at www.intersectiondc.org

Hope to see you there.

Opportunities WOAH!

Over the past couple months my life has been buzzing with opportunities and I'm so excited to share with you. I am now officially a self published author. My first children's book "Lucky's Tap Dancing Feet" is now available for purchase through my website, www.quynnjohnson.com. This is such a dream come true. Since its arrival I have presenting Lucky at Dance Dimensions, Hunter Woods Elementary School, and Tapology Festival for Youth. The feedback has been amazing. next up, national book tour... hopefully.

I've recently returned from the Tapology Festival for Youth in Flint, Michigan. It feels good to share with the youth in Flint. This is the place where my dreams were first founded so coming back to encourage others to grab their dreams is always great. I must admit I was nervous about how my classes would turn out since I'm more known for Tap dancing at home, but I was blown away by how many people came took class.

Right after I got off the plane it was time to go into rehearsals with The Washington Ballet for their production "The Great Gatsby" at The Kennedy Center. Performing at The Kennedy Center has been a major goal of mine so an opportunity like this, I was all in. Opening night and my nerves are a mess. I'm all over the place emotionally, so scared I almost ran back home. One of the biggest moments of my life and I'm so nervous I could throw up. Imagine performing a solo in a female tuxedo complete with top hat, patent leather heel tap shoes, and white gloves. My solo took place on top of a raised platform (umm I'm afraid of heights). Once again I wanted to run back to the dressing room and lock the door. 7 shows later the crowd and company loves my performance and I can stop holding my breath.

I've spent most of my life preparing for these moments and opportunities so when they finally come, I had to be able to deliver. So what's up next? Creating a full length performance for the Kennedy Center Millennium Stage and Intersections Festival "A New America" 2012

What moments are you preparing for?

 

You are your brand

Today I had another meeting with the Ty Brooks Design Company. AMAZING! She knows her stuff. Normally as artist we try to think of things to help get our artistry out there and get noticed. We feel our way thru different things like creating a website or designing our own business cards and promotion material and really... it looks horrible.

I've learned to consult people who know what they're doing. Not those people that know a lil bit and do it as a side job, NO. I mean the one's that study it and are creative. I dig the Ty Brooks Design Company because she tells it straight and has an eye for funky creativity. Clap clap Bravo.

As artist we have to understand that we are our brand and what we put out in the universe and the world wide web represents us. So now my goal is to make sure I represent my brand each and everyday.

Well what does that mean Quynn?

It means that everything I wear has to fit who I am and what I represent. It means the way I present my self in this world must be true to me and my brand. I could go on, but no one wants to read it. Just know that YOU ARE YOUR BRAND and you should find someone to help you and your brand grow in the industry

Peru 2011

I was so grateful to have been invited to perform at the International Festival de Cajon in Lima, Peru and teach at the Nacional Escuela Superior de Folklore. The experience was amazing as usual. Collaborating with Ryan Johnson and Colectivo Palenke was amazing. We created 3 new authentic pieces just for the Peru tour.

The workshops with the school were the best ever. The students... so hungry to learn and explore the dances. Tap, stepping, body percussion, West African dance. They were all in and so were we. check out the photos.

Festival Nacional De Cajon Peruano
Photo by Milena Carranza Valcarcel

Festival Nacional De Cajon Peruano
Photo by Milena Carranza Valcarcel

Nacional Escuela Superior de Folklore
Photo by Milena Carranza Valcarcel

Nacional Escuela Superior de Folklore
Photo by Milena Carranza Valcarcel

Nacional Escuela Superior de Folklore
Photo by Milena Carranza Valcarcel

Creation

There are so many projects that I have inside of me and want to bring to life. I have to bring them to life. I've created an awesome children's book about a horse that wants to Tap dance, I received an e-mail inviting Just Tap to the world renowned Kennedy Center Millennium Stage, touring the world and sharing my gifts. I could keep going but i don't wanna bore you. These projects I'm so passionate about don't come from they air. They're given to me by God. I have to bring them to life.

Anytime you have a project that you're passionate about you have to research it and build a "plan of attack." How are you gonna get this to the world. For me my projects are exciting and scary at the same time. Exciting because its a dream coming true, scary because of the elements needed to come together and the possibility of failure. But you know what. NEVER START A PROJECT IF YOU'RE SCARED OF FAILING! I'm determined to pursue my projects as though failure is not an option, because its not.

Lima, Peru Tour 2011

Whew just got off the plan from my second Tap Dance Tour in Lima, Peru. Totally amazing. This tour tops my last by being able to share it with fellow dance partner Ryan Johnson. His company, Rawsound (www.rawsoundtk.com) was invited to come and perform at the 4th Annual Cajon Festival International. Performers and percussionist from all over the world.

We collaborated with my favorite Afro Peruvian group Colectivo Palenke and created fusion pieces with the Cajon, Tap, and West African Dance. Totally thrilling. 4 fusion pieces were created in 1 rehearsal. That's all we had time for and we made it work. Its always important to be flexible when working with other artists. You never know what kind of dance environment you're going to be in and what kind of floor you're gonna have. Even the stage for the performance had to be created. Over all the work was done and it was great. Fusion with a local Flamenco company was great as well. I was nervous about the time signature but it worked well.

An amazing collaboration with the Escuela Nacional Superior de Folklore. A special school for students interested in studying the folklore dances of Peru. These kids were hungry to learn. We taught them Tap, West African, and Body Percussion. When given a water break the just kept dancing love it. Talk about going hard. Our hope is to come back and do longer workshops with them. We gave them a nice donation of dance shoes too. Global Outreach here we come.

I definitely feel like I up'd my spanish speaking skills too. So much work to be done to keep creating relationships between the artists there and the dance programming. Looking forward to the return of Tap in Peru.

Photos and video to come

Inspiration

Where do you find your's?

Its hard to pin down one source of inspiration for me. Probably because there's so much good stuff going on right now. I mean good music. Non-mainstream music. Artist who are living for the art. There's so many people I could post, but here's who i'm digging tonight. check it out

New year New you

So i had some new head shots take of myself to use for my website, my children's book, and auditions, ect. Here's a few what do you think?

Random Thoughts

Random thought... will I ever get to the place that I wanna be? I'm sitting here overwhelmed with all the projects that I've placed upon myself and I'm excited that they're coming to life. But at the same time they're a lot of work. I created a children's book titled Lucky's Tap dancing feet and its coming along very well. Illustrations are almost finished. But once they're done what's next? So i'm working on the next steps.
-how to get it printed
-how much to charge
-where to market it
-how to get the word out
-gotta create a website for it
-how can I cut out the middle man
-need a copy of the book in spanish

All these thoughts are going thru my head and I wanna scream. I want someone to just tell me what to do. what's the best route? how can I bring this dream to life, not spend so much money, educate kids on tap, and make a profit. Turn the passion into profit is what its all about. I'm starting to think there's no full proof way to bringing your dreams to life and no one can tell you what to do with your dream or your passion because its your's ) pep talk for myself. I have tons of dreams and I am excited for all of them to manifest, but understanding it takes time is another issue. I'm of the now generation and I want my dream now! event though I know it won't happen right now it won't stop me form pushing. No matter what this dream will become a reality.

Enjoy this picture of the character for my children's book.

International Festival de Cajon in Lima, Peru

I started editing some footage from my tour of peru in 2009. i now have a great computer where I can edit footage and clips and such. I traveled to Peru for the International Festival de Cajon in Lima, Peru. The festival was created by Senor Rafael Santa Cruiz. He's awesome. I think of him as my Tio Rafael sometimes. While there I collaborated on a show with Colectivo Palenke great group of young musicians and dancers who are keeping the traditions of the Afro-Peruvian community alive. The people in Peru were wonderful. Very welcoming and helpful. The food was amazing. I've never tasted such fresh food. I mean strawberry juice that tastes like real strawberries.

The artist for the festival were all maestros or masters of their art form. Check out the clip of me performing with Colectivo Palenke on youtube at http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=hc-7paiEpjM

This was my first time touring a country as a professional performing artist. It was amazing. The culture, the food, the music, I fell in love with Peru. Check out some of my pics

Tapology 2010

I was excited to be invited as a guest performing artist at the Tapology Festival for youth. Mostly because its in my hometown of Flint, MI and a chance for me to go back home and share what I've learned. My time at the festival was awesome. I taught several West African dance classes and had a chance to reconnect with my favorite family/ tap dancers Ali and Frances Bradley. On faculty there was Dianne Walker, Mabel Lee, Ryan Johnson, Jason Samuels Smith, Laurie Johnson, Derrick Grant, and Natasha Graham. This year we honored Tina Pratt for her legacy as an artist. She's an elder and moving well. I mean really well. Check out the youtube footage.

Ok back to the festival. We had school shows, lecture demonstrations, tap, flamenco, West African, and stepping classes. The artist reception and luncheon was on point and I even found time to make it to my favorite spots, YaYa's, Big John's, and La Familia (oh yeah can't forget the Vernors).

This was the first time I was on the opposite side of the festival. Being able to see it from an artist perspective. Normally I have a chance to take classes, but not so much this time. I did have the opportunity to get some knowledge about tap and ask myself where do I want to take my artistry. Tap has so much history and there are so many amazing artist how or where do I fit?

Just reflecting on Tapology Festival now, I'm glad I had to chill and talk with the other faculty as regular people. Lots of laughs that I can't even write about. Hide ya Kids, Hide ya Wife lol. enjoy the photos.

Buenaventura, Colombia

The trip to Buenaventura, Colombia was great. Performed with Nsaa Dance Ensemble in 3 shows in 3 days in the Folklorical Festival del Pacifico. The crowd was HUGE! people young, old, and older inside the tent ready to party with us on the stage. Tons of people were even standing outside the tent in the rain. Best thing about the trip was performing. Being able to showcase West African dance for the Afro-Colombian Community was great. The dances and rhythms of the Afro-Colombian culture are so similar. Each show was FIYAH!

Our exchange with the people there was great. We visited the University and performed for the faculty and learned about the history of the festival. Mama Inez has been adopted by the group. She taught folklorical songs in spanish. (Sidenote) It was interesting how some people would admire the shirt you were wearing and ask you for the shirt off your back. One woman asked me for mine...umm no i don't do that sorry, you might wanna ask someone else. Sorry!

Once in Cali we visited the home of Senora Juana's home and had one of the best evenings I've ever had. We danced, drummed, and exchanged West African culture and rhythms with Afro Colombian rhythms and dance. It was amazing. I never felt so free. To move uninhibited felt great. who cares who's looking.

The food was good. I ate so much chicken I'm suprised i don't look like one. We ate at the same place everyday (can't mess with a good thing). Grilled chicken, potatoes, and salsa verde was banging. Soup is served with every meal and make sure you ask for a gasiosa con gas.

Walking around the city I definitely felt like an outsider. Not because my skin looked different, not at all. Most of the people looked like me, but there were a few difference. Number 1 the breast. It seems like when you cross into Buenaventura you must get a breast job. The women's breast were HUGE and they had Butt implants too. Woah. In addition, i didn't see anyone with natural hair either. I guess its a question of what's in the media that makes the people want to identify with those types of things. Beauty is definitely on the inside.

Enjoy the pics.

Inspired

Today I had a great opportunity to take  Hip Hop class from THE Luam. It was awesome. I'm so inspired. Even though Hip Hop isn't a dance style that I study most often, the movement is infectious. The way that one movement of your body can hit with different levels of intensity. Tricky, fun, and electrifying.

Before the class I was thinking umm I'm a tap dancer... am I going to be funky enough. I haven't really danced Hip Hop in a while and I'm not ready to embarrass myself at all. First step was I had to get my look right. Fitted top, baggy bottoms, high top nikes ok good to go. Walked into the studio and excited and nervous. Why? because everyone there has been studying the dance and I'm a little out of the loop.

Class begins with a warm up lead by Aysha Upchurch (beast dancer). Luam enters the room and everyone is excited. Choreo starts and i'm good up until you ask me to stutter a movement. wait ok I know what this is, my body is saying, but have to remember where to clinch the muscles to make it look right. Ok got that part. next couple of quick hit moves I'm thinking woah girl move to the back, but no, leaders lead form the front.

Umm I wasn't in the front, more like 3rd row middle, but keep your eye on the goal. After doing it several times, I finally feel comfortable with the choreo.

What you wanna go in groups. umm ok. I felt nervous. Not because i didn't know the dance, but because I was going to be dancing it in front of a room full of Hip Hop dancers who have been studying and grinding for this art and I don't wanna look stupid. So what do I do. ummm stand in the back.

I know booo not a good look, no way to be seen, no way to stand out and show that just because I'm known as a tap dancers I'm a versatile performer. But you know what... its kool. I know who I am, no need to prove a thing. So i stayed in the back every time my group was called and it was just fine.

I can't wait to fuse the energy with Tap. once I get it... it's on

Curbside Cook-Off

Today I performed with at the Curbside Cook-off with Melissa Frakman. The vibe was awesome. So picture this. Outdoor festival with nothing but food vendors. Throughout the crowd you see Tap dancers performing, on the other side you see the Beat ya Feet Kings rocking the floor,on the stage there's a DJ and graffiti artist, in the center you have Christylez Bacon killing it , and in the back Markus Young rocking with 2 female Hand Dancers. AMAZING!

The vibe was hot. We traded with all the artists and expanded what we can do visually as well. I'm still hype right now. Having a chance to vibe, network, and perform was great. The event was sponsored by the DC Commission on the Arts and Humanities, glad to have that hook up.

After the event I felt like we need to create some type of place where multiple art forms can come together and just vibe and create. So I'll be adding that to my projects list. This list is getting long. Looking forward to the creative energy that will flow.

Janet Jackson Workshop

7:00 time to get it in with Janet Jackson workshop. Tons of women lined up in the studio "Together Again". Ready to learn how to rock "If", find their "Pleasure Principle". Ok so yeah those are the videos that I taught. We started out with a warmup to "When I think of you" and kept rocking the whole night. I had a blast. I do think some of the people reached their mental cap by the 3 choreography. thats cool though.

Women from all different dance levels and backgrounds showed up for class. One lady even drove all the way from Richmond, VA to take my class. Talk about dedication. What should be the next workshop? I heard a lot of Brittany Spears, which i definitely dig, but what artist takes you to the edge and back?

The Hustle never sleeps

oct promises to be a hectic and hard working month. So i decided to work with a dance company in VA for the next 3 months helping to educate their tap dancers, plus teaching a youth class at Coppin University and Dimensions, plus teaching an outreach class, plus creating my childrens book, plus rehearsing for the performance at the Folklorical festival in Colombia. Don't forget the occasional rehearsals with Farafina Kan, 2 festivals in DC. Oh and my regular full time job with Joy of Motion Dance Center.

Whew I'm tired just writing it.

When you're an artist and you want to be more successful you have to be up on how to get your talent out there. I'm learning not to let it be a gimmic, (don't know how to spell that) let your talent speak for yourself.  My goal...tour the world sharing what i love. I wanna do so much. I wanna create a place for Tap dancers in the DMV to come together and hone our skills and share with one another and support each other. I think I can do it but not without help.

So what's going on right now in the DC Tap scene? ummmm its here and we're working on uniting and working with each other. We have classes going, but we can do more definitely. but my forever question is how to reach those people out there that think Tap is dead or those that don't know much about tap. How do we get more tap in shows? how do we get it to be a subject in the dance departments across the world. How do we get more touring companies? these will be my questions for ever... or until I get them answered.

And it Don't Stop

I'm learning to be a successful artist you gotta keep moving and looking for ways to promote yourself. So I've been up for hours these past couple nights trying to create a flyer for the event Just Tap is performing at. I have no real skills in flyer design, I gotta use what I have.

On top of this I've finished writing my first children's book and i'm starting to work with an illustrator. Its hard because I don't know the process very well and want to make sure i'm not going to get taken advantage of, so i'm crossing all the T's and dotting the I's. or is it the other way around.

Tomorrow morning I'll be hosting an audition for the year round dance program I'll be running this year. Its pretty cool to be able to inspire kids who have an interest in learning and performing. Great thing is they'll be able to take dance classes for free. Giving back to the community.

My goal as an artist to educate correctly on the dance style I love so much and to entertain. There's so many artists who do what I do, but I wanna do it differently. I'm wondering if that's even possible. guess we'll see.

If you're in DC come check out Just Tap at 4:20 at the Black Family Reunion, Teen Tent on the National Mall

OMG the Cirque

Last night I had the greatest opportunity to view the Cirque du Soleil show OVO. It was amazing! The whole night was FREE. Parking, tickets, food, drinks all FREE. how can you beat that. From beginning to end it was amazing.

The characters were dressed as bugs and the costumes were amazing. Each artist took us to the edge of our imagination and grabbed us just as we were about to go over the cliff. They were people flipping themselves inside out and underneath each other. There's a group of female asian artists that were amazing. and the tight rope act... speechless. If you have a couple of dollars in your pocket go check out the show.

I took my nefew Ethan to the show and we were both all in. He was laughing andI was laughing right next to him.

Awesome job Cirque du Soleil OVO cast.

I'm in love with my radio

OMG this artist thang is not easy. So I've joined the P90X bandwagon so i can get my body "snatched" lol. Well really get my abs tight. Have to look great on stage. Lately I've been spending a lot of time in the studio. wish i could say I've spent it rehearsing. Helping out at work has become overwhelming, but I'm staying positive. In the meantime in between time I'm thinking about upcoming projects.

Saturday my company, Just Tap, will be performing at the Black Family Reunion. We have a quick set time from 4:20- 4:40pm at the Teen Tent. I'm excited. We're going to be joined by Melissa Frakman and Ryan "Tap Kidd" Johnson. Both really awesome dancers. We are going to set that stage on FIYAH!

At this point in life I think its crucial to bring more of my dreams to life. I've had some really great opportunities come my way. Performing in Peru and Colombia, being apart of the Cirque du Soleil Mosiac cast in DC were my favorite highlights. Now I'm looking forward to going home and presenting the artist that I have become. Hope they like it.

Artistry

OMG this is my first posting. So here I go (please excuse any grammar or spelling mistakes)

So if you wanna be a performing artist please know that its  hustle. Growing up I studied dance and took class all the time, but I was so scared to say I wanted to be a dancer when i grew up. I think because people would always associate it with struggling. So I went to college and studied other things, but I never stopped dancing. Took a job in corporate america making some GOOD money, but gave it all up to follow my dreams and do what i wanna do. JUST TAP!

Now I work for one of the largest dance orgs in Washington, DC creating opportunities for youth, I started my own tap company called Just Tap, I perform with a West African drum and dance company called Farafina Kan, I just finished writing my very first children's book (coming at cha soon).

I think I started this blog just to tell my story and i hope you enjoy reading it. Maybe I'll even post some tap videos, well if i can figure out how to do it.

Just Tap