WASSAIC PROJECT PRESENTS NEW YORK TIMES FEATURED ARTISTIC DUO  AS PART OF THE 10th ANNUAL WASSAIC PROJECT SUMMER FESTIVAL

 

(Wassaic, NY) – The artistic duo DavaMike of composer and multi-instrumentalist Mike McGinnis, and his wife, the acclaimed dance artist & Bessie Award recipient Davalois Fearon, are returning to Wassaic this year and will perform as part of the Wassaic Project’s 2018 Summer Festival. The festival will take place on Saturday, August 4th, 2018, beginning at 12:00pm with DavaMike performing at 7:30pm. Admission to the festival is free to the public. For more information about the festival, please visit www.wassaicproject.org.

DavaMike makes history as the first music and dance residency in the Wassaic Project’s inaugural summer dance residency.  The duo’s performances feature original choreography by Davalois Fearon alongside compositions by Mike McGinnis that moves beyond stylistic limitations. DavaMike has performed at multiple venues and festivals around the country including the PLG Arts Music Festival in New York City, Music Mansion, Providence, RI and internationally at Edna Manley College of Visual and Performing arts in Kingston, Jamaica.

Mike McGinnis is a musical explorer who will not be limited by stylistic barriers. As a clarinetist and saxophonist, he can swing in the straight ahead tradition, improvise on the furthest edge of the avant-garde, or navigate the rigorous turns of a contemporary classical composition. His open-minded and determinedly individual approach has led to work with jazz innovators like Anthony Braxton, Alice and Ravi Coltrane, Steve Coleman, and Lonnie Plaxico; Parliament/Funkadelic keyboardist Bernie Worrell; indie rock mainstays Yo La Tengo; the Afro-Baroque band Stew & The Negro Problem, authors of the Tony-winning musical Passing Strange; and as co-leader of the inventive ensemble The Four Bags. He has performed on Broadway in the Tony-winning show Fela!, has co-led several ensembles, and has appeared as a soloist or sideman on over 60 recordings. For three consecutive years he has been listed in the Clarinet  “Rising Star” category by the DownBeat magazine international critics poll. McGinnis’ musical daring has been recognized outside the jazz world as well and he has received commissions as varied as his own colorful palette, including creating music for the choreography of his wife, acclaimed dancer/choreographer, Davalois Fearon which was premiered at the Joyce Theater in January 2016.

Full Bio at www.mikemcginnis.com.

Davalois Fearon is a Bessie award-winning, critically-acclaimed dancer and choreographer and one of Dance Magazine’s Up-and-Coming Black Artists to Have on Your Radar. She was born on the island of Jamaica and raised in The Bronx, New York and is the founder and Artistic Director of Davalois Fearon Dance. Her choreography has been presented throughout New York City including on Broadway at the New Victory Theater, the prestigious Metropolitan Museum of Art, the world-renowned Joyce Theater, Dance Enthusiast’s “Moving Caribbean in NYC,” the Bronx Academy of Arts and Dance, and the Inception to Exhibition Dance Festival, among others; as well as across the US and in Kingston, Jamaica. She has collaborated with internationally renowned poet Patricia Smith, multi-reedist Mike McGinnis, fashion photographer Nigel HoSang, and interdisciplinary artists Andre Zachery and Deborah Castillo.

Full Bio at www.davaloisfearon.com.

The 10th Annual Wassaic Projects Summer Festival is celebrating a decade of bringing renowned artists to Wassaic, NY. The festival will feature back-to-back (to-back-to-back) performances from six bands and ten dance groups, followed by a slew of short films. The summer exhibition, Change of State, will be open all day, as will the Art Nest, and a free artmaking space for kids. As always, it is 100% free to attend the Wassaic Project Summer Festival.

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