This summer DJD’s Artistic Director, Kimberley Cooper and two company dancers, Kaja Irwin and Sabrina Naz Comǎnescu were invited to perform and teach in Newport, RI at the inaugural year of Bridging The Gap Festival and the Newport Jazz Festival. Over the years DJD has built a strong relationship with Salve Regina University in Newport. Over the past year Kimberley has been creating a new piece of work on the Salve dance students, this work, a new piece of choreography and two works from Family of Jazz were performed at the festivals. We had the honor of being accompanied by some incredible musicians at the festivals, Marcus Grant (drums) with Brayden Beason (bass) and Andrew Wilcox (piano) as well as Julius Rodriguez (piano) with Alonzo Demetrius (trumpet), Brandon Rose (bass) and Brian Richburg Jr. (drums). Kimberley, Kaja and Sabrina and incredibly grateful for their time spent in Newport, Kimberley reported to us that it was a week filled with joy! Below is a look at some of their time at the festivals and an article about the festival from the Boston Globe.

Watch the DJD performances at the Bridging the Gap Festival & Newport Jazz Festival on Youtube

Read the Boston Globe article on the Bridging the Gap Festival