American Racket (Dance Company) features the sights and sounds of one of our, well, noisiest traditions... American Clogging and percussive dance! Productions feature some of the finest dancers in the country in a celebration of (loud) living traditions. These dancers have represented the United States in Brazil and Costa Rica and have opened for artists cuch as Bill Cosby, Sugar Ray, Ted Koppel, Dane Cook, Kenny Lovelace, and Wayne Brady. American Racket is a guaranteed toe-tapping, hand-clapping good time for all and a celebration of what young adults are doing to revive and reinvent the dance culture of the United States.

For Information, contact:
Andy Howard, Director / Choreographer
(352) 494-0104
email: Andy Howard, Director

Upcoming Shows:

August 29-31, 2008 - with Capital City Cloggers in Reedy Creek, Manitoba (Canada)
October 4, 2008 - Clogging Workshop - (Jacksonville, FL)
October 24-26, 2008 - American Clogging Hall of Fame - (Maggie Valley, NC)
December TBA - Turning Pointe Holiday Performance (Orlando, FL)
January 30, 2009 - Orange County Principal's Breakfast (Orlando, FL)
January 30 - 31, 2009 - Clogging Workshop - (LaBelle, FL)
February 15 - 10:30 AM "American Racket - Live And Kickin'" (Free, UnitedArts ArtsFest, Orlando, FL)
February 17 - American Camp Association Convention (Coronado Springs Resort, Walt Disney World)
February 28, 2009 - South West Florida Fair (Fort Myers, FL)
March 31, 2009 - Arts in April at Highlands Preparatory School (Orlando, FL)
April 18 - Indian River Cloggers' "Pow Wow" Workshop (Merritt Island, FL)
April 18 - White Party at Parliament House Resort (Orlando, FL)
June 7, 2009 - Turning Pointe Dance Recital (Orlando, FL)




Links:
American Racket Videos on YouTube

American Racket on MySpace

Become an American Racket fan on Facebook

Rumor Has It...

Could it be true?!

I have heard buzz that Baby Blue Star’s SHEE-HAW could be returning this summer!  And a possible extension to Atlanta, Georgia!  

Baby Blue Star's Shee Haw 

Remembering what Orlando Weekly’s Seth Kubersky said:  

VarieTEASE: Carnivale was the runaway hit of the 2007 Orlando International Fringe Theatre Festival, earning the Patrons Pick award and an encore run at the Parliament House. So how do you top an avant-garde fable set to a blistering pop soundtrack? If you’re director/choreographer/performance artist Baby Blue, you return to your roots – which in her case are evidently Southern-fried and served with cornbread and sweet tea.

For VarieTEASE: SHEE-HAW, whose homespun feel is 180 degrees from the polished Carnivale, Blue’s regulars (like Lollie and Nick Gray) are joined by fresh faces, including guitarist Amy Mullens and the American Racket cloggers (whose parents probably didn’t have this in mind when buying that first pair of tap shoes).

Those old enough to remember the 1971 “rural purge” that wiped Green Acres and The Beverly Hillbillies off the airwaves will recognize the affection poured into parodying Hee Haw. Beyond the profane puns on Buck Owens and Roy Clark, there’s real reverence for the time-tested variety format and country music. Between cornpone comedy and stoner satire, Blue and company show off fine singing voices with soulful renditions of classics such as “Blue Moon of Kentucky.” Even those too young to get why Minnie Pearl (Miss Sammy) still has the price tag on her hat should appreciate the intentionally awful litany of “walked into a bar” jokes and single-letter Southern slang.

Blue presides over this white-trash wonderland as a shotgun-toting belle in her mama’s dress. If some bits bomb badly, she can always save the show with a wink, saying, “Y’all should’ve seen that in rehearsal!” By the fatally frantic finale, featuring a faux-Dolly Parton (Danielle Hunter) flailing to “Stairway to Heaven,” you have no choice but to surrender to the Confederate chaos. Go in with a gut full of white lightning (or a head full of herb), and you’re guaranteed a shit-kicking good time. 

American Racket in SHEE-HAW, July '07