The Precious Present – Listen will celebrate Austin dance, vocal and music artists including long-time legends of Austin arts including Austin Arts Hall of Fame Inductees Anuradha Naimpally (classical Indian dance) and Zell Miller III (spoken word artist) as well as Sharon Marroquin and Jun “Sunny” Shen (modern/contemporary dance) and Olivia Chacon (flamenco).  Austin’s own woman of jazz Pamela Hart as well as Denisha Adriana will bless the evening’s vocal vibe and premiere member of the Austin Arts Hall of Fame Acia Gray will bring rhythms to the floor with her unique jazz tap artistry. A unique and beautiful addition to this annual event last season was visual artist Ami Plasse who will again be onsite creating ongoing visual artwork throughout this moving jazz atmosphere. The Precious Present will be accompanied by jazz musicians Austin Kimble on piano, Dylan Jones on bass and Masumi Jones on drums.

The Precious Present weaves together the American musical foundations and culture of jazz with a palette of diverse dance techniques from tap dance to flamenco and from modern dance to visual art creating a performance that truly celebrates Austin’s incredible and mutually supportive artistic community. This new work celebrates a musical and physical collaboration of diverse voices within our Austin arts ecosystem. All unique yet traveling together and not alone – an artistic human tapestry of life that holds itself together as ONE.

This project has been financed in whole or in part by the City of Austin’s Elevate Grant Program