|
|
Richard C. Robinson, Jr.
|
|
» Back to Artist page
|
|
Richard C. Robinson, Jr. is an educator, folklorist and musician.
His work is an outgrowth of an African and Caribbean
folk arts movement in Philadelphia that has been in
place for just about 50 years. Richard has been a student
of traditional African and Caribbean folk arts since he was
a teenager. In 1989 he began to study the physically challenging
West African stilt masquerade dance called "Chakaba"
from master masquerade folklorist Author "Kofi" Driscoll.
Not only did Mr. Driscoll's
|
teachings include dance,
but also included hands-on playing of traditional hand and
stick percussion from all over Africa and the Diaspora.
In addition to his apprenticeship with Mr. Driscoll, Richard
has honed his craft through more than two decades of
active support and membership with Ibeji Performing Arts
Company (Philadelphia, PA), Jassu Ballet (Philadelphia,
PA), Spirit of Sankofa (Philadelphia, PA) and African Heritage
(Washington, D.C.). He also obtained experience studying
under master African and Caribbean percussionists and
dancers Renaldo Gonzales, Robert "Baba" Crowder, Abdoulaye
Sylla, Yamoussa Camara, Mbemba Bangoura, Greg "Peachy" Jarman,
Greg "Hodari" Banks and Melvin Deal. Each of these
components in Richard's studies has contributed to his
ability to continue mastering and performing traditional
African and Caribbean folk arts.
As a result of his extensive training, Richard has toured
nationally and internationally as a stilt dancer and musician
with several Philadelphia-based African dance and percussion
ensembles while attending high school and college.
He has performed at such venues as the Lincoln Center (New
York, NY), Kennedy Center (Washington D.C.), Mann Music
Center (Philadelphia, PA), Freedom Theater (Philadelphia,
PA) and the Academy of Music (Philadelphia, PA). From 1993
to 1997 he was named musical director and guest artist of
Penn State University's renowned Nommo Performing Arts Company
(State College, PA). He also performed with rock, hiphop
and jazz bands while earning a bachelor's degree in
Communications from Penn State.
Richard works extensively with children throughout the tristate
area in schools and community organizations, where he
passes on the traditional values of African and Caribbean
Creole culture. He has collaborated with the Philly Pops
Arts in Education Outreach Program, Perkins Center for the
Arts, Strings for Schools and The Philadelphia Free Library.
In these programs he presents workshops, performances
and classes that emphasize the ideals, which are
still relevant in today's world, taught through musicianship
in traditional African societies. Through participation,
the students learn to value the attributes necessary
to be a musician and performing artist: commitment, discipline,
respect, leadership and teamwork. Richard also
teaches the students how to understand the importance of
collaboration and the interdependence of community support
that are inherent in African and Caribbean cultures.
Richard currently serves simultaneously as executive director
for Dromatala and Dzifa Mask Dance Theatre (Philadelphia,
PA) and arts in education musician for Imani-
Edutainers (Lancaster, PA). He is also a staff musician for
several jazz and world percussion groups such as Dialects
Band (Philadelphia, PA), Sonic Liberation Front (Philadelphia,
PA), Doc Gibbs (Philadelphia, PA), Osubi Craig and
The Prophecy Music Project (Philadelphia, PA) and Kule Mele
(Philadelphia, PA). In the spring of 2003, Richard completed
a three month artist residency on the Island of
Cuba, where he studied the fundamentals of traditional and
non-traditional Afro-Cuban percussion. A year later, Richard
successfully completed a musical artist exchange in
Salvador Bahia, Brazil that allowed him to study hand and
stick percussion with world-renowned samba percussionist
Ile Aiye. This year appears to be as promising for Richard
as he will be producing a full evening-length world musical
opus entitled "A Touch Culture: Afro-Music Rebirth".
» Back To Top
|
|
