Duke Ellington’s “Such Sweet Thunder”

Join us for a joyful holiday celebration honoring the legendary Duke Ellington, presented by the Duke Ellington Center for the Arts (DECFA) in association with the American Tap Dance Foundation (ATDF).

Audiences will experience the rarely heard complete performance of Such Sweet Thunder — Ellington’s twelve-part jazz suite inspired by the works of William Shakespeare and co-composed with Billy Strayhorn in just three weeks. This dazzling work transforms Shakespeare’s drama, wit, and poetry into bold, swinging jazz.

Duke Ellington’s Such Sweet Thunder will be co-directed by Mercedes Ellington, Duke Ellington’s granddaughter, and Tony Waag, Founding Director of the American Tap Dance Foundation.

Musical Director Eli Yamin and The Duke Ellington Center Big Band, a dynamic 15-piece ensemble, will be joined by an extraordinary lineup of dancers, musicians, and vocalists including Mark Mindek, AC Lincoln, Karen Callaway Williams, DeWitt Fleming Jr., Antoinette Montague, Max Pollak, Valerie Levine, Miles Purinton, Karyn Tomczak & the Precision Dancers, and the Big Apple Ballroom Studio Dancers, all bringing Ellington’s sound and spirit to vivid life.