ME
A veteran of over 30 years as a tap and percussive dance artist, Drika Overton's original choreography and rhythmic compositions embody influences as diverse as early jazz vernacular movement and traditional jazz tap, West African and Afro-Cuban dance and drum, Celtic dance and music, Japanese taiko and body percussion. The outcome is innovative and captivating, full of visual and rhythmic inventiveness.
Drika has shared the stage with legendary tap dance artists including Jimmy Slyde, Buster Brown, Brenda Bufalino, Fayard Nicholas, and has worked with internationally recognized musicians.
She has been a featured soloist at the Duke Theater in New York as part of the New York City Tap Festival; the Southeastern TapExplosion in Atlanta; RhythmExplosion, Bozeman, Mont.; the Bates Dance Festival; the New England Artist’s Congress; The Liz Lerman Dance Exchange Shipyard Project; on Public Television; and at numerous jazz clubs, concerts, and festivals.
In 1995 Drika created the Portsmouth Percussive Dance Festival, an internationally recognized week long summer festival of music, dance and song. From the creative energy of the festival she created MaD Theatricals, a unique collaboration of nationally and internationally celebrated jazz and tap artists including Brenda Bufalino, Josh Hilberman, Dean Diggins and Paul Arslanian, producing the critically acclaimed Clara's Dream A Jazz Nutcracker (2000), and Music Hall Follies: A Vaudeville in 9 Acts (2003), with special guest artists Bill Irwin and Fayard Nicholas. The Follies was an integral part of Drika’s large scale Portsmouth Vaudeville Project (1999-2003) that included the video documentary 4 Theatres: Remembering Portsmouth in the Age of Vaudeville which aired on NH Public Television and at film festivals around the country.
In 2007 Drika was selected to participate in the first New England Dance Lab, a Regional Dance Development Initiative of the National Dance Project. Also in 2007 New England Presenters commissioned her along with composer Paul Arslanian and with support from the New England Foundation for the Arts, to create a new touring project. Off the Beaten Path: A Jazz & Tap Odyssey was created as a tribute to environmentalist Rachel Carson and toured New England in 2008-2009.
Additional Content:
at The Music Hall, Portsmouth 2005
From Off The Beaten Path: A Jazz & Tap Odyssey
The Sound of Movement, The Music Hall, Portsmouth
Institution/Business Type:
Artist / Creative (Individual)
Legal Status:
Commercial / For profit - Sole proprietorship
Year Founded:
1990
Institution/Business Type:
Artist / Creative (Individual)
Legal Status:
Commercial / For profit - Sole proprietorship
Year Founded:
1990
Primary Discipline:
Dance - Tap / PercussiveAdditional Disciplines:
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$250 - $500Teaching Settings:
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$250 - $500NEST Eligible Artist
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Fee Range:
$250 - $10,000State of Residence:
MaineMinimum Number of Performers:
1Maximum Number of Performers:
10