The Yard's QUALITY TIME! Family Series to Welcome Sokeo Ros and CASE CLOSED!

The Yard's Quality Time! Family Series presents Sokeo Ros and Case Closed!, which will bring a hip-hop dance performance to vineyard youth, followed by a family dance party with the company.

An intergenerational hip-hop round table with Sokeo Ros and Raphael Xavier will take place on Wednesday, August 9, 2017, 6pm at the Edgartown Public Library, 26 Edgartown Rd, Edgartown, MA 02539. Free! Sokeo Ros and Raphael Xavier discuss the culture of hip-hop and how break dance changes over time with the maturing body.

CASE CLOSED!, a QUALITY TIME! Family Friendly Event, will be followed by a Family Dance Party with members of Case Closed! dance company on Friday, August 11, 2017, 6:30pm at The Yard's Patricia Nanon Theater, 1 The Yard, Middle Road, Chilmark, MA 02535. Pay What You Can - donations encouraged at checkout.

Case Closed! Will be performing a new piece entitled "The stage is yours." This performance combines the dance styles of urban street dance such as Krump, Breakdance, Urban Dance choreography, freestyle, and storytelling. Case Closed! will take you through their struggles and obstacles in their daily lives by stressing how dance is their form of expression to relieve personal pains. Through dance, storytelling, and music, the performers turn their negativity into creativity.

"Through negativity comes great creativity! The stage is yours, now own it!" - Case Closed!

ABOUT SOKEO ROS

Sokeo Ros, Director of Case Closed! and the Hip-Hop Dance Program at Everett, was born in a Cambodian refugee camp in Thailand and came to the United States at the age of three. In high school, he performed with the Carriage House Performers and in 1998, Ros joined Everett as a creator, performer, and teacher for master classes. He has been in three touring pieces and is currently working on the fourth piece with Everett called "Freedom Project". This work explores mass incarceration and its effects on all aspects of society. Ros also tours throughout New England in Everett's educational shows and has taught at many Rhode Island institutions including Central Falls High School, the Lincoln School, and the Rhode Island School of Design. His hip-hop based troupe Case Closed! has performed at venues across New England including the Veterans Memorial Auditorium, Brown University, and the Providence Performing Arts Center. Ros has also received one Rhode Island State Council on the Arts grant to develop a hip-hop theater piece, Culture Shock and another grant to work on the project "From Refugee Camp to Project". Ros recently came back from Cambodia from volunteering in non-profit organizations that offered free classes in education and the performing arts. He was able to conduct interviews and research his family's compelling history of surviving the Khmer Rouge Regime. This was the first time that Sokeo got a chance to meet his family.

ABOUT CASE CLOSED!

Case Closed! was founded by Sokeo Ros in 2004 to empower youth through the performing arts. Case Closed! has performed at community centers, cultural festivals, schools, universities, Veterans Memorial Auditorium, and at the Providence Performing Arts Center. They have thrilled thousands of audience members with their dynamic combination of high powered hip-hop dance and heartfelt true stories. Through creativity, the ensemble transforms negative experiences into positive life lessons. Case Closed! offers youth an outlet for their artistry through creation and performance and helps students develop skills and discipline through weekly hours of classes and rehearsal. Through these efforts Case Closed! members become professional artists, role models, teachers, and leaders in their communities.

Sokeo Ros/Case Closed is funded in part by the New England States Touring Program of the New England Foundation for the Arts, made possible with funding from the National Endowment for the Arts Regional Touring Program and the six New England state art agencies.

Driving Directions:

Driving to The Yard from Vineyard Haven: Head south on Water Street toward Beach Road. Take the 3rd right onto Beach Road. Continue onto State Road. Turn right onto Middle Road. Take the 2nd left into The Yard.

Driving to The Yard from Edgartown: Head southwest on Water Street toward Davis Lane. Take your 2nd right onto Cooke Street. Turn left onto Edgartown West Tisbury Road. Turn left onto State Road. Continue onto South Road. Make a left onto Middle Road. Take the 2nd left into The Yard.

Bus: There is a public bus service on Martha's Vineyard that connects to all of the towns on the island. There is a bus stop just a short walk from The Yard in front of the Community Center, which runs every hour. Fare is $1 per town, each way.

The Yard supports diverse, contemporary dance-makers and related artists in their creative processes through paid, creative residency, public performance, long-term education, and artist-driven civic engagement. We serve all ages and cultural populations on Martha´s Vineyard, and work collaboratively with artists, producers, and other cultural organizers within regional, national, and international contexts.

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