November 3, 2000

Footworks Percussive Dance Ensemble to Rock the Stage at Ramapo College

(Mahwah) – Footworks Dance Ensemble’s unique fusion of live music, comedy, singing and dazzling array of percussive dance rooted in different cultures, will fill the stage of the Berrie Center’s Sharp Theater at Ramapo College of New Jersey Sunday, November 26 at 3 p.m. Combining elements of clog, step and tap, Footworks has entertained audiences of all ages across the U.S., Canada and Europe, including appearances at Lincoln Center and the Kennedy Center.

A full-time company since 1979, Footworks appeared as guest artists in the original London run of the hit show Riverdance and sold out its own five-week tour of the UK. They drew rave reviews on a tour sponsored by the Smithsonian Institution as one of eight groups chosen to represent American culture in Japan. Artistic Director Eileen Carson received a two-year National Endowment for the Arts Choreography Fellowship for her creative, original work. "Their imaginative choreography combined elements of clog, step and tap dance into one breathlessly kinetic and vibrantly percussive performance," wrote Mike Joyce in the Washington Post.

Footworks has become renowned for respecting the integrity of traditional dance while staging it to meet professional performance standards. In search of the origins and relatives of their first love, Southern Appalachian clogging and flatfooting, Footworks went on to study with masters of many forms of traditional percussive dance including Irish, Scottish, English, Canadian, African and African American. The company is dedicated to bringing live music and the power and joy of percussive dance to audiences the world over.
General admission tickets are $12; students are $5. For more information, please call (201) 684-7888.