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Artistic Director/
Choreographer
Reginald
Ray-Savage began dancing at Katherine Dunham's Performing Arts
Training Center in East St.Louis, IL, where he studied with such great
Dunham company alumni as Norman Davis, Lenwood Morris, and his mentor
Archie Savage. His training with these legendary dancers has informed his
teaching style and choreography. Mr. Savage began his professional dance
career with the Katherine Dunham Dance Company. He moved to Chicago where
he danced in several companies including Joel Hall Dance Company, Ruth
Page Ballet Chicago, and Lyric Opera, as well as touring productions of
"Music Man" and "A Chorus Line". In Chicago he trained
with acclaimed ballet instructor Larry Long, as well as Delores Lipinski,
Warren Conover, and Homer Bryant. Mr. Savage came to California in 1989
and founded Savage Jazz Dance Company (SJDC) in 1992. Since then, he has
choreographed over 100 works inspired by the music of Charles Mingus, Dave
Brubeck, Duke Ellington, and other jazz greats. Mr. Savage has also
collaborated with contemporary jazz composer, Marcus Shelby, whose
jazz orchestra often accompanies the company. Together, Mr. Savage and
Marcus Shelby have produced "An Ellington Celebration (1999)"
-marking the 100th anniversary of Duke Ellington's birth; "Passions
of Three Men: The Jazz of Mingus, Shelby and Savage (2000)" which
featured the music of Charles Mingus; "Miles, Mingus, Monk &
Marcus (2000)" and "Ellington's Far East Suite (2001)".
SJDC is also participating in a three-year Meet The Composer residency
with MarcusShelby (2001-2003). In 1993, Mr. Savage was awarded a Creative
Artists Fellowship in Choreography from the City of Oakland. Mr. Savage
was also distinguished with a 2001 GOLDIE Award by the San Francisco Bay
Guardian for outstanding contribution to the arts.
In addition to choreographing, Reginald Ray-Savage has taught dance in the
Bay Area since 1989. Some of his former students have gone on to dance
with Oakland Ballet, Garth Fagan Dance, Dallas Black Dance Company, and
Philadanco, as well as been accepted to the Ailey School, the North
Carolina School of the Arts and the Graham School. Currently, Mr. Savage
is the department chair of dance at the Oakland School of the Arts. He
also teaches at Shawl- Anderson Dance Center in Berkeley and at Citicentre
Dance Theatre in Oakland.
Reginald Ray-Savage brings to his teaching and choreography a wealth of
training and professional performing experience in a variety of dance
styles and techniques. His experience in ballet, Dunham technique,
contemporary and theater dance give him a broad dance vocabulary. This
mixing of styles perfectly echoes the mixing of cultural influences,
classical technique and individual improvised expression that make up jazz
music.
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