SOLE Defined is the Washington Metro area’s leading arts organization specializing in percussive dance – using the body as an instrument to create musical expression. Advancing styles such as Tap, Stepping, Body Percussion, Sand Dance, and Gumboot; this BIPOC led company infuses powerful skill to delight and inspire audiences. SOLE Defined was founded under the joint leadership of Ryan Johnson and Quynn Johnson.
17Prince George's Arts and Humanities Council https://www.pgahc.orginfo@pgahc.org(301) 772-8943
1801 Mccormick Dr
Upper Marlboro, MD 20774
United States
My work is an ongoing exploration of my gay male identity. I am influenced by the impact of the AIDS epidemic during the '80s and '90s, internal and external homophobia, sexual desire, and growing old.
SSUUNA: Is a dancer, percussionist, singer, songwriter, storyteller, and recording artist from Uganda with a wide range of performing experience. Raised in a small village by grandparents, He found comfort in the Ugandan traditional music that was played at school. As a result, his musical influence was born, thus encouraged, natured, and reinforced by his elders through proverbs, stories, songs, dances, and instrumentation. This bestowed priceless cultural entertainment, which proved to be educational as well as alleviating of the poverty, hunger, hopelessness, and suffering that SSUUNA
Venus Theatre Company is the longest-running regional women's theatre in the United States. Venus is committed to setting flight to the voices of women and children with theatre for a lifetime.
Born in New Orleans, Louisiana, and resident of the Greater Washington DC area, Yvette Spears is a performing artist who has numerous recognitions through her collaborations with many renowned Jazz artists. Yvette was introduced to performance at an early age growing up in NOLA as a Jazz Vocalist, in theatre, and also an opportunity as an "on-air" talent for former BETonJazz.
Quynn Johnson, a graduate of Howard University in Washington, D.C., and native of Flint, Michigan, is an award-winning performing, teaching artist, and author. She has toured as the tap soloist in the Tony Award-winning production After Midnight (NCL) and performed both nationally and internationally.
Bomani Armah is a Hip Hop artist, writer, educator, and family man. Born in Washington D.C. and raised in Prince George's County, Maryland, Bomani's goal is to "Honor the Ancestors, Prepare the Descendants and Love Right Now." Bomani has released four Hip Hop albums, including "Bomani Armah is the Watermelon Man." He is best known for his 2007 viral crunk hit "Read a Book," which aired on BET's 106th & Park.
Jay Coleman is a multidisciplinary artist whose primary focus is public art. He is an experienced muralist, bronze sculptor, portrait painter, tattoo artist and photographer/ filmmaker.
Wesley Clark currently resides in Hyattsville, MD, with his wife and two beautiful children. He received his Bachelor of Fine Arts in painting from Syracuse University and a Master of Fine Arts from The George Washington University.
At the core of his practice, Clark primarily creates mixed media wood assemblages that read as familiar and are often hybrids of two, or more, objects/concepts. He refers to these objects as fictional artifacts, made to look as if they’ve lived a life prior to being on display prompting viewers to question their importance and create their own narratives.
The Puerto Rican classical guitarist graduated from the Conservatory of Music of Puerto Rico, where he earned a Master of Music (M.M.) in Classical Guitar Performance under the tutelage of Iván Rijos, also took master classes with Manuel Barrueco as an artist in residence, and a Bachelor of Music (B.M.) in Classical Guitar Performance under the tutelage of Leonardo Egúrbida, a disciple of Regino Sainz de la Maza and Alirio Diaz. He has had the honor of studying and participating in master classes under prestigious artists such, as Leonardo Egúrbida, Iván Rijos, Dr. José A.