JazzAntiqua Dance and Music Ensemble
‘Tis the Season is an exciting and vibrant jazz ballet with a dash of Broadway flair that celebrates the spirit of the holidays with pizzazz! Choreographed by JazzAntiqua’s Katisha Adams and Collette Williams, the piece is set to a jazzy, soulful version of “Carol of the Bells” performed by the O'Jays.
JazzAntiqua stays true in this concert performance to its mission of sharing a love of jazz music with audiences of all ages and backgrounds. Artistic Director Pat Taylor co-founded JazzAntiqua in 1993 with musician/composer Marcus Shelby to realize this goal through collaborative dance and music projects that educate, inspire and entertain.
Pat received her early dance training in Los Angeles and completed her dance studies at UCLA in 1982. Following her studies as a Merit Scholarship student at the Alvin Ailey American Dance Center in New York, Pat spent six years choreographing, performing and teaching in Sweden, Finland, Germany and England. In 1992 she returned to Los Angeles and established The Dance Collective (1992-2005), a cooperative dance studio and resource center located in Leimert Park. Pat was nominated for 1997 and 2005 Lester Horton Dance Awards and was a 1999 Brody Arts Fund Choreography Fellowship recipient. She recently choreographed Celebrate the Music, A Luther Vandross Tribute, which opened in Las Vegas in June 2006 and was presented at the Cerritos Center for the Performing Arts in September 2006. She is the Dance Department Chair at Crossroads School for Arts and Sciences in Santa Monica.
The group has performed at the Ford Amphitheatre, Luckman Theatre, California Plaza, Los Angeles County Museum of Art, Alex Theatre, California African American Museum, Claremont and Moorpark Colleges, The Jazz Bakery, Japan America Theatre and many other venues. JazzAntiqua was nominated for several 2005 Lester Horton Dance Awards, including performance, choreography short form (Pat Taylor) and music for dance (Marcus Shelby).
In 2005, 'Tis the Season choreographer and company member Katisha Adams was also nominated for 2005 Horton Awards for choreography short form and outstanding performance-female. Katisha is originally from Washington, D.C. and has also performed with Lula Washington Dance Theatre. She has toured with several music artists and appeared in several Disney stage productions including The Lion King. She teaches dance at El Camino College and College of the Canyons.
Collette Williams, co-choreographer of ‘Tis the Season, is a native of New Orleans. She is a performer, choreographer and teacher. A former member of the Lula Washington Dance Theater, she now performs with JazzAntiqua Dance and Music Ensemble and as a guest performer with the Lula Elzy Dance Theater of New Orleans. She was a featured dancer in the movies Ray and Something New.
