Category: News - Charmaine Warren

NEWS: Dancing While Black: Black Bodies I White Boxes' Journal is Live!

3/21/2019

Announcing the Launch of Dancing While Black: Black Bodies | White BoxesAngela's Pulse Inaugural Digital Journal

After two years of dreaming, mulling, strategy conversations, and research, Angela's Pulse has realized the creation of a digital journal! Made in partnership with the Hemispheric Institute of Performance and Politics and funded by The Surdna Foundation, Dancing While Black: Black Bodies | White Boxes is the collaborative effort of 33 contributors, editors, artists, advisors, and designers. Intentionally keeping Blackness at the center, the Journal explores themes of Black bodies, Black space, and white boxes. This is thrilling! The journal is gorgeous, with visual curation by MBDance friend Nontsikelelo Mutiti, and it includes an essay by our own Maria Bauman-Morales!

Dancing While Black (DWB) is an artist-led initiative that supports the diverse work of Black dance artists by cultivating platforms for process, performance, dialogue, and documentation. Led by MBDance Family Paloma McGregor, DWB bring the voices of Black dance artists from the periphery to the center, providing opportunities to self-determine the languages and lenses that define their work.

EXPLORE THE JOURNAL HERE

NEWS: Dance/NYCNamesAlejandra Duque CifuentesExecutive Director

3/21/2019

Alejandra Duque Cifuentes

FROM THE FOLKS AT DANCE/NYC:

Dance/NYC appointments Alejandra Duque Cifuentes as Executive Director. Ms. Duque Cifuentes officially steps into the role after serving as the organization’s Acting Executive Director.

“The Board unanimously approved this appointment,” Dance/NYC Board Chair Elissa D. Heckersaid today. “Alejandra leads by example with passion and integrity. She inspires others to think deeply and thoughtfully. Together, we will both honor Lane Harwell’s legacy and work to implement a new strategic vision for Dance/NYC. We are extremely excited to continue working with someone who has dedicated herself to dance, with a commitment to justice, equity, and inclusion.”

Since establishing itself as an independent nonprofit organization in 2013 under Executive Director Lane Harwell, Dance/NYC has grown its work to promote the knowledge, practice, performance and appreciation of dance in the metropolitan New York City area among residents and visitors alike, supporting over 5,000 individual dance artists and 1,200 dance-making entities. As Executive Director, Ms. Duque Cifuentes aims to continue Dance/NYC’s legacy of dance advocacy and support.

“It is an immense honor to join a thriving legacy of leaders in dance and to serve this expansive community of dance makers and cultural workers who have for generations stewarded New York City’s blossoming dance ecosystem,” said Alejandra Duque Cifuentes. “This work is for them, and ultimately it belongs to them. Together, I look forward to creating a dance ecology wherein power, funding, opportunities, conduct, and impacts are just for all artists, cultural workers, and audiences.”

ABOUT ALEJANDRA DUQUE CIFUENTES
Alejandra Duque Cifuentes is an immigrant activist, artist, producer, and educator. With more than 10 years of production and stage management experience in theatre and dance, she has toured nationally and internationally with Zaccho Dance Theatre, Bandaloop, Dancing in The Streets, The Foundry Theatre, and Columbia University School of the Arts, among others. As a teaching artist, Ms. Duque Cifuentes taught children and adults of all ages how to express themselves through theatre and movement practice in over 100 New York City public schools and through community theatre programs. In 2011 she founded Theatre That Transcends, which taught local, underserved communities how to express themselves and address community issues through the art of theatre. As an activist, she plays an integral part in advancing a more equitable arts and cultural ecology by working on measures to increase access, justice, equity, and inclusion within dance for disabled artists, immigrant artists, and artists of color in the five boroughs of New York City. Ms. Duque Cifuentes is a member of the National Association for Latino Arts and Culture, Women of Color in the Arts, the Children Museum of Manhattan’s Dance Portal Advisory Board, and Eva Yaa Asantewaa’s Curatorial Advisory Team at Gibney, and she is an advisor for the Latinx Artists Retreat, an annual convening for Latinx cultural producers across all artistic disciplines and fields. She was born in Medellín, Colombia and holds a Bachelor of Arts degree in Drama and Theatre Arts from Columbia University School of General Studies.

Read more here

NEWS: THPAC Archive Transferred to the NYPL for the Performing Arts at Lincoln Center

3/21/2019

Alex Smith, Jr., Executive Chairman Thelma Hill Performing Arts Center (THPAC)

Thelma Hill Performing Arts Center (THPAC), turns over its archive spanning
42 years of Black dance history, to the New York Public Library for the Performing
Arts at Lincoln Center.

On March 12 THPAC Executive Chairman, Alex Smith, Jr. supervised the turnover
of a large amount of archival documentation to the library to be digitized. The
documents included photographs, film and video tapes, promotional items, posters, and administrative documents.

ALLEJO GANTNER APPOINTED ARTISTIC AND EXECUTIVE DIRECTOR OF ONASSIS USA

3/13/2019

FROM THE FOLKS AT THE ONASSIS FOUNDATION USA:

The Onassis Foundation USA has appointed Vallejo Gantner as its new Artistic and Executive Director. Gantner led the internationally influential New York City cultural institution Performance Space 122 (now Performance Space New York) from 2005 to 2017 and was responsible for all programming and strategic direction, including the creation of the annual, interdisciplinary COIL Festival; the production of worldwide tours for multiple shows under the PS122 Global moniker; and the conception, fundraising, and management for the recent $35 million renovation of the organization’s longtime East Village home. At Onassis USA, Gantner will lead all of the Foundation’s cultural activities in the U.S., harnessing its evolution into a formidable contemporary producer and presenter of arts-and-ideas programs that substantially contribute to timely national conversations and effectively inspire social change. He assumes the post on April 1.
“I am incredibly honored to accept the position of Artistic & Executive Director of the Onassis Foundation USA,” Gantner said. “Over the last decade, I’ve seen the Foundation courageously chart new ground in Greece and in the U.S., with the completion of the Onassis Stegi cultural center in Athens and the launch of its revolutionary Onassis AiR residency program, the Onassis Festival 2018: The Birds, A Festival Inspired by Aristophanes, the Speaking Truth to Power series at BAM, and, most of all, the upcoming Onassis Festival 2019: Democracy Is Coming at the Public Theater. In the U.S.—as we examine our notions of democracy, cities, and the ways culture and the arts can effect change—I am thrilled to join the Onassis teams here and in Athens, and to continue that urgent exploration with new work, new ideas, new forms, and new audiences.”

Gantner helped to organize—as part of a transnational consortium including Emily Johnson (USA), BlakDance (Australia), Ilbijerri Theatre Company (Australia), and Indigenous Performing Arts Alliance (Canada)—First Nations Dialogues Lenapehoking/New York, a series of Indigenous-led performances, discussions, workshops, meetings, and ceremony that took place in venues across New York City in January 2019. Most recently, he has been an artistic adviser to BAM Artistic Director David Binder and a curatorial advisor and dramaturg for Theater der Welt in Dusseldorf. In addition to leading Performance Space 122, he has served as co-producer of Spiegelworld (2006-2008), director of the Dublin Fringe Festival (2002-2004), artistic associate of the Melbourne Festival (2000-2001), and executive producer of three independent feature films.

Gantner begins his tenure at Onassis USA just before the April 10 beginning of Onassis Festival 2019: Democracy Is Coming, which is co-presented by The Public Theater and curated by Mark Russell, Gantner’s predecessor as director of Performance Space 122. The festival celebrates democracy in its ideal form and examines its evolution from Ancient Greece to modern-day America through a wide range of performances and conversations. Highlights include Tim Blake Nelson’s new play Socrates; Choir! Choir! Choir!; Antigone – Lonely Planet, by Lena Kitsopoulou; The Fever, by600 HIGHWAYMEN; the music duo Xylouris White; Relic, by Euripides Laskaridis; a conversation with Suzan-Lori Parks and Oskar Eustis; a day of discussions of democracy; and more. The Festival continues Onassis USA’s thematic exploration of democracy—perhaps Greece’s most significant cultural contribution—in recent programming including the 2018 revival of The Gospel at Colonus, the Lee Breuer / Bob Telson landmark, at the Delacorte Theater, in collaboration with The Public Theater.

CUNY Dance Initiative Announces 2019−20 Residency Artists

3/7/2019

FROM THE FOLKS AT CUNY DANCE INITIATIVE:

The CUNY Dance Initiative (CDI) announces 24 awarded artists for 2019–20 residencies.

From July 2019 to June 2020, 13 CUNY colleges will host 24 emerging and established artists representing a range of dance styles (complete list below), selected from a pool of 186 applicants. An incubator for the New York City dance field, CDI is an innovative answer to how the needs of dance artists can intersect with those of a college community. CDI taps underutilized studios and theaters on CUNY campuses to provide rehearsal and performance spaces for dance makers to work on new or existing projects, and creates new avenues for dialogue between local artists and the university system. Residencies include public events such as work-in-progress showings and performances, plus master classes and open rehearsals specifically for CUNY students and faculty to create a framework for cultivating new dance audiences at CUNY performing arts centers.

Now in its fifth year, CDI is expanding its support for NYC choreographers, and was recently awarded a three-year grant to offer current and former CDI artists additional rehearsal hours via Dance/NYC’s New York City Dance Rehearsal Space Subsidy Program, made possible by the Andrew W. Mellon Foundation. CDI is celebrating this and its growing impact on the dance field with a 5th Year Fest, March 20–23, at Baruch Performing Arts Center. Details on the artists featured on the two showcase programs and ticket information are at: http://bit.ly/CDI5Years.

This upcoming 2019–20 residency cycle will be CDI’s sixth, and details on fall 2019 performances and public events will be announced this summer.

2019–20 CUNY Dance Initiative Resident Artists

Baruch College: Baruch Performing Arts Center
Abdul Latif - D2D/T
Amanda Selwyn Dance Theatre

BMCC: Tribeca Performing Arts Center
ColemanCollective

Brooklyn College: Brooklyn Center for the Performing Arts
Wild Rhythm
Chuck Wilt / UNA

The City College of New York: City College Center for the Arts
As Arts NY Dance
Sonia Olla & Ismael Fernandez Flamenco Company

College of Staten Island: Department of Performing and Creative Arts, in partnership with
Snug Harbor Cultural Center
Kinesis Project dance theatre

Hostos Community College: Hostos Center for the Arts and Culture
Alethea Pace
Sidra Bell Dance New York

John Jay College: Gerald W. Lynch Theater
Gabrielle Lamb / Pigeonwing Dance
Mari Meade Dance Collective / MMDC

Kingsborough Community College: On Stage at Kingsborough
Dance Heginbotham
Tom Gold Dance

LaGuardia Community College: LaGuardia Performing Arts Center
Edgard Toro
Patrick O’Brien Dance Project

Lehman College: Department of Dance and Theatre
AnabellaLenzu/DanceDrama
Jeremy McQueen’s The Black Iris Project

Queensborough Community College: Dance Program
Gierre J. Godley / PROJECT 44
Kayla Hamilton

Queens College: Kupferberg Center for the Arts & Department of Drama, Theatre, and Dance
Alonso Guzman Danza
Stefanie Nelson Dancegroup

York College: Milton G. Bassin Performing Arts Center
Pony Box Dance Theatre
Vissi Dance Theater

More information about the CUNY Dance Initiative is available via www.cuny.edu/danceinitiative

Stage Directors and Choreographers Foundation (SDCF) Award Gala & Announcement

3/7/2019

FROM THE FOLKS AT SDCF: the not-for-profit foundation of Stage Directors and Choreographers Society (SDC), today announced SDC Member, and Tony Award winner David Hyde Pierce will host the 2019 “Mr. Abbott” Award Gala on March 25 at the French Institute Alliance Française (FIAF). In honor of this special evening Concord Theatricals and The Shubert Organization, Inc. will serve as lead sponsors.

As previously announced, Jerry Mitchell will direct the evening featuring premiere choreography works of SDC Members Al Blackstone,Raja Feather Kelly, Kitty McNamee, Jenn Rose, and Katie Spelman.

Proceeds from the gala will benefit Stage Directors and Choreographers Foundation, whose mentorship programs, community forums, and public events develop and promote the creativity and craft of directors and choreographers and foster a cross-generational, national theatre community.

Halifu Osumare's "Dancing in Blackness" Now in Paperback

3/6/2019

Dancing in Blackness, A Memoir (2018) is such a success, it has now been published in paperback for $26.95. If you haven't purchased your copy, you can do so at University Press of Florida (http://upf.com/book.asp?id=9780813056616) or Amazon.com (Amazon.com-Dancing in Blackness). If you have gotten the hardback book and are enjoying your reading, please be so kind as to pass this notice on to other friends and colleagues, and through your social media.

JACK moves to a larger space, and introduces new Co-Director

2/28/2019

FROM THE FOLKS AT JACK: After ending its seven-year lease at its original space, performance venue JACK will be moving to a new, larger home at 18 Putnam Ave., also located in the Clinton Hill neighborhood in Brooklyn. JACK has signed a 10-year lease at the storefront space, which is a five-minute walk from the current space. This move affords JACK, for the first time, space for a backstage area, audience lobby and an administrative office, with an increase in audience capacity as well. Located next to the Putnam Triangle Plaza, the new JACK will have a central spot in the community.

At the same time, JACK is thrilled to announce the appointment of theater director and arts administrator Jordana De La Cruz to join founder Alec Duffy as Co-Director. De La Cruz comes to JACK from the Park Avenue Armory, where she worked since 2015, most recently as Program Manager. As an independent director, she helmed, among other projects, Cristina Pitter’sDecolonizing My Vagina, which premiered at JACK in January 2018.

From Jordana De La Cruz: "I am ecstatic to join Alec Duffy in his unyielding mission to present unique artistic works for the benefit of the entire community. JACK exists as a gathering space to innovate and expand all fields of performance and civic engagement. As a longtime admirer, it is an honor to join the leadership team as we continue to build a rising arts center with limitless potential."

From JACK founder/Co-Director Alec Duffy:

“Over the last few years, I have admired Jordana’s role in creating transcendent experiences at Park Avenue Armory, involving some of our nation’s most prized, revolutionary artistic voices. I then got to know her as an extraordinary theater artist when she directed in our space last year. When thinking about a partner at JACK who would be an eager co-conspirator in fueling experiments in art and activism and help take JACK to the next level, I realized Jordana was a perfect fit. I look forward to working with her to build a shared vision of what JACK can be, and how JACK can grow.”

MORE INFO ABOUT JORDANA DE LA CRUZ:

Jordana De La Cruz is an Afro-Latina director, curator, and creative producer. She collaborates with active participants across multiple generations to examine and dismantle the stigmas that hold society captive. She creates performances, gatherings, and public programs sparking cross-cultural dialogue, empowering individuality, and expanding the concept of community with theatrical responses, workshops, and interdisciplinary conversations. Her work continually questions what it means to be free and, more urgently, how we help each other achieve this freedom. In 2015, she was instrumental in the creation of Public Programs at Park Avenue Armory and has continued to cultivate affordable, community-focused art and dialogue through 2018. She has previously directed and produced with JACK, La Mama, The Flea Theater, IATI Theater, INTAR Theatre, The Story Pirates, and Young Jean Lee’s Theater Company, among others.

MORE INFO ABOUT JACK

Joyce Pass - offering dance community access to discount tickets for seats @ The Joyce Theater

2/20/2019

Announcing The 2019 BAX Arts & Artists In Progress Awards - March 2nd

2/12/2019

MARCH 2, 2019 | 7:30 PM - honoring

ACRE (ARTISTS CO-CREATING REAL EQUITY)
Passing It On to Chinatown Art Brigade

EVA YAA ASANTEWAA
Passing It On to Dancing While Black / Paloma McGregor

IRONDALE ENSEMBLE PROJECT,
JIM NEISEN, ARTISTIC DIRECTOR
Passing It On to Letter of Marque

The Awards Program will be hosted by representatives of the FIRST AMENDMENT SANCTUARY SPACES

featuring performances by Mariana Valencia and Onliest (Tiffany James and Ganessa James)

Find out more here