Praxis Project showcases choreographers, part-time dancers at Ford Amphitheatre

Twin brothers “Frit” and “Frat” Fuller,
two newly appointed faculty members in the UCLA Department of World
Arts and Cultures, are leading a dance class at Focus Fish studios
in Santa Monica.

But Frit doesn’t count out the steps, he uses the
percussive sound of his voice.

“One, two, three and shoop ba ba ba, sha-aaahh ah
dah!” he shouts while skipping across the floor in a
ballet-like leap. An older woman in the class has fantastic energy,
and the only male student is one of the quickest to catch on.

Frat controls the music, going from Nikka Costa’s
“Like a Feather” to Tweet’s “Oops”
while offering motivational cheers. The free master class is one of
many taught for the Praxis Project, a community-based program that
produces an annual showcase of several choreographers and part-time
dancers. This year’s performance will be held at the Ford
Amphitheatre tonight.

“Praxis means the practice of an art, science or skill. I
wanted to be able to provide quality classes, so the Praxis Project
is as much about the practice of dance as it is about the
performance of it,” said Kacy Keys, director and founder of
the Praxis Project.

The project, which is funded completely by donations and grants,
was conceived by Ron Brown, who taught dance at UCLA for many
years.

“(The dance community) tends to be involved in its own
circles and it doesn’t really cross boundaries too much. With
the Praxis Project, because it’s a short period of time,
people can come and take these workshops and meet these
choreographers and move on with their lives,” said Keys.

Keys’ trick works because the dancers don’t just
move on with their lives, they make connections at the master
classes and sometimes go on to work more intensely with the
choreographer ““ which is exactly what she is trying to
achieve.

Raul Machorro dropped in on the Fuller brothers’ class
after being referred by a friend and left with an offer to join
their dance company, KIN.

“(Frit and Frat) have a great sense of all styles of dance
combined in one,” said Machorro, who has been making his
living as a classically trained dancer. “And if it
wasn’t for free, I wouldn’t be able to take the class.
It’s helped other people to come out and learn new
styles.”

Complementing the artistic aspect of the project is the
community emphasis. A significant accomplishment of the project was
its aim to revitalize the L.A. arts scene. The first year of the
project was held in 2000 in the Downtown Palace Theater, which
according to Keys, had not had any live performance in it since the
1920s.

This merging of urban development and dance has been a personal
dual existence for Keys. An L.A. native, she sought out other
companies to perform with since her city didn’t have a
centralized ballet company. After dancing professionally with the
San Francisco and Houston ballet while still in high school, she
enrolled at UCLA, earning her master’s degree in urban
planning while also performing with the UCLA Dance Company. After
working in the Los Angeles Mayor’s Office of Economic
Development, Keys now uses the Praxis Project as a way to combine
both dance and urban planning in a real-life context.

“The idea was to use art as a tool for economic
development,” she said.

The Fullers fit in perfectly with this puzzle; KIN is active in
community outreach, and this year the dance company has combined
its efforts with the Praxis Project. The brothers contacted several
different high schools and held an audition, giving students a
chance to perform a choreographed pieced specifically for them. The
piece will be presented tonight alongside work from local- and East
Coast-based choreographers.

The Fuller twins will extend their teaching services to the
world arts and cultures department in the spring, teaching funky
hip-hop and drawing from their background performing in music
videos and commercials.

“We’re going to prepare (students) for what they
will be getting when they go to auditions,” said Frat.
“The key to any audition is being able to come in, absorb a
movement and execute it.”

Keys is grateful they have been able to extend the program to
involve a youth component, despite the lack of funding this year.
In the past two years of the project, the master classes have had a
month-long run. This year, Praxis was only able to offer classes
for a week. Since money has been scarce in the sagging economy,
artistic communities are forced to compete with other artistic
communities.

“There has been a large focus on the cultural component in
the arts community for the past few years,” Keys said.
“The cultural, historical and ethnic aspects of art
historically have not had attention, so I think it’s very
good that there has been a focus on it. But the arts (on their
own), whether or not it has a cultural base, is also important.
Because of limited funding, it seems that one has suffered because
of the other. It’s unfortunate that they have had to compete
rather than coexist.”

The Fuller twins can relate to this scrounging for funding.
“When we first started to try and get grants, we had trouble
explaining our work. We’re African American, but we
didn’t come in saying, “˜We’re going to dance
about being black,'” says Frat.

Undeterred by financial obstacles, the Praxis Project remains an
opportunity for young dancers and choreographers to perform on a
professional level, and an opportunity for the community to be
invigorated by the arts. Craig Keys, the musical director for the
project, follows the same philosophy. Craig also has a career in
economic and community development.

“It’s important for me to have creative outlets
because I don’t like being defined, solely, in a business or
professional context,” said Craig. “Art empowers, it
allows you to see yourself through a lens of your own making. I
believe when you see the arts do well in an area, you will also see
opportunities for the local community to do well.”

For ticket information, go to
www.fordamphitheatre.com.

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