The Stank Upon Time: A Story About Funk2023
Urban Movement Arts and Philly Kerplop present "The Stank Upon A Time: A Story About Funk." This show is a wonky and very unorthodox lecture demonstration on funk music and its related dances. You won't be told what you want nor what you are expecting to hear about Funk. Prose that spans between paying homage to James Brown to no holds barred commentary on politics and identity are the backdrop to music that oscillates between tight grooves, breakbeats, moments reminiscent of Bad Brains and straight noise. No matter what, the dancers are getting busy and keeping it ill. At UMA events, our guests are always welcomed with complimentary food and drink. So when it gets abrasive, you'll at least have something tasty to keep you comfy. Urban Movement Arts has a series of performances and events taking place in September, ranging from music and dance shows to parties. We call it UMA's "Off Fringe Festival." UMA is home to a robust community of artists. This Fringe season, UMA is putting on events the UMA way. Go to urbanmovementarts.com to learn more about Off Fringe opportunities at Urban Movement Arts. At urbanmovementarts.com you'll also get a deeper look into the Stank Upon A Time. See y'all at the Stank and for all the Off Fringe good times at UMA. |
Huffs, Puffs & UbiquitiesHuff, Puffs and Ubiquities is a duet danced by Ase Wells and Kayliani Sood, accompanied by vibraphonist Steven Perry. Perry never rehearses with the dancers. So when the full cast meets, Steve’s reactions are always new, never repetitions and truly responsive to the moment. The piece is a whimsical display of fluidity between dance forms, character types and dramatic arcs. Impishness and exaggerated behavior blend with rigor and virtuosity in service of a theatrical experience steeped in levity more than the ails of our time.
|
Kayla & Three GuitarsKayla + 3 Guitars is a solo by Kayla Bobalek accompanied by guitarist Eric McGarry, Connor O’Neil and Jonah Christian. The piece weaves between choreography and improvisation in modern, classical and American Black vernacular dance. The music spans between ambient, rock, jazz and electronica. The piece, overall, is a reflection on methods, devices and traditions of composition and improvisation that come from Jazz and Street Dance, expressed in a non-traditional context, providing the audience with a blanket of auditory and visual adventure, ambience and dreaminess.
|
Blaow! Cosmos?Performed @ Fringe Arts Dec 7 & 8, 2019
Two dancers, Will Robinson and Nikolai McKenzie, plummet through wormholes to the music and soundscape of Matt Engle. This surrealist journey mocks the rigor of theater by putting the performers through impossible tasks. When they think they’ve arrived they inevitably fall. Failure is the trope of Blaow Cosmos. |
Zig Zag BlossomIs a happening of dance, music and theatrics. The audience lives on the stage with no set seating. The environment compels the audience to make decisions for how to experience the event. Featuring dancers, Kayla Bobalek and Maddie Hopfield with upright bassist and electronicist, Matt Engle as well as cast of various support performers, the piece is a reflection on tropes in post-modern dance, American Black Vernacular and the mainstream. Zig Zag Blossom irreverently departs from the tradition of proscenium based theater.
|
Up UnZippedUp Unzipped is a duet tangled up in post modernism, commercial/pop choreography, disco, vogue, strip tease, and hip hop forms. Dance-theater performers Sanchel Brown and Kilo Martin dig into absurd and over the top characters, inviting the audience into their unorthodox world. Both performers bring to Vince Johnson’s choreography a deep connection to hip hop and African diaspora dance forms as well as comedic stage theater experience. Up Unzipped features live music from string duo Jenny Boorum and Veronica Jurkiewicz. The musical landscape trips out on classical and experimental soundscapes. The stage action and sonic landscape rub against each other in unpredictable ways.
|
chi chi chip (ode to the gnarly)Chi Chi Chip (ode to the gnarly) comes at you from the concrete corners of Love Park, spitting up hip hop vignettes interwoven with parody, code switching, poetry, and general freakiness. Transformations and exchanges between pedestrians and a motley crew of creatures flip the scripts of identity and power, making the heavy light and amusing in the unknown. This bizarre fun is pumped up with live music overlapping the strains and strange in classical, jazz, hip hop, rumba, and Balkan sounds.
Physical Performers: Adam Lovitz, Ann-Marie Gover, Mark Wong, Will Ferebee, Stephen Loftin, Phil Cuttino, India Bernardino Musicians: Jenny Boorum and Veronica Jurkiewicz (Viola), Francois Zayas (percussion), Elliot Levin (Woodwinds) |
thunk dun spunDancers Vince Johnson, Danzel Thompson-Stout, and Mark Wong conduct a family friendly philosophical inquiry about life’s big questions. Former Cuban Symphony Orchestra member Francois Zayas (percussion) and Anthony DeCarlo (guitar) create an invisible map of sound and rhythm where the mind can roam. Philly Kerlop creates a dance theater world that takes the audience behind the looking glass, asking serious questions with a silly face, and silly questions with a serious one. A sure-fire family hit, Thunk Dun Spun invites curiosity about the big and little meanings of life, for both big and little audiences. Thunk Dun Spun is a celebration of culture, self-expression, and day to day life through a captivating display of humor, athleticism and groove.
|
Crumble to CreationCrumble to Creation is a fun and engaging performance that explores the fluidity between destruction and creation, the fractured and the whole. The dancers contort, fly, fall, collide, glide, redirect, and animate. Scenes, characterizations, and styles are constantly shifting. Expanding on jazz, funk, rock, hip hop and rumba, the work is made to simultaneously uplift and captivate children and their parents alike. A Crumble to Creation poetically presents brokenness in all its humor, perplexity and beauty through music and dance.
|
i.d. *i.d. is an uplifting journey that celebrates race, culture and gender diversity using sound and movement. Dancer Vince Johnson and Musician Francois Zayas, both virtuosos in their disciplines, journey between various styles of dance and music to shine light on the richness and complexity of human expression and identity. Their message is that we are all connected. Johnson fuses influences from hip hop, martial arts and contemporary dance into aerodynamic expressions of grace and control. Francois delivers ear-bending beats that cycle between beautiful textures of percussion instruments from around the world. I.D. is dazzling and inspirational entertainment for all. *photo courtesy of MANCC
|
Philly Kerplop
Education
Through our partnership with Urban Movement Arts and MoveMakers Philly we are ready to travel to your organization or institution to teach dance classes in various styles of Hip Hop including breaking and house and music classes in percussion, singing, and music appreciation. Our music programming covers a variety of cultures including West African, Balkan, Carribean, and South American. Philly Kerplop is also equipped to provide programming for professional and pre-professional artists.
|
Philly Kerplop offers lecture demonstrations and assemblies covering:
|