5:30 - 7:00
Bring your dancing shoes for a fun, high‑energy workshop exploring the social dances that flourished during the Harlem Renaissance, accompanied by the vibrant music of this rich era of Black innovation. Led by renowned choreographer and music instructor Traci Bartlow, this part‑lecture, part‑dance‑party experience highlights the African American social dances that emerged in the early 1900s and blossomed during the Jazz Age. Guiding us through a lively time capsule, Bartlow celebrates the resilience and creative brilliance of the Black American experience through rhythm, movement, and history.
Traci Bartlow, an Oakland native, has built a long distinguished career as a performer, director, and choreographer. She has worked with luminaries like Debbie Allen and Michael Peters and danced as a principal performer with Nanette Bearden Contemporary Dance Theater, Forces of Nature Dance Company, and Robert Henry Johnson Dance Theater. Bartlow developed and directed the Hip Hop stage at Oakland’s Malcolm X Jazz Arts Festival and curated its Katherine Dunham dance stage.
In 2022 she contributed as a writer and story consultant to the Emmy-winning KQED film If Cities Could Dance – Oakland Boogaloo segment. That same year, the San Francisco International Hip Hop Dance Fest honored her with the Bay Area Legend Award.
She is currently on tour for her work as the co‑choreographer for Minty Fresh Circus, a contemporary Black circus now on a three-year international tour.
Connect: Traci Bartlow - Website | Traci Bartlow - Instagram
More Than a Month: Black Interest
Connect to engaging discussions and performances related to the Black community.
More Than a Month recognizes important events in Black history, honors community and national leaders and fosters steps towards collective change. Programming features authors, poets and craft classes.