(GALLOWAY, NJ) -- Stockton Performing Arts Center (StocktonPAC) presents Putty Dance Project: Glimpse on Friday, February 2, 2024 at 7:30pm. Over the years Putty Dance Project has evolved from producing socially conscious multi-dimensional shows, to concentrating on live jazz music and dance.
The masterful married duo, Lauren Putty White and Brent White, blend their expertise in their respective fields, to continue creating meaningful narratives through the lens of Free Jazz music and dance improvisation. Putty Dance is now presented in two forms, with dance as the primary focus and with music as the centerpiece adding dance as a visual component.
Lauren uses her mastery of improvisatory dance to live jazz music to share her take on living the phases of life through the lens of the camera phone. Becoming a mother has given White a new perspective on why people record life and relive it. The new work Glimpse is a suite for solos, duets, and the full ensemble. Brent composes and arranges a musical score featuring ten original compositions within a central theme. Glimpse reminds us that while pictures can capture memories in stillness, the act of remembrance keeps them in motion. Integrating familial images with original live music and the dance experience, White intends to take the audience “on a kinetic journey of endearment and hope.”
Lauren Putty White, Dance Faculty at Stockton University, has honed a unique Jazz dance vocabulary ranging from influences of Sun Ra Arkestra to Philadanco. She will be joined by exceptional dance artists Joe Gonzalez, a current company member in Complexions Contemporary Ballet Company, Sarah Warren, member of Artist House/Asya Zlatina + Dancers, and newcomer CeCe Mitchell. Music Faculty at Drexel University, and a Francis Johnson Innovation Fellow, Brent White on trombone will be joined by a 4- piece ensemble with guitar, bass, drums and percussion. With each musician improvising freely to the original tunes, the dancers will collaborate with a mix of music, choreography and improvised play.
General public tickets are $40; Senior citizen tickets are $38; Children (12 and under) are $18. Stockton University students, faculty/staff, and alumni all have discounted rates. Tickets are available for purchase online.
Along with community engagement, Putty Dance is also heavily committed to educational outreach. In addition to teaching annual Putty Dance master classes at Philadelphia High School for the Creative and Performing Arts since 2014, Lauren has taught on faculty for Ailey Camp, a program that has reached thousands of youth across the country. Having the experience of teaching and lesson plan development for such a prestigious organization as Ailey Camp, working with underserved youth in her hometown Baltimore, MD; proving dance as a tool to create positive change in their environment inspires the hope for what Putty Dance Project can become in Philadelphia.
Stockton Performing Arts Center (StocktonPAC) is located at 101 Vera King Farris Drive in Galloway, New Jersey. Its mission is to provide high-quality artistic programming that is inclusive, interdisciplinary, and collaborative and that fosters cultural exploration by engaging diverse communities within Stockton and the surrounding region. The PAC seeks to support innovative new works by local and regional emerging artists in the fields of music, dance, and theater, while continuing to present established touring artists of regional, national, and international stature. The Center is committed to contributing to Stockton University's educational mission by creating opportunities for students in the performing arts and other disciplines to experience dynamic and inspirational artistic programming and activities that enhance learning.
