Exchanging Notes: An Evening of Dance and Drums

On Saturday, Sept. 21, our cross-cultural quartet of artists will present the work they have been collaborating on over the summer. The dance segment will showcase not only traditional Georgian dance but a fusion of this tradition with a thoroughly contemporary American style. Our musicians, too, will demonstrate how drumming as a language melts cultural divides, with Brazil rhythms joining in with the Georgian, American, African, and other influences. Also expect to see an explosive performance with all four artists, marrying genres and cultures in thoroughly unexpected ways.   

Presenting Artists
Claire Lane, a dynamic dance artist, choreographer, and educator: Claire graduated summa cum laude from Smith College and has trained at P.A.R.T.S. in Belgium and Trinity Laban Conservatoire in London. She is the co-artistic director of detritus dance, a collective that reframes storytelling through a feminist lens. Claire has performed and taught at various highly regarded venues and institutions, emphasizing somatic imagery to inspire curiosity and technical rigor.

Lasha Mdzinarashvili, a distinguished dancer, choreographer, and actor/stuntman from the Georgian capital, Tbilisi: Lasha has performed in 36 countries and in 2022 earned the prestigious Taurus World Stunt Award for his work in the film "The King’s Man." He has served as a top performer with the Georgian National Ballet Sukhishvili and the Rustavi Ensemble. Currently, he is a choreographer at the Glass Theater and teaches dance at Georgia’s State University of Theater and Cinema.

George Oniani is a renowned percussionist and artistic director of Kutaisi's Junior Folklore School. He also co-founded the acclaimed Ensemble GENI, also in Kutaisi, Georgia's third-most populous city. George has collaborated with many dance studios and ensembles, including the famous Sukhishvili troupe and Kutaisi's State Academic Ensemble of Song and Dance, a key artistic hub for traditional Georgian culture. George's impressive career began at age five, and he continues to perform with prestigious groups like the Tbilisi Symphony Orchestra.

Marcus Santos, an internationally renowned contemporary percussionist and educator from Salvador, Bahia, Brazil: Marcus specializes in Afro-Brazilian music and has performed globally, including for the president of Brazil and at TEDx conferences. He has received numerous awards, including the 2024 Outstanding Artist Award from Arts at the Armory in Somerville. Marcus directs the Grooversity network project and has contributed to significant works, including Ken Burns's PBS documentary "American Revolution." 

Other local artists will participate, including Marcus’s youth drumming troupe.

About the Presenting Organizations

The Program on Georgian Studies at Harvard University encourages research on Georgia and the South Caucasus at Harvard, fosters collaboration between Georgian and American academics and students, and promotes knowledge of the region more broadly. 

The mission of the Somerville Arts Council (SAC) is to cultivate and celebrate the creative expressions of the Somerville community. Through innovative collaborations and quality programming SAC works to make the arts an integral part of life reflective of a diverse city. SAC runs numerous festivals, creates public art, runs cultural initiatives — from the Nibble culinary program to the Mystic River Mural Project for youth — and is keenly focused on ensuring artists will always have a space to create, display, and perform within Somerville.