Modern Dance Class Music / World Music Percussion

Beverly Botsford – Cross-Cultural Percussionist
An Educator, Movement Specialist, Teller of Tales, Drum Maker, Earth Shaker,
Student of World Cultures – Africa, The Americas, and Beyond!

Beverly has more than 25 years of full-time professional experience, performing and teaching in an infinite variety of situations. Highlights include touring with Chuck Davis and the African American Dance Ensemble (1983-96), American Dance Festival Faculty (1985-1999)as well as Arts in Education work in countless schools and communities (1978 to the present.). A lover of jazz, she has shared the stage with, among others, Sir Roland Hanna, Bud Shank and Tito Puente. Since 1998 she has toured with Grammy-nominated jazz vocalist Nnenna Freelon, performing in major jazz festivals, clubs and theaters around the world.

Beverly is currently on the touring/residency rosters for the N.C. Arts Council and the S.C. Arts Commission. She is a member of Alternate ROOTS (Regional Organization of Theaters South), supporting community-based art that raises social consciousness.

Her unique passion for rhythm emerged in 1973 while attending the University of Colorado. Her doctorate is from the “School of Life” and she’s been gifted seeds of musical wisdom from master musicians – Mamady Keita, Khalid Saleen, Regino Jimenez and Michael Spiro, among others. Her hunger for knowledge has lead her to study in Cuba, Africa and Brazil, and with the supreme symphony of nature’s sounds in her own backyard in Durham, NC.