JAMES MAHKWEEN – The MahKween Method

The premiere of three suites dealing with moments in African American slavery, poaching and the extinction of the West African black rhino, and the process of spiritual cleansing. The evening also features short new works choreographed by Bernard Brown & Ken Morris.

Friday + Saturday, August 19 + 20 @ 8.30pm
$20 general admission / $15 members, students, seniors

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James MahKween is from Atlanta, GA. He graduated with a BFA in Musical Theater from American Musical and Dramatic Academy (AMDA). After graduating, MahKween has been setting and reaching goals. He has performed as apprentice with Lula Washington Dance Theatre. Recently, he has been seen at the Music Center’s inaugural Moves After Dark at the Walt Disney Concert Hall. His choreography has been shown at LWDT’s Dance All Day Festival, So- Cal Dance Invitational, DANCESCAPE LA and Tri-Art Fest.

Bernard J. Brown’s dances have been called “beautiful,” “thoughtful,” and “captivating.”  His work is rooted in catalyzing change through dance; dance sparks dialogue which inspires action; that action being the change within our communities. Bernard has performed with Lula Washington Dance Theatre, Jazz Antiqua, TU Dance, Shapiro & Smith Dance, and Doug Elkins Dance Company. Bernard also has had the pleasure of working with Donald McKayle, David Rousseve, Rennie Harris, Vincent Patterson, Lea Anderson, Rudy Perez, Tamica Washington-Miller, Ann Carlson, Alison D’Amato, Luis Tentindo, Dan Froot and Christopher Huggins, among others. He has been seen in Penumbra Theater’s “Black Nativity,” Donald Byrd’s “Harlem Nutcracker,” and on the Daytime Emmy’s. Mr. Brown’s choreography has been presented at Royce Hall Terrace, Japanese American National Museum, Highways Performance Space, Southern Methodist University, El Camino College, Lula Washington Dance Theater, California State University Long Beach, Dance Theater Lab and Patrick’s Cabaret.  He had the honor of choreographing Scott Joplin’s opera, “Treemonisha” for Skylark Opera. His work “Champion” was presented at the launch of the Institute on Inequality and Democracy at UCLA Luskin in 2016. He has taught dance at UCLA, NYU’s Tisch School of the Arts, University of Minnesota Twin Cities, University of Missouri St. Louis and at the Lula Washington Dance Theatre School. Mr. Brown was published in the inaugural edition of Dancer-Citizen, an peer-reviewed dance journal, in November 2015. He is currently pursuing his MFA from the Department of World Arts and Cultures/Dance at UCLA. The LA Times has called him “…the incomparable Bernard Brown…”

A former member of the Lula Washington Dance Theater (LWDT) where he performed for 17year, Ken A. Morris is currently on the teaching faculty of LWDT and serves as Resident Choreographer for the school.  In addition to working with LWDT, Ken has made guest appearances with JazzAntiquia, Winifred Harris’ Between Lines, Donna Sternberg and Dancers, Brockus Project and Project 21.  He worked with notable choreographers such as Donald McKayle, Debbie Allen, Ron Brown, Adam Shankman and Otis Sallid.   He Co-produced Men: Dancing along with colleague Ronald Bowins at the Ford Amphitheater. Ken has choreographed works for Lula Washington Dance, Theater, Brockus Project, Vancouver Contemporary Dance Theater, as well as showcasing his works in MixMatch Dance Festival, Spectrum Dance Festival, Beginning and Awakenings Festival among many showcases throughout Los Angeles.