Antoine Hunter and Urban Jazz Dance Company will be performing!!
Green Show at the Oregon Shakespeare Festival in Ashland, Oregon.
Friday July 22nd and Saturday July 23rd at 6:45 pm
Free admission located outside!!
Come support! We will be there with the whole company!
Urban Jazz Dance Company
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Performing in the 2016 Green Show on Friday, July 22 and Saturday, July 23
This is their first season at the OSF Green Show.
Deaf, artistic, RAW-energy, FREEDOM, expressed, athletic-bODY, UNCONTROLLABLE, PASSIONATE dancers.
Founded in 2007 by pioneering Deaf dancer/choreographer Antoine Hunter, Urban Jazz Dance Company (UJD) consists of a mix of professional Deaf and Hearing dancers. UJD's mission is to provide opportunities for deaf and other-abled artists to contribute to the arts and larger society, increasing awareness around deaf issues via the performing arts. Featuring the syncopation of urban jazz rhythms, the company values the importance of play and performance to connect cultures of all races, ages, abilities, and backgrounds. UJD performs all over the Bay Area and beyond, including festival such as; the Black Choreographers Festival, CubaCaribe Festival, Art and Soul Festival, and the Ethnic Dance Festival. Its programs thrill deaf and hearing audiences alike. UJD is also the producer of the annual Bay Area Deaf Dance Festival and views deafness as a human experience with its own values, principles, and cultural norms – not a disability.
A Bay Area native, director Antoine Hunter is an award-winning African-American Deaf and Hard of Hearing choreographer, dancer, dance instructor, actor, poet, and deaf advocate. The founder and artistic director of Urban Jazz Dance, Hunter has performed with Savage Jazz Dance Company, Nuba Dance Theater, Alayo Dance Company, Robert Moses’ KIN, Man Dance, Sins Invalid, Amara Tabor-Smith, Kim Epifano, Push Dance Company, Fly Away Productions, Joanna Haigood, and the Lorraine Hansberry Theater. He has performed throughout the Bay Area and the world including Cuba, Rome, and Paris. Hunter is a faculty member at East Bay Center for the Performing Arts, Shawl-Anderson, Youth in Arts and Dance-A-Vision. He is the founder of Iron Tri-Angel Urban Ballet in Richmond, was an instructor and rehearsal director for the Ross Dance Company, and dance captain for Expedia.com commercials. His awards include the 2011 National Dance Week Dancer's Choice Award, Margaret Jenkin's CHIME award, the 2009 VRS Award (the international organization on arts and disabilities), and the 2000 Bay Area Star Award. He has been featured in Dance Spirit Magazine and Dance Magazine, and is the former president of the Bay Area Black Deaf Advocate and Director-at-Large for the Northern California chapter of the California Association of the Deaf. He has been featured in Oakland North and is a representative for Purple Technologies, which sells deaf services and products. Mr. Hunter is an active supporter of DeafHope, an organization whose mission is to end domestic and sexual violence in deaf communities through empowerment, education, and services. He teaches dance and ASL in both hearing and deaf communities, and is the founder and artistic director of Urban Jazz Dance Company, and has been producing the Bay Area Deaf Dance Festival since 2013. His projects have been awarded funding by both CA$H Theater Bay Area and the Zellerbach Family Foundation.
Deaf from birth, assistant director Zahna started her dance training with City Ballet School in San Francisco. She expanded her dance background when she was accepted to San Francisco School of the Arts (SOTA) by training with Elvia Marta in Modern, Jazz, African, Ballet, Hip Hop, and Choreography, as well as participating in Alonzo King’s LINES Pre-Professional Summer Programs. Upon graduating from SOTA in 2003, Zahna attended UCI to double major in Chemistry and Dance. At UCI she trained and performed in over 20 performances in various dance styles, working with fellow peers, graduate students, and distinguished faculty such as Lisa Naugle, David Allan, and Donald McKayle. In 2008, Zahna received a BS in Chemistry and a BFA in Dance performance and moved to San Diego to pursue her Chemistry career as a Senior Research Associate at Vertex Pharmaceuticals. In San Diego, Zahna performed with the Mesa College Dance Company, CAC Repertory Dance Theatre (CACRDT), Bite Dance Company, Visionary Dance Theatre and in Jean Isaac’s Trolley Dances 2013. In August of 2014, she relocated to Bay Area and immediately jumped into ODC’s Next Moves intensive and the Bay Area Deaf Dance Festival.
Deaf from birth, assistant director Zahna started her dance training with City Ballet School in San Francisco. She expanded her dance background when she was accepted to San Francisco School of the Arts (SOTA) by training with Elvia Marta in Modern, Jazz, African, Ballet, Hip Hop, and Choreography, as well as participating in Alonzo King’s LINES Pre-Professional Summer Programs. Upon graduating from SOTA in 2003, Zahna attended UCI to double major in Chemistry and Dance. At UCI she trained and performed in over 20 performances in various dance styles, working with fellow peers, graduate students, and distinguished faculty such as Lisa Naugle, David Allan, and Donald McKayle. In 2008, Zahna received a BS in Chemistry and a BFA in Dance performance and moved to San Diego to pursue her Chemistry career as a Senior Research Associate at Vertex Pharmaceuticals. In San Diego, Zahna performed with the Mesa College Dance Company, CAC Repertory Dance Theatre (CACRDT), Bite Dance Company, Visionary Dance Theatre and in Jean Isaac’s Trolley Dances 2013. In August of 2014, she relocated to Bay Area and immediately jumped into ODC’s Next Moves intensive and the Bay Area Deaf Dance Festival.
Antoine and Zahna will be joined by two other deaf dancers from Isreal, who excel in modern dance, and recently joined the company four months ago.
Urban Jazz Dance Company on Community:As a former Bay Area Black Deaf Advocate President and Northern California Association of Deaf Director, my company uses the artistic talents of our company members to educate audiences about what going on in the world; empowering the deaf community, advocating for deaf rights, and working to eliminate discrimination, prejudice, and more. We also use dance as an expression of healing after abuse.We host shows at the California School for the Deaf in Fremont and Riverside, California, and perform and offer workshops in London, Italy, Mexico, Peru, Africa, and all over USA. We also host an annual show at the Bay Area Deaf International Dance Festival in San Francisco, Ca.
