Vernacular Dance
and Jazz Music Studies
Residency

Chester Whitmore

Chester Whitmore is a native of Los Angeles, CA. His career there spans many of the performing arts as a stuntman, stunt coordinator, dancer, bandleader, choreographer, film director and cinematographer. Also, a dance historian he has etched in his brain landmark routines from vaudeville, the Cotton Club and the TOBA circuit.

As an eager dancer in LA he became a protege of several tap dance legends — the late John Bubble of Buck and Bubbles, Fayard Nicholas of the Nicholas Brothers, and Leonard Reed, creator of the Shim Sham which lives on in each of us.

Mr. Whitmore is an inventive teacher who challenges his students to reach beyond what they can do at any given moment. He is sought after, internationally, for the voice he brings to tap, vernacular jazz, swing music and swing dance. He is affiliated with dance programs at UCLA and LA City College.

Click here to see Chester tap dance.

Paulette Brockington

Paulette Brockington is from Detroit, MI. She has been a performing artist in dance companies, theater companies and opera companies. She is a writer/director with a number of works to her credit. A champion competitive dancer, she is known for her versatility, musicality, and creativity on dance floors and stages as a performer and choreographer. She is an intuitive and creative teacher in the classroom.

Ms. Brockington is a Master Teacher for Michigan State University's Michigan Traditional Arts Apprenticeship Program. She was awarded the Michigan Heritage Award for introducing swing dance to the Great Lakes area, been named an Arts Educator of the Year and founded the American Lindy Hop Championships - the world's first of its kind event dedicated to the Lindy Hop. She uses knowledge gleaned from her swing dance father/mentor, Frankie Manning, and her theater experience to pass on indigenous American forms. She is an inventive teacher who has taught from Japan to Europe.

Click here to see Paulette swing dance. See swing pictures here.

Vernacular Dance and Jazz Music Studies Residency Options

Option 1
Vernacular Dance

A 3-Day Residency in Dance offers an intensive, progressive, introduction to vernacular jazz, tap and/or Lindy Hop. Dance students will learn the original dances along with well known patterns of the early 20th century; learn how to work as an ensemble; learn how to dance to the music; learn each dance’s cultural significance to the period; and, understand the musicality and dynamics associated with each dance learned.

Paulette and Chester combined have working with Lloyd Storey, Frankie Manning Jeni Legon, Louis Johnson, just to name a few.

Option 2
Jazz Music Studies

In Jazz Music Studies the Residency offers not only reading the music, but comprehending the composer’s intent. Jazz music students will, also, learn how to play with each other; how to play a certain phrase of music more than one way; understand the history of the music and the composers; and, learn different styles from Ragtime to Bebop and beyond.

Chester has untapped knowledge gained from working with the great Count Basie.

Option 3
Three-Day, Week-Long and/or Two-Week Residencies

Option 4
Weekend or Week Day Workshop

You might consider a workshop. A workshop gives you a less intensive option for students to take part in vernacular dance classes in vernacular jazz, Lindy Hop and/or tap or a combination of the those dances. Workshop classes last for ninety minutes to two hours per session. Students work on technique, history and musicality.

Both Chester and Paulette are inventive workshop teachers who allow the music to drive their students and their teaching for a fun-filled experience. They are able to tell student interesting stories about the moves being learned and about the people who created those moves.

You might consider a workshop in Jazz Music Studies. In this less intensive environment students work on reading skills, working as an ensemble, putting each piece of music in an historical and cultural framework that is understandable.

Chester provides a wealth of experience as a percussionist and conductor and has original charts belonging to Count Basie, Fletcher Henderson,, JP Johnson, Mary Lou Williams and others.

Option 5
Four-Week Intensive


A four-week dance intensive covers elements of a number of styles of dance ranging from cakewalk to Ragtime/Swing Era dances like Charleston, swing, fad dances and Balboa to contemporary vernacular dances. An initial session would touch on several styles but concentrate, for example, on the Roaring '20s, Prohibition, solo Charleston and partner Charleston which each student would have to perform accurately by the end of the session. Your option is to pick an area like fad dances or swing or perhaps a time period to cover for a four-week session.

A four-week Jazz Studies Intensive includes all of the above identified in Jazz Music Studies Two-Week Residency plus additional information on composers like Duke Ellington, Count Basie, Fletcher Henderson, Benny Goodman and Mary Lou Williams. The program will cover styles of music like R&B, torch songs, spirituals and Ragtime, etc.

A coordinated performance led by Paulette and Chester can enthuse any program.

Semester of Coursework Culminating in a Performance

Dance coursework will include dance history, dance technique, musicality, working with live music and designing dance for a show rather than just social dancing. In a semester-long course students will touch upon several dance styles but will concentrate on two-three areas to perfect for performance.

Jazz Music Studies will cover the musicians that created dances, bands who were top in their fields during he chosen time periods like JP Johnson, Louis Armstrong, et al. Students will learn how to play for dance using the latest songs of those eras.v

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Request additional information by calling 1-313-790-2311