REVIEW: DBR Symphony For The Dance Floor
Is This The Future of Classical Music?
Not to get all melodramatic or anything, but classical music is dying, and everyone knows it.
Unable to either attract young professionals who have dozens of more attractive (and cheaper) distractions, or to build a life-long love of classical music among kids, the costly world of traditional classical music languishes on life support, while its wealthy patrons do the best they can.
Enter Daniel Bernard Roumain (DBR), a classically-trained violinist of Haitian descent from South Florida, who grew up with a love for classical music, but not for its conventions. As a kid, he blended the classics with Hip-Hop, rock, rap, beatboxing and breakdancing. After earning his doctorate of Music Composition at the University of Michigan, and studying under William Bolcom and Michael Daugherty, DBR went on to chair the music composition & theory department at The Harlem School of the Arts, made his Carnegie Hall debut in 2000 with the American Composers Orchestra, and has since worked with the likes of Philip Glass, Cassandra Wilson, Bill T. Jones, Savion Glover and Lady Gaga.
By the time DBR was invited to a 2-year residency by Brian Bethune, the former Dean of The College of Creative Arts at Cuyahoga Community College, the artist already had decades of experience making classical music relevant to entirely new generations of musicians, followers, listeners, dancers, DJs, kids and fans. In February, he threw down “Woodbox, Beats and Balladry” in Tri-C’s new Black Box space, and let everyone know that his vision for classical music looked and sounded very different from his predecessors’. See Cool Cleveland’s review here.
This time around, DBR brought a few collaborators and worked in residence with dozens of Northeast Ohio students and artists to present “Symphony For The Dance Floor,” originally commissioned for the Brooklyn Academy of Music’s 2011 Next Wave Festival. The shows on Fri 10/21 & Sat 10/22 were witnessed by lucky audiences who sat on the stage surrounding a marley dance floor, while latecomers were seated in the stands. Alone with his hand-built amplified six-string acoustic violin, driven to distortion through an imposing array of guitar effects boxes and wah-wah pedals, DBR commanded the stage from the downbeat, casting an imposing figure on the intimate yet expansive space.
With an almost textbook-perfect example of collaboration, DBR assembled a local crew of singers from the Tri-C Western Campus Chorale, along with two community vocalists, Maralee Klamut Rodgers and Deb Stetz, who play with the Cleveland band UZIZI. Also thrown into the mix was Cleveland breakdancer Anthony Velez (aka Tony Fresh), who brought the crowd alive with his skills and flash. The Club Kids dance team for “Symphony” was recruited through the Hip-Hop and modern dance classes at Tri-C from each of their East, West and Metro campuses. Other students from Baldwin-Wallace College and Kent State University also tried out and made the cut. Vocal soloist Maria Di Donato, a 17-year old high school student taking college classes at Tri-C was a standout, bringing the crowd to their feet with her gospel wails and flourishes. She takes a back seat to no one, and has a bright career ahead of her. DBR also brought his New York collaborators director D. J. Mendel, choreographer Millicent Johnnie, projected photography by Jonathan Mannion and principal dancers Veleda Roehl and Andre Zachery. The brilliant MC and DJ Lord Jamar, a versatile actor, emcee and producer, pulled the entire work together with his DJing, scratching, raps and vocalizing. What could have devolved into a 3-ring circus, instead became a seamless masterpiece, effortlessly blending DBR’s classical violin with the freshest new music, dance and visual explorations.
There will be no moaning about the future of classical music as long as the work of DBR is embraced by anyone who cares about the future of this endangered art form. Fortunately, DBR returns to Cleveland to continue his work on Project Gilgamesh, a 2-year collaborative effort at Tri-C, explicating the world’s oldest story through (classical?) music and multiple art forms. Artists and local participants can download DBR’s songbook, written in collaboration with Cleveland writer Margaret Lynch, from the site http://www.ProjectGilgamesh.com, and they have until November 1 to upload their own responses: remixes, mash-ups, interpretations, dance versions, films, videos, interactive works. The coolest ones will be invited to rehearse with DBR for a performance of Project Gilgamesh Songbook Unbound I on Thu 11/17 at the Tri-C Black Box on the Metro Campus. Then, Songbook Unbound II will be presented on Thu 4/5/12 on the Mainstage Theatre.
In our household, we’ve already downloaded the sheet music and MP3s, and some of our high school students and their friends are wrapping their heads around this exciting cool project. Nothing less than the future of classical music is on the line. But don’t tell the kids.
Photo by Philip Campbell
http://www.ProjectGilgamesh.com
Cleveland, OH 44115
One Response to “REVIEW: DBR Symphony For The Dance Floor at Tri-C 10/22/11”
Margaret Lynch
Thomas–you captured just about every aspect of this exciting collaboration and artist–just as you did with your review last year of Woodbox Beats. What a joy to have someone experiencing and commenting on this work who “gets” what we are all trying to do. You are a blessing to all artists who work in Cleveland!