Maya Angelou has joined the ancestors - she will be missed!

"Her ability to speak to everyone in the same voice was what made her the force she was."  Nikki Giovanni

President Barack Obama called Angelou "one of the brightest lights of our time -- a brilliant writer, a fierce friend, and a truly phenomenal woman."

President Bill Clinton said "America has lost a national treasure."

Music producer Quincy Jones, who collaborated with Angelou on two songs for the soundtrack of the 1968 film "For Love of Ivy," said this: "As an author and poet, Maya Angelou's ability to channel God's voice and express the feelings deep within all of humanity will never be matched by another.  She gave us words when we could find none, and helped us to see clearly when the light was dimmest."

Read more from NPR here

Read more from CNN here

It was a hot night at Harlem Stage when Kyle Abraham, choreographer, dancer and recipient of the MacArthur Foundation's Genius Grant award, curated an evening of Counterculture, part of the Gatehouses’ “Uptown Night Series.”  The bleachers were pushed back to make room for this non-stop, LGBTQ night of music and lots of dancing. From the top of the show, Harlem Stage’s Brad Learmonth (Director of Programming), alongside Abraham, made it clear that the action that evening would take place near the stage, as well as on the dance floor, so everyone should get ready—and so they did.  Abraham, self-described as “…a black, gay, hip-hop-loving male who grew up working in record stores and spent much of his nightlife in dance clubs,”  shared his loves and it was a success. Dance fiends Wendell Cooper and Javier Ninja stopped the show completely, pumping out move after heart-pounding move!  Opening and closing the evening were rappers William (Will) Sheridan and Le1f respectively, with DJ Edgar UM spinning. Harlem Stage and Abraham promises that this is the beginning—there is more to come.  Let’s hope so!

Audition 
Hattie Mae Williams-The Tattooed Ballerinas

June 1, 2014- 12:00 @ New World School of the Arts 25 NE 2nd st. 
For site specific dance/film @ the Miami Marine Stadium.  
Supported by the Knight foundation. 
                                
Dancers come prepared to learn Modern/Contemporary phrase and show Improvisation skills.

Find out more here

Apply Now! 

The application deadline for 
LiftOff 2014 & 
Performance Mix Festival 2015
is June 20



LiftOff: Creation and Business Residency, August 1-31, 2014

Summer residency August 1-31, 2014. The residency provides three physical based performance artists with 22 hours of rehearsal space each, two creative feedback group sessions and one two hour career consultation facilitated by director, Karen Bernard. There is no fee for the residency.

Performance Mix Festival, Spring 2015

The Performance Mix Festival presents physically based devised performance and video works (Spring 2015 dates and location TBA). We program works up to 15 minutes for one evening, but we will consider longer works, as well as multiple performances. Artists receive a fee, complimentary video documentation, and rehearsal space.

Fill out our online application today!

Thank you to our funders: View our complete list of funders

John Jasperse
New York Live Arts
May 28-30

In the world premiere of Jasperse’s evening-length work, Within between, he “…seeks to both embrace and resist the habits of his own history, creating a cross-pollination or catalytic mating of sensibilities. In this way, the work emerges out of a space between seemingly mutually distinct terrains,” according to the release. Within between is “…Inspired by sourcing isolated formal attributes of movement, energy and structure, [where] Jasperse has drawn from both his historical work as well as from the broader cultural landscape. Many of these outside sources include known choreographic practices and styles—often focusing on how these practices constitute ensemble or community—as well as the physiological dynamics of social interaction. Movement undergoes a metamorphosis of de-familiarization and integration, as seemingly disparate starting points are addressed in tandem,” according to the release.  Find out more here 

Cuba’s MalPaso Dance Company
The Joyce Theater
May 27-June1
Catch the U.S. debut of MalPaso Dance Company with the premiere of Why You Follow by Ronald K. Brown and 24 Hours and a Dog by MalPaso’s artistic director Osnel Delgado.  Find out more here

Daniel Gwirtzman Dance Company
BAM Fisher
May 30-June 1
Gwirtzman celebrates the company’s 15th anniversary and premieres The Oracle, an evening-length dance in the round for fourteen dancers.  This performance culminates a series of virtual events.  Find out more here 

From the Horse’s Mouth - The Men Dancers, Plus!
Michael Schimmel Center for the Arts/Pace University
May 30-June 1
In honor of ballet great Frederic Franklin (1914-2013) The Men Dancers, Plus! will feature appearances by a male and female cast including Mindy Aloff, Jack Anderson, Bill Ausman, Arthur Aviles, Josh Beamish, John Canemaker, Carmen de Lavallade, George Dorris, Hari Krishnan, Arthur Mitchell, Norton Owen, Xiomara Reyes, Nancy Reynolds, Gus Solomons jr, Martine van Hamel, Edward Villella and more.  Find out more here

Jen Rosenblit
The Kitchen
May 29-31
Rosenblit presents A Natural Dance “…concerned with structuring bodies falling out of relation, aesthetically and spiritually, in order to locate ways of being together,” according to the release.  Find out more here   

Christopher Caines
92nd Street Y
May 30
Caines will share a preview of his new, as yet untitled ballet, performed by artists from the New York Theatre Ballet. Caines will also show some works and talk about what he’s learned about women’s strengths and female partnering as he’s worked with the Conservatory’s dancers. This event will be streamed live.  Find out more here

Ballets with a Twist
Hamilton Stage
May 31-June 1
Cool cocktails plus the premiere of Eau de Vie and The Boilermaker are scheduled for this event.   Find out more here

A Centennial Performance of Isadora Duncan’s Grande Marche
The Green-Wood
May 31
Catherine Gallant and her company, Catherine Gallant/DANCE will perform some of Duncan’s most memorable works.  Find out more here

The Nouveau Classical Project and TrioDance Collective
BAM Fisher
May 29
In the world premiere of Potential Energies the group's first dance project, they “…invent a distinctive physical role for the musicians: each member of the five-piece ensemble is paired onstage with a dancer…[while]…the dancers are able to move freely, without the restrictions of an instrument,” according to the release.  Find out more here

Karen Sherman
The Chocolate Factory
May 28-31
In Sherman's One With Others “Dance, words and scrap wood are the raw materials for [this]… examination of who we become due to the choices we make—or that others make for us,” notes the release.  Find out more here

GABRIELA  GRANADOS  AMERICAN  BOLERO  DANCE  COMPANY
Tony Bennett Concert Hall at Frank Sinatra School of the Arts
May 31
Spanish dancer Granados presents a program of Flamenco and Classical Spanish Dance with surprise guests and music headed by the Cassatt String Quartet; Jose Valle Chuscales, flamenco guitarist; Jose Cortes, flamenco singer; Peter Castaldi, baritone, and more.  Find out more here

Story ballets often give the viewer a chance to disappear into a dream state for a couple of hours and the American Ballet Theatre (ABT) did just that.  For one of the many family matinee series ABT presented the lavish, funny and beautifully danced Don Quixote: Ballet in Three Acts (1871) by Marius Petipa and Alexander Gorsky.  This grand 1991 version on an equally grand stage, The Metropolitan Opera House (The Met), was a treat for all ages.  Staged by Kevin McKenzie and Susan Jones, the celebrated roles: “Kitri” is danced by the lyrical Isabella Boylston and “Basilio” by the robust Daniil Simkin, while young dancers from the School at American Ballet Theatre and a large corp de ballet, helped to make the story real.  Victor Barbee as Don Quixote is a delight in the way he masters gestural movement, and so too was his side-kick, Luis Ribagorda as Sancho Panza.  The very funny Craig Salstein as “Gamache,” a rich nobleman, kept young audience members in stitches, while Stella Abrera as “Mercedes,” a street dancer,” and Sascha Radetsky as “Espada, a famous matador” were magnificent.  It was wonderful to see Boylston match Simkin in Act III when both exploded into extraordinary turn sequences.  Miguel de Cervantes’ 1605 story came to life and it was fun!

Misty Copeland featured in ABT's spring season - AmNews preview

Performing in:

Kyle Abraham's COUNTERCULTURE
Harlem Stage
May 23

For one-night-only, choreographer, dancer and recipient of the MacArthur Foundation's Genius Grant award, Kyle Abraham will present his Counterculture, a night of music and dancing celebrating street, club and LGBTQ cultures.  The evening is billed as “An Exhilarating Night Of Music, Performances, A Dance Battle, And Dance Party Celebrating LGBTQ Cultures.”  Counterculture is part of Harlem Stage's "Uptown Nights" series that recalls the time when Harlem served as the location for adventurous music and arts lovers to see and hear cutting-edge artists.  In curating this event, Abraham “…channeled the various subcultures that have inspired him throughout his life as a black, gay, hip-hop-loving male who grew up working in record stores and spent much of his nightlife in dance clubs,” notes the release.

Evening’s lineup:                                           
7:00PM MIXER
7:30PM PERFORMANCES
9:30PM DANCE PARTY

Find out more here

 
STILL RUNNING:

THE BOOGIE DOWN DANCE SERIES
The Bronx Academy of Art & Dance
May 3-31
This annual festival features “home grown” dances from the Bronx including works by Esteban Arana & Leticia Pliego, Renardo Domeico-Grays VISIONS Contemporary Ballet, Sage Rivera, Awilda Rodríguez-Lora, and many more.  Find out more here

NEW THIS WEEK:

PLATFORM 2014: Diary of an Image by DD Dorvillier
Danspace Project
May 21-June 14
New York City and Paris-based choreographer Dorvillier’s month of performances and events accompanied by a Danspace Project publication focuses on her work and practices.  Dorvillier has also invited artists closely associated with her work and history: Katerina Andreou, Oren Barnoy, Walter Dundervill, Heather Kravas, Jennifer Lacey, Jennifer Monson, Nibia Pastrana, Sébastien Roux, and Elizabeth Ward to perform solo works of their own in one-night-only performances.  Find out more here 

Wendell Cooper
LaMama Moves! Festival
May 22, 24, 25
As part of a larger project interrogatimg the performer/audience relationship through an evolving mindfulness methodology, Cooper will lead a pre-show mediation before the shared program with Chase Brock and Chris Masters.  Find out more here 

Sita Frederick
163rd Street @ Simpson & Southern Blvd and continue in the Casita Maria Theater
May 23
Areytos and Casita Maria presents Frederick’s Why Did the Pollo Cross the Calle? To Get to the Otro Lado... "A new site specific work exploring the limits we internalize, the borders we traverse, and the significance of el pollo, the chicken,” according to the release. Find out more here 

DanceAfrica 2014
BAM
May 23-24
DanceAfrica returns to BAM for the 37th year with its traditional Memorial Day weekend of dance, music, film, visual arts, and community events. Under the artistic direction of Baba “Chuck” Davis, DanceAfrica shines a spotlight on Madagascar for the first time.  Also included this season is Buffalo-based AACC Dance & Drum Performance Company, Brooklyn’s Asase Yaa African-American Dance Theatre, plus the BAM/Restoration DanceAfrica Dance Ensemble.  Find out more here

William Isaac’s Kymera Dance
Goldman-Sonnenfeldt Family Auditorium/JCC
May 25-26
Kymera Dance will premiere Isaac's Aperture of Time plus Changes by guest choreographer Amy Hall Garner  Find out more here

Tap Attack
Hudson River Park
May 25
The American Tap Dance Foundation’s annual celebration commemorating the birth date of Bill “Bojangles” Robinson (1878-1949), Tap Attack, a free, public, outdoor event will feature open jam sessions plus special appearances by tappers Chloe Arnold (and her company Apt 33),  Japan’s Kazu Kumagai, Michela Marino Lerman, Max Pollak, Jason Samuels Smith and ATDF’s Tap City Youth Ensemble.  This year marks the 25th anniversary of National Tap Dance Day.  Find out more here