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Friday-Saturday,  
April 4-5 
&
Friday – Saturday, 
April 11-12
@ 7:30pm
Harlem Stage Gatehouse. 
Tickets $20

Co-Curated by Charmaine Warren

Harlem Stage’s acclaimed dance showcase celebrates its 15th anniversary with two different programs over four nights and two weekends, featuring extraordinarily talented choreographers selected for their fresh vision.

Featuring E-merging Choreographers: Maria Bauman, Rashida Bumbray, Rie Fukuzawa, Desiree Godsell, Damani Pompey and Christopher Rudd.

E-Volving Choreographers – Stefanie Batten Bland presents her insightful contemporary solo work and David Fernandez takes ballet in exciting new directions.

This hot house mix of artists performed with a host of companies including Cirque Du Soleil, Dance Theater of Harlem, Paul Taylor Dance Company, Urban Bush Women, New York City Ballet, Bill T. Jones/Arnie Zane Dance Company.

Program A – Friday, April 4th & Friday, April 11th - Emerging Choreographers
Rie Fukuzawa
Damani Pompey
Desiree Godsell

Evolving Choreographer  
David Fernandez

Program B – Saturday, April 5th & Saturday, April 12th - Emerging Choreographers
Christopher Rudd
Maria Bauman
Rashida Bumbray

Evolving Choreographer
Stefanie Batten Bland

Post Performance Opening Night Reception – Friday, April 4th 

Dig Deeper – Ticket buyer’s bonus! Join us for an opening night reception, plus a Q & A with the artists and their mentors on Saturday, April 5th and Friday, April 11th. Moderated by Charmaine Warren. 

In 2007, for the Joan Miller Dance Player’s farewell performance after 37 years, New York Times writer Jennifer Dunning wrote, “…the dancers have always stood out as performers with a respect for old-fashioned virtues of craft and unforced individuality.  Like them, Ms. Miller has defied easy categorization.”   

Dyane Harvey, a member of Miller’s company reflects,  "...Joan was one of the first Black female choreographers to develop a dance program at Lehman College which threatened to rival Juilliard...[because her company]...was one of the first to use live music, narrators, multi-media slide projections as well as other set pieces in her repertory.  She really
was a trailblazer!   Our relationship started in the late 80's when she asked if I would serve as her resident guest artist.  I juggled my responsibilities with Forces of Nature, wife/mother duties, other teaching jobs and her company work at that time.  I was blessed to work with her on and off for about 10-12 years.  Her "dance children" are Sheila Kaminsky, Bonita Broughton and my husband Abdel R.Salaam.  Joan entered the Ancestral realm Sunday morning peacefully in her sleep after a very long illness.  She was a brilliant, courageous, inquisitive, expressive and creative artist.” 

Services for Joan Miller will be held on
Saturday, March 29
12-2 pm 
Riverside Funeral Home
5044 Broadway, (214th Street)
New York, NY 10034

Wendy Osserman Dance Company
THEATER FOR THE NEW CITY
March 28-30

The Wendy Osserman Dance Company brings the premiere of Vestigal using “...the premise that the dancers have only now found themselves with human bodies. [Osserman] likes thinking about movement in ways that circumvent the idea of style and finds experiencing the unfamiliar and contradictory to be enlivening,” according to the release. Dance writer  Eva Yaa Asantewaa once described Osserman as  “…wiry, heartful, still dancing at the helm of a group of youngsters…[and] a direct link to great masters of American dance history: Martha Graham, José Limón, Louis Horst, Anna Sokolow–she has studied with them all and more.” For Vestigal, the performers are: Lauren Ferguson, Cori Kresge, Emily Vetsch and Osserman.  There will also be live music performed by Skip La Plante, co-founder of Music For Homemade Instruments.  Find out more here   

Ballet du Grand Théâtre de Genève
The Joyce Theatre
March 25-30
This century-old Swiss company known for its varied repertory will perform the New York premiere of Andonis Foniadakis’ Glory (2012). This cast of 22 dancers will perform solos, duets, and group sections to Handel choral and instrumental works including the “Hallelujah” chorus from “Messiah.”  Find out more here

Suzanne Beahrs Dance
Danspace Project
March 27-29
Szanne Beahrs Dance will premiere Amid, a new hour-long work by Beahrs for five women described as s a “…vigorous representation of how a personal trial can take audiences on convoluted journeys through pain, love, fear, loss, joy, and resilience,” according to the release.  Find out more here 

ABT Studio Company
Pace University’s Michael Schimmel Center For The Arts
March 28
For this their third time at the Schimmel, the ensemble of 12 will perform classic works by August Bournonville, Marius Petipa, Sir Kenneth MacMillan, Anthony Tudor, and George Balanchine.  The ABT Studio Company is made up of young dancers trained in preparation for entering American Ballet Theatre’s main Company or other national and international professional ballet companies.  Find out more here 

The American Tap Dance Foundation ATDF “Tap Talks/Tap Film series” – Tap Forward
American Tap Dance Center in lower Manhattan
March 28
For this third installment of the six-part series, panelists will be Brenda Bufalino, Cartier Williams, Lisa LaTouche, Max Pollak, and Jason Samuels Smith, hosted by ATDF Artistic/ Executive Director Tony Waag. The evening will offer ATDF Artists in Residence an opportunity to showcase and discuss their current work, to be included in ATDF’s Rhythm in Motion concerts at the Theater at the 14th Street Y, April 8-12. Find our more here

It’s all about the way these bodies move and how effortlessly they embrace the movement in Wayne McGregor's Atomos at Peak Performances.  Loosely clumped, bare-legged and in full or cropped leotards, dangly arms, dagger-like legs and rubbery bodies shift in and out of vignettes on a misty stage to a sea of humming chords.  The succession of different groupings and dynamic dancing that follow are topped one after the other .  Ahhh, but this is what McGregor is known for.  This, like other works by McGregor, is an investigation.  This time around it’s about how bodies move and how they are similar to atoms, or not, in their ability to weave; to be unpredictable, malleable.  We are given 3D glasses and directed to use them only when the screens are present, in this way we “see” the different images emerging from small to large sizes, multiplying or changing colors as they come towards us.  The screens are lowered from the ceiling, and though it’s hard to see both the action on the stage and pay attention what’s featured on the screens all at once, when we get what we are to do, the juxtaposition is quite nice.  It seems unfair to single out one dancer, but in one of the few faster-paced moments when a bright bar of red light appears across the back wall and slowly travels up, Alvaro Dule is alone.  Like finely composed particles his torso slithers in a full circle, he rolls his shoulder in another circle, follows through with a leg far past his ear, still in mid-air, then balances.  arms splayed to the sides.  At different intervals, the others may throw a leg to their face and hold it, or pause for a moment to trace fingers up and down their waist with bent elbows. To finish, couples spin incessantly (men carrying women hung over their shoulders, legs extended), a trio remains, Daniela Neugebauer on the shoulder of Michael-John Harper, she continues to spin and James Pett circles around them until the curtain falls. The atoms/dancers and collaborative team are: Catarina Carvalho, Travis Clausen-Knight, Dule, Harper, Louis McMiller, Neugebauer, Anna Nowak, Pett, Fukiko Takase and Jessica Wright.  

Wayne McGregor I Random Dance runs until Sunday, March 23.  Find out more here

Eva Yerbabuena/Ballet Flamenco’s Lluvia (Rain) at New York City Center, as part of the city-wide Flamenco Festival, was fantastic.  The curtain rises and we see feet, plenty of them, most in shoes and few without—it was quiet.  Then, from the audience, Yerbabuena, in a bright red dress and barefooted enters.  She makes her way to the stage, meanders through the “crowd,” pauses then falls to ground, on one side, legs outstretched and arms close to her body.  Soon, all but four from the crowd, also barefooted, are left on stage.  They too fall to the floor, collapse into fetal position, roll from side to side, and in alternating sequences, rise and fall out of the floor, assuming terse arm and torsos foreshadowing what is to come.  Then, and only then, does the music begin, and Yerbabuena who returns (didn't realized she’d left), commands the space tapping out rapid sounds from her shoes. Charged then with the intensity of flamenco (guitar, song and dance), the dancers and musicians alike prompt each other with simply an inhale.  Yerbabuena mixes pure Flamenco with contemporary styles and what follows is a generous dose of both: a duet/trio with Yerbabuena, a male dancer and a malleable table where arms push through from one side to the other separating the dancers, or a lively Spanish café with music and dance and lots of prompting - baile!  Yerbabuena’s spit-fire solo framed by singers Jose Valencia, Enrique “El extremeno” and Juan Jose Amador, finely capped with the donning of a red shawl brings the evening to a close.  More please!

Simply put, there was a lot of really good dancing during the Joyce Theatre’s three-week-long “Brazil Festival.”  The dancers from Belo Horizonte’s Mimulus Companhia de Dança were unashamedly dogged, the two from Rio de Janeiro, Companhia Urbana de Dança brought contemplation and fun, while Focus Cia de Dança partnered skillfully between people and chairs; and, as always, New York’s DanceBrazil brings capoeira from the street to the stage.

Mimulus’ evening-length work, Dolores, inspired by characters in films by Pedro Almodóvar opened the festival with a voyeuristic look at dance.  Jomar Mesquita and the collaborative team of dancers (Alexandre Tadra, Andrea Pinheiro, Fabiana Dias, Lorena Horta, Paula Pazos, Rodrigo de Castro and Samuel Samways) tell stories by groping body parts, kissing whoever is nearby or deconstructing salsa  or the tango.  In one exquisite duet danced by Mesquita and a female dancer , her leg pierces through or glides between both of his, a wad of her hair or an ankle helps to execute a turn, and, sensuously a hand grabs a button-down shirt for support after a head trails off a chest.  They danced to Jacques Brel's Ne Me Quitte Pas.  Each dancer’s command for movement clearly surpassed the many provocative and sometimes funny mini-stories.   

Artistic director, Sonia Destrie Lie deconstructs popular dance forms for Urbana, and she is good at it.  ID:ENTIDADES (2009 ) is just one example.  This dark work, visually (lights show bodies cut in half) and conceptually (life in the favelas-slums of Brazil), show the seven men and one woman telling tacit movement stories through a blend of hip-hop and dance/theatre configurations.  A shirt-less man stands popping and locking; ripples running through his upper body, on one side of the stage, while a pair, seated on the other side watches and mimics, with abbreviated look-alike gestures.  The fun-filled Na Pista, on the other hand was lighter, beginning with a round of musical cheers, and followed by a nice splattering of b-boying, house, hip-hop dance and more.  Cutting both works, by just 10 minutes would have been perfect.    

The evening-length As Canções Que Você Dançou Pra Mim (Songs You Danced For Me) to the music of Brazilian singer-songwriter Roberto Carlos, choreographed by director Alex Neoral for Focus is remembered for the “four-minute-long-kiss.”  Great, but, what must also be noted is how the dancers managed a seriously complicated duet of lifts, spins and balances during this famous kiss.  Here again, the dancers master the art of dancing, this time with chairs as partners and make it all look so casual and easy.   

More nice dancing abound in DanceBrazil’s  Fé do Sertão (2013) and Gueto (2014) by artistic director Jelon Vieira, and Búzios (2014) by company member Guilherme Durate.  Special mention must be given to Willians Ferreira for the graceful way he executes minimal movement during is too brief solo in Búzios. More please.  We can always count on Viera and DanceBrazil to deliver exceptional live music and captivating capoeira. 

Panelisis will inquire as to when it became acceptable for a person who defines themselves as avant-garde to also say “I’m black.”

join the conversation
New York Live Arts loves to hear the opinions and thoughts of its patrons. We encourage you to to share any images you take or thoughts you have during your visit on our Twitter and Insatgram channels as well as on our Facebook event for this show. Use the hash tag #billchats.

RSVP/Buy Tickets here
Catch the Live Stream here 

Artistic Director of New York Live Arts Leaving for Post in Florida 

Roslyn Sulcas of The New York Times writes, "Carla Peterson stayed in the same building when she changed jobs in 2006, from executive director of Movement Research to artistic director of Dance Theater Workshop, now known as New York Live Arts. Now she is going to need some interstate transport. The Maggie Allesee National Center for Choreography at Florida State University has announced that Ms. Peterson will be its next director, following Jennifer Calienes, who has held the position since the center’s inception in 2004."    Read more about Carla's departure from NYLA here  

Carla will surely be missed!

Wally Cardona & Jennifer Lacey
Park Avenue Armory
March 21-23

This is a not-to-be-missed FREE series.  Initiated in 2012 by the ever-inquisitive Wally Cardona, The Set Up is a multi-year project devised by Cardona, made with choreographer Jennifer.  The Set Up “…posits western contemporary practice as yet one cultural specificity among others. Made with an international assembly of artists viewed as masters in their respective disciplines, each master is invited to teach what they think is most important about the form to which they have devoted their lives. This is followed by periods of response and reflection that culminate with a final piece,” according to the release. This is the fourth installment of an eight-part series begun in Central Java with classical Javanese dancer Heni Winahyuningsih, dancer/teacher at the Sultan Palace in Yogyakarta for over 30 years.  The dancers are: Silas Riener, Lacey and Cardona.  Music is by Reiko Fueting and the musicians are Drake Anderson, Nani Fueting, Jeffrey Gavett, Jacek Mioduszewski.  Find out more here

 Alonzo King LINES Ballet
The Joyce Theater
March 18-23
Kings’ LINES Ballet brings the New York premiere of Constellation, a collaboration with visual artist Jim Campbell, Israeli mezzo-soprano Maya Lahyani and the dancers of LINES.  Over the course of the piece, the dancers interact with the LED spheres - strings of light drape the dancers’ bodies and lighted globes are tucked in their hands or the crooks of their knees,” notes the release.  Find out more here 

Martha Graham Dance Company
New York City Center
March 19–22
The Company will present Graham’s classic works: Appalachian Spring (70th anniversary), The Rite of Spring (30th anniversary), a new one-act production of Clytemnestra (1958), Maple Leaf Rag (1990), plus world premieres by Nacho Duato and Andonis Foniadakis. Find out more here

Rocío Molina and Rosario "La Tremendita"
Baryshnikov Arts Center
March 20-22
Called "One of the finest soloists in the world today" by The New York Times, flamenco performer Rocío Molina, and cantaora Rosario "La Tremendita" in partnership with Flamenco Festival New York bring the U.S. premiere of Afectos.  Bassist Pablo Martín joins the duo.  Find out more here

RUBBERBANDance Group
Pace University’s - Michael Schimmel Center For The Arts
March 20-22
Montreal-based RUBBERBANDance Group under co-artistic director/dancer, Victor Quijada brings their fusion of breakdancing, ballet and modern dance in Quijada’s Quotient Empirique (2013).  Find out more here 

boomerang
Dixon Place
March 21
See the premiere of the solo work, How you shone through me, and the duet, Our Past the Fuse.  Find out more here

David Dorfman Dance
92nd Street Y’s Harkness Dance Festival
March 21-23
For the last week of the Stripped/Dressed series, Dorfman brings Lightbulb Theory, and Impending Joy, which hasn’t been performed since 2004. Find out more here  

REVERBdance
Baruch Performing Arts Center
March 21-23
Curators Kate Griffler, Sidra Bell, Lane Gifford, and Bradley Shelver in collaboration with Steps Beyond presents ninth annual season of dance featuring twenty choreographers from around the U.S., Australia, Taiwan, Italy, and the Philippines.   Find out more here 

Peridance Contemporary Dance Company & Flamenco cantaora Rocia Bazán
Peridance Center
March 22-23
The Peridance Center’s two-week festival concludes with Falla and Flamenco: El Amor Brujo a collaboration as part of Flamenco Festival New York featuring Spanish flamenco cantaora Rocio Bazán, Perspectives Ensemble conducted by Angel Gil-Ordóñez and Peridance Contemporary Dance Company with choreography by Igal Perry.  Find out more here

Russian National Ballet Theatre
Brooklyn Center for the Performing Arts at Brooklyn College
March 23
See Russia’s National Ballet Theatre’s interpretation of The Sleeping Beauty – this is the only opportunity.  Find out more here 

 
ALL MONTH LONG:

BAAD!ASS WOMEN FESTIVAL
The Bronx Academy of Arts & Dance
March 8-29
Aimed at celebrating the empowerment of women through art, culture and performance, this year’s Festival opens with Sole Sisters/choreographers: Jennifer Chin, Jessica Danser-Schwartz, Valerie Green, Shizu Homma, Nadine Martinez, MAWU, K. Rizz and Yuko Snowbunny. Find out more here  


The Paul Taylor Dance Company
David H. Koch Theater at Lincoln Center 
March 12-30
For its 60th anniversary New York Season some of Taylor’s classics spanning seven decades (1954 - today) will be presented including Private Domain (1969), Esplanade (1975 ) and Arden Court (1981) among many others, plus the New York premiere of American Dreamer and the World premiere of Taylor’s 140th  piece Marathon Cadenzas.  Find out more here  

See my Amsterdam News March Dance Calendar here

Featured: 
Alonzo King's LINES Contemporary Ballet & Rocio Molina and cantaora Rosario "La Tremendita"