Dance accompaniment
My first experience accompanying dance performance came in 2000. A musician friend asked me to help him create the accompaniment
for a modern dance performance a grad student was putting on at Arizona State University.
That performance was a huge hit at Arizona State, and it led to many more opportunities playing percussion and piano
as an accompanist for dance performances.
In the fall of 2001, I began working formally as an accompanist with the dance departments at Arizona State University
and Scottsdale Community College. During my time at Arizona State, I worked with some incredibly gifted dance professors, students and guest performers, including:
Bill Evans - University of New Mexico
Jennifer Tsukayama - Arizona State University
Nomalanga "Nomi" - Vanderbilt University
Kim Karpenty - Kent State
Brent Schneider - University of Southern California
Troy Powell - Alvin Ailey
Cheri McDowell - Chandler/Gilbert Community College
Mary Fitzgerald - Arizona State University
Vanderbilt West African Dance
My eight years of intensive study in Afro-Cuban hand percussion has come in mighty handy in my work as a dance performance accompanist. Here is the full list of Universities and Dance Companies I've worked for as an accompanist:
Arizona State University
Scottsdale Community College
Chandler/Gilbert Community College
Mesa Community College
Red Mountain High School
Gilbert High School
Movement Source (Dance Company)
At present, I work regularly in the Vanderbilt University Dance Department as an accompanist in West African Dance and Intro to Modern Dance. Check out my live in-class accompaniment in these videos from Vanderbilt's West African Dance course: