PhysFestNYC Presents: Tatiana Desardouin and Passion Fruit Dance Company's "One Groove"

PASSION FRUIT DANCE COMPANY presents

“One Groove” - An evening of Street & Club dance theater performances

Featuring:

Ice-O 
Haze 
K’niin 
Chry Baby
Nubian Néné 
Lauriane Ogay 
Hosted by Regi Angelou 

Passion Fruit is a Street, Club dance and educational company founded in 2016 by Tatiana Deardouin. The company is composed of Lauriane Ogay (core member), Nubian Néné (core member), Lobel and Tatiana Desardouin (artistic director and choreographer).

Through its performances, workshops, lectures, educational programs (designed to provide tools to heal, to release, to build confidence or to educate on the racial issue, providing anti-racist tools) called “Passion Fruit Seeds”, and a multisensory experience within a cultural party called “Les 5 Sens”, the company's mission is: To promote the authenticity of street, clubbing dance styles and cultures; To highlight its black heritage and contribution to society; To explore the human experience, address social issues such as racism and to inspire young artists to share their voices.

They had the opportunity to work as educators using "Passion Fruit Seeds - Focus on the Youth" program at the Yerbabruja Arts Center,at the American Dance Festival, in several elementary schools and publi

c schools in NYC and Upstate New York. in Switzerland for the City of Geneva with the “Passion Fruit Seeds: Hip-Hop culture, its foundations and its uprooting” program and at the Connecticut college, The 5 colleges (Smith College, Hampshire college, Amherst college and Mount Holyoke college) and Springfield College with the “Passion fruit Seeds: Focus On Black Excellence program. The Lehigh Valley Charter high school for the Arts received the NEA Grants for Arts Projects FY2022 to do the Passion Fruit Seeds - Focus On Black Excellence program in March 2023.

They performed the piece "Dance Within Your Dance" in places such as at The American Dance Festival, The Apollo Theater, Summerstage, Harlem Stage, Jacob's pillow, the New Victory Theater, BAAD!, LOHH, Joe's Pub, 92Y, Musikfest, MASS MoCA and abroad (in Canada at the M.A.I (Montreal) and in Switzerland at the “Outside” festival (Neuchatel)). They performed the piece "Trapped" at the Bridge Street Theater, the Lincoln Center, the Guggenheim and BRIC Celebrate Brooklyn. The company is currently is currently working on a new works called “Dimensions” that they will premiere in June 2024.

The company features in The New Yorker magazine (April 2021) and Dance Magazine's 2020 “25 to Watch”.

Tatiana features in Harper’s Bazaar magazine (2021) and is one of the winners of the Vilcek Foundation Prize for Creative Promise in Dance (2021-2022). She received the Juried Bessie Award in 2022.

Title: Trapped

Date: 2021

Description:

In Trapped, the focus is on the stories of a mosaic of five women, ready to reveal their pain and their path to joy. This work is dedicated to and inspired by women, but also for any other gender. With the intention of healing, they use street/club dance styles as a way to share their contribution to the process. This piece is an invitation to unfold, release and clear mental blocks.

credits:

Name of the Company: PASSION FRUIT DANCE COMPANY

Title of the piece: TRAPPED (excerpt)

Choreographed, Produced & Directed by: Tatiana Desardouin

Performed by Tatiana Desardouin, Lauriane Ogay, Nubian Néné

Stage Manager: Geneva White

Music editing: Loreto Jamlig & Avi Goldstein

Lighting Designer: Stephon Legere

Music production: Saadiq “ The Last Musician” Bolden

One music track from: Chief Xian aTunde Adjuah “Encryption”

Piece developed during Works & Process bubble residencies made possible by The Andrew W. Mellon Foundation, Doris Duke Charitable Foundation, and Stephen Kroll Reidy. Premiered at BRIC Celebrate Brooklyn.

Performer Bios

Ice-O
Justin "Ice-o" Herbin is a New York/Stockholm based dancer, from the Bronx, NY. He specializes in popping, Hip Hop, and animation. His aim is to push the boundaries of his art within street dance, all the while honoring his elders traditions, and bridging the gap between African American cultural expression and the rest of world. From small cities like Neufchâtel in Switzerland and Katrineholm in Sweden, to metropolitan wonders like Stockholm, Falun, and New York City, his passion for dance continues to push him forward.

Nubian Néné
Nubian Néné is a New York-based dancer/choreographer who finds inspiration in weaving street/club dances she’s practiced for 20 years. Her resilience and hard work stem from her Haitian roots, enabling her to expand into a producer, a creative director, a curator, a visual artist, and a teacher, making her an asset and reliable to any project. She is a member of Montreal-based and multidisciplinary collective: FRGMNT, and internationally known Nefer Global Movement. Black culture, cultural awareness, community engagement, and event production drive Nubian Nene. She's the creator of Waack Bazaar, The Essence Experience, and A Lady in The House Company

Haze
New York based Artist Soyeon "Haze" Kim has been exploring dance for over 15 years. She has trained in Ballet, Jazz, Choreography, street dance(hiphop, house, whacking and popping) and have been specializing on waving. With all her dance training, she got hugely influenced by feminine movement, music and visual arts. Her vision is to embrace and represent her identity as a woman with her dance. This elevated her unique style and identity as an artist.

K’niin
"K’niin Abbrey is a multidisciplinary performance artist specializing in street dance forms, digital arts and music production. Abbrey has developed a rich understanding of “mixing”. Using his unique perspective to inform conversation or flow between seemingly contrasting elements. Abbrey's passion extends worldwide and has been recognized globally; Taking part in renowned international dance competitions, while additionally, lending his performance abilities to acclaimed productions such as the Emmy Award Winning "Hip Hop Nutcracker," Heidi Duckler Dance Theatre and Rennie Harris Pure Movement among others. His mission … is to bring powerful, thought-provoking art and perspective, to the dance theatre and street dance worlds..”

Tatiana Desardouin

Of Haitian origin, born and raised in Switzerland, Tatiana is the director and choreographer of Passion Fruit Dance Company, a street dance theater and educational company she founded in 2016. The company has performed in venues such as The Guggenheim, The Apollo Theater, Summerstage, Jacob's Pillow, the New Victory Theater, BAAD!, Ladies of Hip-Hop Festival, 92Y, and abroad.

Teaching and mentoring since 2005, she developed her teaching method, "Technique Within Your Groove". She taught as adjunct professor and guest artist in several universities (Harvard, Mount Holyoke, the 5 colleges,Hunter college, Connecticut College, American University, Keene University etc.).She is currently adjunct professor at Springfield college and is also a faculty member of 92NY.

Tatiana was selected as one of Dance Magazine's 2020 “25 to Watch” and was featured in the New Yorker and Harper’s Bazaar magazines in 2021. She was awarded the Vilcek Foundation Prize for “Promise Creative in Dance 2022” and win the Bessie Juried Award 2022.

Lauriane Ogay

Lauriane is a dancer and photographer from Switzerland, residing in NYC since 2012.

As a core member of Passion Fruit dance company, Lauriane has performed at the Guggenheim Museum, Lincoln Center, 92Y, Dance Place DC, Harlem Stage, New Victory Theater, SummerStage, San Francisco Palace of Fine Arts, MusikFest, Joe’s Pub, The Bessies, LOHH festival, Tacaw, American Dance Festival, FIAF, University at Albany and many more. She is often called to be the assistant choreographer and external eye for PFDC’s student repertory works.

Lauriane has danced in commercials for Credo Beauty and Golden Goose. She is also a member of the legendary Dance Fusion Family, with whom she performed at Versastyle Festival, Los Angeles, 2019, and at Drom, New York, 2016.

Chry Baby

Chrybaby Cozie is one of the founding fathers of the Hip Hop freestyle genre called Lite Feet. Being raised in Harlem in the late 80’s was a source of great influence for Chrybaby, as it was his foundation for dance, music and the source of inspiration to uplift the youth and communities around him today. Chrybaby has been teaching Lite Feet and Hip Hop for more than 10 years and is currently teaching at the Peridance Center in NYC. Chrybaby has been cultivating and keeping the Lite Feet culture alive for ten years with the NYC youth. And through the culture, he has created a Hip Hop dance organization called ‘The Breakfast Club’ E.A.T (Earning All Together) in 2005. ‘The Breakfast Club’ is a platform for youth, to build upon their passion, talent and be given an opportunity to promote themselves in a positive light. After the creation of ‘The Breakfast Club’ Chrybaby created ‘The Lite Feet Nation’; a community connected by individuals who were there from the conception of the dance genre, to the youth who keep it alive today. Chrybaby’s extensive knowledge of Hip Hop and Lite Feet has led him to working with artists such as Chris Brown “Kiss Kiss”, Ron Browz “Pop Champagne” ft. Jim Jones and Jules Santana, and ASAP Ferg “Dope Walk.” His dedication and love for the culture has changed his life and inspired many others around him.

Regi Angelou (The Host and MC of the evening):

Regi Angelou is an artist and educator from Queens, New York. She is dedicated to empowering and inspiring the next generation of performing artists through her work as a teacher and her various creative endeavors.

----------------------------------

PhysFestNYC is a community-focused festival that celebrates, enriches, and envisions our field of physical theaters. As an annual gathering, provides space for practitioners, audiences, and the physical-theater-curious to share in presented works, diverse workshop offerings, and community-building events.

Broken Box Mime Theater's mission is to activate the imagination of our audiences, contemporize the art of mime, and remind us all of the power of simple storytelling.