Dancers Lead Red Bank Parade To Celebrate Count Basie’s Birthday

RED BANK, NJ — Dancers from Company of Dance Arts took to the streets of Downtown Red Bank on Thursday to honor jazz icon William “Count” Basie on what would have been his 121st birthday.

Set to Basie's 1944 composition “Red Bank Boogie,” the dancers kicked off festivities by leading a procession from the Count Basie Center for the Arts down Monmouth Street, before ending with a final performance set to Basie’s hits at Red Bank’s Broadwalk Stage.

The piece was choreographed by Njelama Dacas Johnson and performed by Kate Britton, Ellery Cannizzaro, Estela Catarino, Mackenzie Huang, Kallie O'Donnell, Juliet Porter, Cassidy Tor, and Marie Yahr.

Born in 1904, William "Count" Basie helped establish jazz as a serious art form played not just in clubs, but also in theaters and concert halls, according to the Count Basie Center for the Arts website.

Over a 60-plus-year career, he established swing as one of jazz's predominant styles, solidified the link between jazz and blues, and won nine Grammy Awards, including two trophies at the very first Grammy ceremony in 1959.

"The story of Basie’s life and career, and the history of his music and orchestra are, of course, not a linear tale that can be told succinctly in just a few pages," his biography reads on the Count Basie Center for the Arts website. "Musicians, singers, composers and arrangers came and went over many years and over many ensembles, grouping and regrouping like the audience in a club."

"Some dropped by for just a night. Some stayed for years. Some came and went and came again," his biography continues. "Many had important and influential careers in their own right, and perhaps more than anything else, that is the legacy of William 'Count' Basie."

Company of Dance Arts
Located in Tinton Falls, Company of Dance Arts is a non-profit dance company that performs the Nutcracker at the jazz legend’s namesake theater each December.

This year marks Company of Dance Arts’ 40th season of the favorite holiday tradition, which will be presented at the Count Basie Center for the Arts on Dec. 12, 13 and 14.

Open auditions for this year’s Nutcracker production (pre-professionals and children ages 6-17) will be held at Company of Dance Arts on Sept. 6, 13 and 14 at 70 Apple Street, Tinton Falls.

To learn more, you can visit the Company of Dance Arts website or email companyofdancearts@gmail.com for more information.