LaTasha Barnes

LaTasha “Tasha” Barnes is an internationally recognized and awarded dancer, choreographer, educator, performer, cultural ambassador and Tradition-bearer of Black American Social Dance from Richmond, VA. Currently based in New York, Barnes is globally celebrated for her musicality, athleticism, and joyful presence throughout the cultural traditions she bears: House, Hip-Hop, Waacking, Vernacular Jazz, and Lindy Hop. Her expansive artistic, competitive and performative skills have made her a frequent collaborator to Dorrance Dance, Singapore based Timbre Arts Group, Ephrat Asherie Dance and many more.  Her leadership and business skills have placed her in positions of service as Chair of the Board of Trustees for Ladies of Hip-Hop FestivalⓇ, Vice President of Marketing & Outreach for the International Lindy Hop ChampionshipⓇ, Co-director HellaBlackLindyHop, Board Member of the Black Lindy Hoppers Fund, the Frankie Manning Foundation and a contributing member to the NEFER Global Movement Collective.

Expanding the scope of impact for the communities she serves, Barnes completed her self-designed Master's in Ethnochoreology, Black Studies and Performance Studies thru New York University Gallatin School (2019). Her thesis and continuing research are working to bridge the gap between communities of practice and academic cultural dance research, performance, preservation and pedagogy.  In concert with these efforts she is honored to be a part of the Brain Trust developing the ground-breaking stage production Swing Out, bringing the passion and power of Lindy Hop and it’s community to the concert stage. She is also honored to be a developing force of several intergenerational and intercommunal cultural arts exchanges and performances like ‘The Jazz Continuum’  that will be presented by Guggenheim Works & Process and Jacob’s Pillow in 2021. Additionally in support of this dialogue, Barnes is a contributing author to the forthcoming text Rooted Jazz Dance: Africanist Aesthetics and Equity in the Twenty-First Century - Univ. FL Press (2021). Ensuring future artists and dance scholars maintain authentic cultural context as they move through the world bearing forth Black dance traditions Barnes is excited to join the faculty of Arizona State University School of Music, Dance & Theater as Asst. Prof of Dance beginning Fall 2021.

Across all her efforts Barnes' eternal purpose is to inspire fellow artists and arts enthusiasts to champion artivism through cultivating an authentic sense of self and intention in their creative expressions and daily lives.