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Updated 7/28/2024

Drika Overton

  • M

    ME

Institution/Business Type: Artist / Creative (Individual)

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.

Find Me

Drika Overton
Job Title: Dancer, Choreographer, Producer
Address:
Kittery, ME 03904

Social Media:

Additional Content:

About

Overview

Institution/Business Type:

Artist / Creative (Individual)

Legal Status:

Commercial / For profit - Sole proprietorship

Year Founded:

1990

Overview

Institution/Business Type:

Artist / Creative (Individual)

Legal Status:

Commercial / For profit - Sole proprietorship

Year Founded:

1990

Disciplines

Primary Discipline:

Dance - Tap / Percussive

Additional Disciplines:

  • Multi-Disciplinary

Activities and Services

Activities and Services:

  • Creation of a Work of Art (Including Commissions)
  • Residency - Other
  • Arts Instruction / Lessons
  • Residency - In School
  • Workshops / Demonstrations / Master Class
  • Residency - Production / Development
  • Performance / Concert / Reading
  • Residency - Community
Seasons Active: spring, summer, fall, winter
Events Per Year: 5

Communities

Populations Engaged:

  • Adults
  • Businesses
  • Elders
  • General Public
  • Nonprofits
  • School Groups
  • Teens
  • Youth-At-Risk

Languages Available:

  • English

Geographic Reach:

  • Town / City
  • County
  • Multi-County Region
  • State
  • Multi-State Region
  • National

Media Gallery

I Have Worked With

Affiliations and Accomplishments

Awards

Awards:

  • Individual Artist Fellowship NHSCA
  • NHSCA Governor's Arts Award for Distinguished Arts Leadership

Awards

Awards:

  • Individual Artist Fellowship NHSCA
  • NHSCA Governor's Arts Award for Distinguished Arts Leadership

Special Designations

Special Designations:

  • NEFA Grant Recipient

Artist Info

Teaching Artist

Teaching Settings:

  • Arts and Cultural Center / Venue
  • Community Site / Center
  • School / University
  • Private Studio
  • Afterschool Program

Ages Served:

  • Elementary School-age
  • Middle School-age
  • College-age
  • Adults

Subject Areas:

  • Arts Integration - Physical Education
  • Dance

Fee range:

$250 - $500

Teaching Artist

Teaching Settings:

  • Arts and Cultural Center / Venue
  • Community Site / Center
  • School / University
  • Private Studio
  • Afterschool Program

Ages Served:

  • Elementary School-age
  • Middle School-age
  • College-age
  • Adults

Subject Areas:

  • Arts Integration - Physical Education
  • Dance

Fee range:

$250 - $500

State Arts Agency Roster Artist

  • New Hampshire Education Roster

Touring Artist

NEST Eligible Artist

Technical Requirements:

  • space, wood floor

Fee Range:

$250 - $10,000

State of Residence:

Maine

Minimum Number of Performers:

1

Maximum Number of Performers:

10

Venues for Rent/Use

The Dance Hall
Venue Address: 7 Walker Street Kittery, ME 03904
Venue Phone: 207-703-2083
Venue Type: Multi-Purpose Room
Venue Fee Range Minimum: $25
Venue Fee Range Maximum: $1500
Venue Capacity: 200
Venue Accessibility: Access accommodations for people who are blind, partially sighted, and have low vision. Access accommodations for people who are deaf and hard-of-hearing. Facility is physically accessible (such as parking, entrances, accessible restrooms, seating, backstage).
Stage Details: Proscenium Theater
Venue Seasons: Spring, Summer, Winter, Fall
Venue Features: Climate Control, Dance Floor, Green Room, Movie Screen / Projection Capabilities, Sound System, WiFi