Description
What We Leave Behind (WWLB) explores the relationship of choice and impact through tap dance, visual, sound, and digital art. By deconstructing and focusing on the many often unseen artifacts of an improvisational tap dance performance, What We Leave Behind poses the question, “What unseen impact do our own choices have?” This, of course, brings other important questions to light, such as, “How can we see all our choices?” “How do we think about impact?” and more existentially “Can we really know what is good?” These questions speak to the formative relationship between ourselves, our choices, our impact, and the potential for individual, communal, and social change. Developed in the inaugural InBreak Residency by Lebanese American tap dancer Andrew Nemr, What We Leave Behind explores the experience of improvisational tap dancing, and frameworks of oral traditions and spiritual formation, to imagine a new way forward towards change for the good.
Artist Statement
My work has always come to life at the intersections. Notably, Tap Dance itself functions at the intersections of sound, movement, and personality. With formal training in the visual arts (School of Visual Arts, 2001) and apprenticed in tap dance, my work has explored storytelling, digital art (including virtual reality), physical art, and music. Fueling every exploration is an ongoing journey through the ways of oral tradition and spiritual formation as they interact with the questions of life. The questions have varied. At different times they may be more reflective (What is happening right now?), imaginative (What could be?), or existential (What is real?). Regardless, I have found the vast variety of mediums to be amazing vehicles through which to share my journey of exploration and embody these important questions.
Artist Bio
Mentored by Gregory Hines, Andrew Nemr is an international artist, teacher, and speaker. His work has spanned the dance, theatre, music, and visual arts worlds, exploring art as a vehicle for storytelling and community building. Described as “A masterly tapper” by the New York Times, Andrew has played with Grammy Award winning musicians across multiple genres, and co-founded the Tap Legacy™ Foundation, Inc. (along with Hines). Andrew’s work has been recognized with numerous awards including a TED Fellowship, grants from the National Endowment for the Arts, and residencies with Google/TiltBrush and TED. Andrew is recorded on the Grammy nominated recording Itsbynne Reel by Dave Eggar, the DVD Documentary and companion album Tuesdays at Mona’s by Mona’s Hot Four, and narrates the DanceTime Publications DVD, Tap Dance History: From Vaudeville to Film. He is the topic of the documentary short film Identity: The Andrew Nemr Story, and hosts the weekly podcast, Talking Notes.
Visit www.andrewnemr.com to see more of Andrew’s work.