In If Trane Wuz Here, Savion Glover and reg e gaines (Bring in da Noise Bring in da Funk) make a much-anticipated return to The Public Theater. Celebrating Coltrane’s genius, Glover and gaines with a special guest saxophonist use his magical melodies as suggestions for improvisation. Both homage to Coltrane and celebration of his music, If Trane Wuz Here is an inspirational and educational evening of music, dance and text.

Tap dancer, choreographer and actor Savion Glover is the epitome of a living legend. The tapping marvel has graced the stage since childhood. He set a record as the youngest person ever to receive a scholarship in the Newark Community School of the Arts. Before he was a teenager, Savion made his mark starring in the leading role in the Broadway musical The Tap Dance Kid.

Glover developed his own dancing style he dubbed "free style hard core." The Tony Award winning dancer eventually worked with dancing greats Gregory Hines and Sammy Davis, Jr. Among his credits are starring roles in major motion pictures like Jelly's Last Jam, a role for which he made history as the youngest ever recipient of a National Endowment for the Arts grant.

As a choreographer, Glover's work has helped maintain tap dancing as an art form in the modern dance world. His starring role in the musical Bring in 'da Noise, Bring in 'da Funk, which he also choreographed, debuted on Broadway in 1996. The musical chronicles events in African American history and brought Glover a Tony for Best Choreographer.

Glover was made known to the younger generation with recurring appearances on Sesame Street. He also holds the credit as the live captured dancing motion behind Mumble the penguin in the film Happy Feet. Savion also served as co-choreographer for the film.

reg e gaines is a poet, playwright, director, lecturer and Artistic Director of the Downtown Urban Arts Festival in New York City since 2007. He is a two-time Tony Award nominated playwright, Grammy nominated lyricist, (Bring in 'da Noise, Bring in 'da Funk) and author of four books of poetry including, Abstract Sax and The Original Buckwheat. A former Nuyorican Poets Cafe Grand Slam Champ, gaines appears in numerous poetry anthologies including, Bum Rush The Page, Paterson Literary Review, Aloud: Voices From The Nuyorican Poets Cafe, and A Year in Ink. He has composed the score for the PBS documentary, Senior Year and has released four poetry albums. reg has appeared on seasons 3-4 of HBO’s Def Poetry as well as the Arsenio Hall Show, the John Stewart Show, MTV Spoken Word Unplugged and MSNBC’s Edgewise. He has performed at Woodstock ‘94, Central Park SummerStage, The Berlin Jazz Festival, Carre Opera House in Amsterdam, Aaron Davis Hall, the New Jersey Performing Arts Center and NYU’s Gallatin Center. reg is currently writing and directing The 88, a musical with music composed by Calvin Gaines.

Produced by the Downtown Urban Arts Festival with support as part of the Coalition Theaters of Color, a New York City Council initiative to support the operations and programming of theaters and cultural organizations primarily in communities of color.

Images courtesy the artists

Downtown Urban Arts Festival Website