TICKETS
TICKETS ON SALE 11/6 at 12 PM
FRONT ROW
General Ticket: $45 per seat
Member Ticket: $36 per seat
SECOND ROW
General Ticket: $35 per seat
Member Ticket: $28 per seat
THIRD ROW
General Ticket: $25 per seat
Member Ticket: $20 per seat
This performance has been made possible thanks to the generosity of the SHS Foundation in honor of its Treasurer, Sara Throne; Steve Pesner in honor of the late Michele Pesner; Meryl Rosofsky and Stuart Coleman; Setha Low; and the Friends of the Fund for Dance & Performance at The Church.
A warm wave of welcome to Center for African and Diaspora Dance (Cumbe) as they take to the Main Gallery of The Church to present a multisensory, multifaceted, interactive, and educational experience for all! In connection with our exhibition Dear Mazie, this program highlights the contributions and lasting influence of Black artists and cultural innovators of the Harlem Renaissance as it puts the spotlight on the “matriarch and queen mother of Black dance:” Katherine Dunham.
The program will be The Church’s largest production yet, featuring a live musician and multiple dancers in a dynamic presentation that will include a dance performance followed by a presentation about the life and work of Katherine Dunham. The program will conclude with a workshop that will invite the audience to move themselves in the style and history of Dunham – a style that invokes jazz and modern dance, rooted in the traditions of dance from the African diaspora.
Enjoy a dynamic dance and musical performance inspired by Dunham’s legendary artistic legacy and learn more about Dunham as the group provides an introductory presentation to Dunham’s life, artistic innovations, and lasting influence. Then get ready to move as CUMBE leads a guided, participatory movement experience exploring the Dunham technique!
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Cumbe is a home for African and Diaspora dance and music. Through classes and cultural programs, we invite everyone to feel the joy and vitality of rhythms rooted in Africa. Cumbe champions African and Diaspora culture as a vibrant legacy for people of African descent and as an exuberant source of power, spirit and knowledge for all.
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Candice Michelle Franklin, born in St. Louis, MO, and raised in the world of live jazz music and jazz dance, is a New York–based professional dancer, choreographer, and music producer who strives to embody the living continuum of jazz tradition through music innovation, scholarship, and live performance. She is the Artistic Producing Director of JAZZ AIN’T DEAD®, her signature live urban jazz music and dance production, and the Artistic Director of Cumbe RISE Community Dance Company, a performance group and Dunham-Informed Jazz workshop series produced by Cumbe Center for African and Diaspora Dance.
Franklin holds a B.A. in Dance from the University of Kansas and received her conservatory training at the Alvin Ailey American Dance Center. Committed to deepening her fluency in jazz and jazz-adjacent forms, she has traveled internationally to study, perform, and honor the global reach of the form. Her training includes the DVIDA rhythm syllabus at the Ballroom Dance Teachers College of New Mexico and Afro-Brazilian Zouk with world-renowned dance artists Carlos and Fernanda. She twice attended swing’s legendary Camp Hollywood in Los Angeles and Sweden’s renowned Herräng Dance Camp on full fellowship as a legacy dancer of the Al Minns Next Generation Project, studying under Denise Minns-Harris, acclaimed Lindy Hop duo Marie N’diaye and Felix Berghäll, and legendary jazz dancer and film choreographer Chester Whitmore. Moreover, she has participated in the Gus Giordano Teacher Training Program (High School Track) in Chicago and continues her lineage work as an ongoing IDTC certification candidate in the technique, methodologies, and theories of Katherine Dunham (Institute for Dunham Technique Certification).
A 2024 NYSCA grant recipient, Franklin’s choreography has been presented by Lincoln Center’s Summer for the City, Cumbe, Jazzmobile, Yale University, Joyce SoHo, Mid-Atlantic Jazz Festival, Harlem Arts Festival, Harlem Summerstage, BAMcafé Live, NYC Department of Education DECC, Webster Hall, and MTV/Viacom. Her work has also been featured at major casino venues, including Turning Stone, Foxwoods, Mohegan Sun, Borgata, and Caesar’s. She has choreographed for recording artists Courtney El, Art Auré, Bollywood sensation SHAKTI, and Grammy Award–winning artist Macy Gray.
As an educator, Franklin teaches extensively for the Departments of Education in New York and New Jersey, and she’s served as an instructor for DEL Dance Educators Lab, the National Jazz Museum in Harlem, YAFFA Arts, and The Joyce. Additionally, she has presented her scholarship and practice at leading jazz conferences, including Uprooted/Broadway Dance Center and The Legacy Jazz Conference in León, Guanajuato, Mexico. Recently, her teaching has been featured in Urban Stomp, a 2025–2026 interactive installation at the Museum of the City of New York, and for the world-famous Apollo Theater’s Apollo LiveWire Archives under the direction of Dr. Derrick León Washington.
Franklin currently serves on faculty at Sarah Lawrence College, Kean University, and the Joffrey Ballet School, where she is also a member of the audition tour team. She holds an MBA in Music Business from Berklee College of Music/SNHU, is a member of Delta Mu Delta, is a founding member of iDANZ Inc., and is a proud union member of SAG-AFTRA. She continues to produce, choreograph, and teach throughout the U.S. and abroad, advancing the future of jazz with power, innovation, passion, and joy of dance.