Here & Now

Miami Light Project launched Here & Now in 1999 as the first of its kind program dedicated to the commissioning of South Florida based performing and multi-media artists. In addition to a commission fee, artists who are selected for a Here & Now receive free rehearsal space, technical assistance and professional development from Miami Light Project, that extends beyond their Here & Now performance. Since its inception, Miami Light Project has commissioned work from more than 75 South Florida-based artists, whose work has contributed to the growing reputation of Miami as a cultural center of international importance. Over 30 of those artists have gone on to perform that work in 14 states and 16 countries for an estimated world wide audience of over 25,000! The Adrienne Arsht Center for the Performing Arts of Miami-Dade County joined Miami Light Project as a commissioning partner beginning in 2004, and, in 2007, welcomed Here & Now performances into the Carnival Studio Theater, with rehearsals and development still occurring in Miami Light Project’s Light Box Theater.

Daniel Bernard Roumain (DBR)

Having carved a reputation for himself as an innovative composer, performer, violinist, and band leader, Haitian-American artist Daniel Bernard Roumain (DBR) melds his classical music roots with his own cultural references and vibrant musical imagination. Proving that he’s "about as omnivorous as a contemporary artist gets" (New York Times), DBR is perhaps the only composer who has collaborated and performed with Philip Glass, Cassandra Wilson, Bill T. Jones, and Lady Gaga. He's received commissions from Carnegie Hall, the Brooklyn Academy of Music (BAM), the Library of Congress, and the sports channel ESPN. He's appeared on American Idol (FOX), America’s Assignment (CBS Evening News), E:60 (ESPN) and been voted one of the "Top 100 New Yorkers" (New York Resident), "Top 40 Under 40 business people" (Crain’s New York Business), "Top 5 Tomorrow’s Newsmakers" (1010 WINS Radio), and spotlighted as a "New Face of Classical Music" (Esquire Magazine). Most recently DBR has created a new evening length-work, Symphony for the Dance Floor, for the 2011 BAM Next Wave Festival and ASU Gammage, and composed music for the Atlanta Ballet, Home in 7, with the choreographer Amy Seiwert and the poet Marc Bamuthi Joseph.

Tiger Lillies

The Tiger Lillies are an extraordinary three piece band with a large cult following in London. They are fronted by singer Martyn Jacques who trained himself as an opera singer with a castrati style voice of heartbreaking beauty, whilst living alone above a strip joint in Soho for seven years. Accompanied by drummer Adrian Huge, whose appearance was described by David Byrne as James Joyce on drums, and double bass player Adrian Stout, Jacques plays accordion and sings savage and passionate songs about prostitutes, drug addicts and losers, his voice soaring and growling like a man possessed. Ken Campbell has described him as "the criminal castrati", and with his dickensian style of dress, long pigtail and bowler hat, his corrosive lyrics and his astonishing voice, all the while singing with his eyes closed, he makes an indelible impression. Jacques sings about life at the bottom of contemporary Britain with the voice of an angel.

The music is a startling mixture of opera, gypsy song and left bank Paris, but what really marks out this band from any other is the emotional charge and raw passion of the delivery. Because they are impossible to pigeonhole, the band has not yet had a wide commercial success, despite being picked up by David Byrne, with performances at the South Bank, as well as festivals and foreign tours, but this cannot last for much longer as their reputation is spreading very fast in the art culture underworld. Recently they returned from a tour of the Czech Republic, with wild stories about driving around in their moss covered old car to venues that ranged from roofless shacks in caravan parks to baroque theatres. At one place Jacques was accosted by a gypsy woman who accused him of seducing her daughter, only to discover it was just a ruse to steal his wallet.

Like many of Britain's artists and musicians, The Tiger Lillies live in poverty and obscurity whilst achieving international cult status. The nineties may prove to be a time of great flowering of culture, as human voices break out of the straightjacket of style, fashion and commercial thinking that characterised years of conservative government. The emergence of this band is clear evidence that the times are changing.

Dana Leong

Composer/cellist/trombonist Dana Leong blends jazz, classical and pop to create a signature sound. Dana’s pioneering collage of musical styles has garnered critical acclaim and wowed audiences around the world. He has collaborated with top jazz artists including Paquito D’Rivera, Christian McBride, Dafnis Prieto, and Henry Threadgill; and has worked with such diverse artists as Ray Charles, Barry White, Kanye West, Wynton Marsalis, Bjork, Ryuichi Sakamoto, Yoko Ono and Lila Downs.

In 2008 Dana’s quartet MILK & JADE toured all over Southeast Asia as part of Jazz at Lincoln Center and the U.S. State Department-sponsored tour, The Rhythm Road: American Music Abroad. Since then the group has been a smashing hit at numerous festivals in Europe, Asia and the US. In addition to touring, Dana is a prolific composer and arranger, having recently written and premiered Bound(less), a new work for an aerial dance company Project Bandaloop at the Orange County Performing Arts Center as well as an evening length work, Life After Dark, at the Apollo Theater in Harlem, New York. He was a featured guest music director and performer in Fela! on Broadway in 2010 and is the first ever Composer-In-Residence for The Museum of Chinese in America in New York City.

The Dana Leong Trio, featuring Dana (cello/trombone), John Shannon (guitar) and DJ Icewater (turntables), is the latest incarnation of Leong’s ever-expansive compositions, bringing together an exciting blend of instrumental techniques and musical styles. The trio was a featured act at the 2011 Blue Note Jazz Festival in New York City and the group will also perform at the Sleepless Night Miami Beach festival in November 2011.

Voted “Most Stylish New Yorker” by Time Out New York in 2010, his runway show credits include designers Alexander Hercovitch and Dianne von Furstenberg. His clothing is provided by New York/Tokyo-based Onassis and blanc de chine. He has been a featured performer at numerous other fashion, sports and corporate events including the New York Fashion’s Night Out and the U.S. Open. On screen, Dana has acted and performed on screen in a number of different settings such as Steven Spielberg’s feature film The Terminal, Robin Williams’ August Rush, NBC’s Law & Order, The Today Show, and with The Roots “Live at Wetlands.”

Dana grew up in San Francisco and studied classical cello and jazz trombone on double scholarships at Manhattan School of Music. Dana gives clinics and workshops around the globe as an official performing artist and clinician for YAMAHA and D’Addario Bowed Strings.

Nora Chipaumire

Since 2005, Chipaumire has toured extensively throughout North America, Europe, and Africa, most recently performing in Bergamo, Italy for the 2010 Takunda Prize, presented by Cesvi, an international humanitarian organization. She is a 2008 New York Dance and Performance (aka "Bessie”) Award for her choreographic work Chimurenga; and a 2007 New York Dance and Performance Award in the performance category for her work with Urban Bush Women where she also served as Associate Artistic Director. She has been honored with the Mariam McGlone Emerging Choreographer Award from Wesleyan University Center for the Arts (2007). Chipaumire's work has received funding from the National Dance Project (NDP), Rockefeller MAP Fund, Creative Capital and the National Endowment for the Arts. She is featured in the documentary "Movement (R)evolution Africa (a story of an art form in four acts)" and the focus of two dance films: "Nora," directed by Alla Kovgan and David Hinton and "Dark Swan," directed by Laurie Coyle. Chipaumire studied dance formally and informally in her native Zimbabwe, Senegal, USA, Cuba, and Jamaica. She is a graduate of the University of Zimbabwe’s School of Law and holds graduate degrees from Mills College of Oakland, CA in dance (MA) and choreography & performance (MFA).

David Zambranno

David Zambrano has been making dance for over 20 years. In his pursuits as both a creator and educator, Zambrano has visited 40 countries, worked with more than 25,000 students, and has performed at hundreds of venues across the world. His pieces range from set choreography, structured improvisation, and pure improvisation. Born in Venezuela, Zambrano spent 15 years in New York, and now lives in Amsterdam continuing to perform and teach worldwide. His improvisation is committed to art as a cultural exchange developing the creative process in a world without borders. Zambrano sees improvisation as an art and choreography as a vehicle to further develop his work in improvisation.

Zambrano’s pursuits as an improviser, choreographer, and performer have been presented all over the world. The most notable examples of his original projects of both solo and group work include: Twelve Flies Went Out at Noon (2005), Barcelona in 48 Hours (2004), The Rabbit Project/Proyecto Conejo (2003), Mandraking (2002), David Zambrano Invites…(2000), Acme (1999), Ballroom (1996), Proyecto: Z (1994), Red Blink (1994), Agua Fuerte (1993), Cancion de Diente (1993), Sabana (1990), Fetiche (1987), and Para Carmen (1984). He also founded the Festival de Danza Postmoderna in Venezuela in 1989 and was its director until 1993.

Zambrano’s methods in improvisation are influenced by the training he teaches around the globe. The most notable method is his Flying Low technique which examines the dancer’s relationship to the floor, earth, and ground. These techniques are very sought after by festivals, dance companies and schools including: Movement Research (New York), American Dance Festival (USA and Japan), PARTS (Belgium), La Caldera (Spain), Impulstanz Festival (Austria), Wim Vandekeybus/Ultima Vez (Belgium), Sasha Waltz and Guests (Germany), New York Dance Intensive (USA), AREA (Spain), The School for New Dance, Development (Holland), Dansens Hus (Denmark), Rosas (Belgium), La Anonima Imperial (Spain), Danza Abierta (Cuba), Danza Combinatoria (Cuba), Retazos (Cuba), Espacio Alterno (Venezuela), Neodanza (Venezuela), Taller de Danza Contemporanea de Caracas (Venezuela).

His performance work has been presented at or by: Movement Research Presenting Series (USA), Dance Theater Workshop (USA), The Kitchen (USA), Festival Aix-en-Provence (France), Tanzwerkstatt Berlin (Germany), Tamperen International Theater Festival (Finland), Improvisation Festival/New York (USA), Primer Taller Internacional de Danza (Cuba), Periferics (Spain), P.S. 122 (USA), CODA (Norway), Impulstanz Festival (Austria), Konfrontance (Czech Republic), Danspace Project at St. Mark’s Church (USA), the Whitney Museum (USA), Theater Frascati (Netherlands), and many others.

Past collaborators include: Jennifer Monson, Sasha Waltz, Mark Tompkins, Mat Voorter, Simone Forti, Pooh Kaye, Simone Sandroni, Bill T. Jones, Donald Fleming, Jill Becker, Yoshiko Chuma, Ismael Houston-Jones, Jordi Cortez, Hisako Horikawa, Frans Poelstra, Palle Dyrval, Katie Duck, Michael Moore, Sam Bennett, Robin Holcomb, Yuval Gabay, Guy Yarden, Otto Lechner, Max Nagl, Miguel Noya, Johannes Bauer, Dietmar Diesner, Joelle Leandro, Michael Vatcher, Nuno Rebelo, Misha Mengelberg, Ab Bears, Wilbert De Joode, Tristan Honsinger, Thomas Hauert, Mat Voorter.

He has been the recipient of many grants, awards and fellowships as well as having served on various panels and juries. They include the National Endowment for the Arts, the New York Foundation for the Arts, the Suitcase Fund administered by Dance Theater Workshop with funds by the Rockefeller Foundation, the New York State Council for the Arts, The Jerome Foundation, and the Mertz Gilmore Foundation. Zambrano has been a panelist for the New York Foundation for the Arts, the Certamen Coreografico de Madrid, and the PARTS school for Contemporary Dance in Brussels. As a recognized artist of merit, he was granted special residency status by the Dutch government.

Radhouane el Medeb

Educated at the Institute of higher learning of Dramatic art of Tunis, he was rewarded as “young hope of the Tunisian theatre” in 1996 by the Tunisia section of the International institute of Theatre. He was then chosen for participating to the formation and research workshop at the National theatre of Toulouse under the direction of Jacques Rosner.

In Tunisia, he worked with the pioneers of the Tunisian theatre and the Arabic world: Fadhel Jaîbi, Taoufik Jebali and Mohamed Driss. In France, he works with the directors Jacques Rosner, Lotfi Achour and Catherine Boskowitz. He buitlt artistic collaborations with contemporary authors such as Adel Hakim and Natacha de Pontcharra.

He also played in two films by Férid Boughedir “Un été à la Goulette” and “Halfaouine, l’enfant des terraces”. As for dancing, he participated to several dance training courses, espescially with Jean-Laurent Sasportès and Lisa Nelson. He collaborated in the design of several choreographic creations.

2005 he put himself on stage in “Pour en finir avec MOI”, then in 2006 he created the solo “Hûwà, ce lui” for Montpellier Dance Festival. In 2007, he was casted in “1000 Departures of Muscles”, from Héla Fattoumi and Eric Lamoureux.

In 2008 and 2009, Radhouane has been involved in the process of plans for “Body produced, body productive”, organised by the International Choreographic Encounters of Seine St Denis; and “My body my place” , notably supported by the Culture and Diversity Foundation. These plans consist of dance awareness workshops and transmission of choreographic writing to a large public, including young people coming from Priority Education Zones, female members of local associations, and aged persons.

2008, he created “Quelqu’un va danser…” for Les Rencontres chorégraphiques de Seine-Saint-Denis. This year, invited by the choreographer Salia Sanou in the frame of the event “sonorités et corps d’Afrique” at the Centre national de la danse, he conceived a culinary and danced performance “je danse et je vous en donne à bouffer”.

2010, he created his first company performance with five dancers : “ce que nous sommes” at the Centre national de la danse in Pantin.