SOC!ETY DANCE ACADEMY

HAITIAN-BORN BRAHMS “BRAVO” LAFORTUNE, GREW UP IN BROOKLYN. "MY FATHER WAS A GREAT DANCER," AND “MY OLDER BROTHER, PLAKE (GEORGE E.), DANCED LIKE THE DEVIL ON FIRE.” LAFORTUNE BLENDS FAST-FOOTWORK (“FREESTYLE JAZZ” HE NAMES IT) INSPIRED BY OLDER STYLES OF BEBOP (OR SCAT) DANCING, AND “PEOPLE JUST WALKING DOWN THE STREET – BUT THE BAD PART OF IT,” THEN HE FINISHES WITH A FLOOR DIVE.

HIS TRADEMARKS ARE A PORK-PIE HAT AND DIFFERENT-COLORED KED SNEAKERS ON EACH FOOT. SELF-TAUGHT, THE YOUNG BOY STUDIED TV MOVIE RE-RUNS OF FRED ASTAIRE, GENE KELLY, NICHOLAS BROTHERS, ELEANOR POWELL, SAMMY DAVIS, JR., AND TV’S SOUL TRAIN, JAMES BROWN, PBS/DANCE IN AMERICA ON BARYSHNIKOV AND BOB FOSSE. CLUBBING BY 14 YEARS OLD, BRAVO HIT ALL THE MAINSTREAM CLUBS IN THE LATE 1970S AND EARLY ‘80S AS A DEVOTED CLUBHEAD, BOUNCER OR PERFORMER PAID TO HEAT UP THE FLOOR (STUDIO 54, BONDS INTERNATIONAL, MELONS, KILIMANJARO AMONG OTHERS). AT THE LOFT AND GARAGE HE DISCOVERED HOUSE AND ALSO MET “BRO,” ARCHIE BURNETT WHO MARVELS: “COMBINING FRED ASTAIRE WITH HOUSE MUSIC!  WHO’D EVER THINK OF THAT?”  LAFORTUNE IS ALSO AN ARCHITECT, MUSIC PRODUCER AND OCCASIONAL DJ.

HE RENOVATES HOUSES, HE IS A FAMILY MAN, AND ACTS AS ON-SITE DJ AND CO-TEACHER WITH ARCHIE BURNETT AT NYC’S PERIDANCE. HE HAS TOURED WORLDWIDE TO DUSSELDORF, FRANKFURT, JOHANNESBURG AND AMSTERDAM, AND HAS PERFORMED AT NYC DANCE VENUES SUCH AS DANCE THEATER WORKSHOP, JOE’S PUB, THE GUGGENHEIM MUSEUM, PS122, WORKING WITH CHOREOGRAPHER DAVID NEUMANN AND DOUG ELKINS. LAFORTUNE WAS ALSO AN ACTOR/DANCER IN XTRAVAGANZA, A 6-MONTH INTERNATIONAL TOURING PRODUCTION OF THEATER COMPANY, “THE BUILDERS ASSOCIATION.”