Photo By Damien Salas | Right, Spc. Dozje Brown performs during the June 9 U.S. Army Soldier Show at the...... read more read more
WASHINGTON - In celebration of the 240th U.S. Army birthday, Army Chief of Staff Gen. Raymond T. Odierno and Sgt. Maj. of the Army Daniel A. Dailey hosted the U.S. Army Soldier Show’s Army Birthday Week performance at the Warner Theatre in Washington, June 9.
The show, “We Serve,” pays tribute to the 50th anniversary of the Battle of Ia Drang Valley, considered one of the bloodiest conflicts during the Vietnam War. Patrick Stephenson, a veteran from that battle, served as narrator and weaved his “Soldier for Life” story throughout the program.
The show also marked the homecoming for a member of this year’s cast, southeast D.C. native Spc. Dozje Brown, 24, who was stationed in Fort Bragg, North Carolina, before going on the 70-show, international tour.
The all-volunteer performers auditioned and then were sent to an eight-week musical boot camp where they learned choreography for several different genres of dance including swing, hip-hop and line dancing.
“The first eight weeks were my favorite,” said Brown in a June 2 interview with the Pentagram. “It was something new every day— sometimes a new routine or even learning how to build the stage. I just loved it.”
A paratrooper in the John F. Kennedy Special Warfare Training Group-Airborne, Brown has experience with high-pressure situations, but it is where she studied dance that prepared her for the stage.
Brown studied dance at the Duke Ellington School of the Arts in D.C., then the California Institute of the Arts in Valencia, California, where she earned a bachelor’s degree in fine arts and attained proficiency in ballet, jazz and hip-hop.
Getting in front of a crowd of people to perform is less nerve-racking than jumping out of a plane, according to Brown.
“Jumping out of plane is scarier,” she said. “And there is no audience on the ground watching you. Being able to perform for an audience is the best feeling.”
| Date Taken: | 06.09.2015 |
| Date Posted: | 06.18.2015 16:00 |
| Story ID: | 167187 |
| Location: | WASHINGTON, DC, US |
| Web Views: | 62 |
| Downloads: | 0 |
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