A first for American Ballet Theatre in 75 years - At 32, and after 14 years or "hard work," Misty Copeland is promoted to "Principal"

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New York Times AND New York Times

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Raven Wilkinson, who in 1955 joined the Ballet Russe de Monte Carlo as the first African American woman, and Lauren Anderson, who in 1990 became the first female African American principal dancer in the country at Houston Ballet and, at the time, the world’s only African American prima ballerina in a major ballet company presented flowers to Copeland after her momentous New York debut in Swan Lake, just one week before her promotion!

The nathantrice/RITUALS dance theater will perform works from their Strange Love: EPISODES project, an exploration of courtship, intimacy and love and their other worldly evening length work Bottom of a Kiss Floating.


The evening will also feature performances by participants of the 2015 nathantrice/RITUALS dance theater Summer Intensive Project Performance with choreography by Nathan Trice in collaboration with social theorist Charles De Vauex.


Tickets:
 $20;  $10 - students & seniors with ID
 
Group rates available
 
Tickets available at: www.kumbletheater.org
 or
Box Office: (718) 488-1624
 

Some thoughts on Kota Yamazaki's OQ for AmNews

From Yoko Shioya - Artistic Director - Japan Society:

Dear Friends,

By this time, many of you have probably heard the sad news of the passing of legendary butoh artist Ko Murobushi. It is truly a great loss for the entire international dance community. Ko’s sudden death occurred this past weekend in Mexico, where he was in transit following performances in Brazil and en route to a butoh workshop in Germany. Just an example of the truly international career of this Japanese artist.

 Japan Society, together with Dance Theater Workshop and the Contemporary Dance Network in Kyoto, has always been proud to have been the first organizations to bring Ko to the U.S. in 2002, under the inaugural US-Japan Choreography Exchange Residency Project. Inspired by this program, Murobushi was drawn to spend more time in New York City, which he was eventually able to do through as a fellow of the Asian Cultural Council. In addition to Japan Society’s presentation and tour of Ko’s company, Ko Murobushi & Edge Co. to NYC and other cities, I also would like to mention LEIMAY’s (CAVE Organization Inc.) deep and longtime relationship with Ko through workshops and formal performances, which has truly enriched the NYC dance scene.

We take this time to mourn the passing of this great artist as well as remember his remarkable legacy that he leaves behind.

Sincerely,

Yoko Shioya

Dance Brazil
The Joyce Theater
June 23-July 3

DanceBrazil, under the direction of Jelon Vieira, presents the company’s signature fusion of Capoeira, Afro-Brazilian and contemporary dance plus live music.  Slated for this season is Búzios by Guilherme Duarte, based on The jogo de búzios, or the throwing of cowrie shells, Gueto, Vieira's “…testimony to the abiding vitality and humanity that sustain the people living in the many marginalized, disenfranchised communities in Brazil and around the world,” according to the release, and the premiere of Vieira’s Malungos, a homage to those who were part of the Atlantic Slave Trade.  Find out more here

Mallory Catlett
Studio C at Gibney Dance: Agnes Varis Performing Arts Center
June 24–27
For the final show of Gibney Dance’s inaugural “Making Space” season, Catlett brings Decoder 2017 which uses the writing of William Burroughs as the basis for this performance installation.  Find out more here 

ZviDance
New York Live Arts
June 24-27
ZviDance's newest work, Escher/Bacon/Rothko, set in three parts, is an evening-length dance piece inspired by the work of M.C. Escher, Francis Bacon and Mark Rothko.  Find out more here

The Royal Ballet
David H. Koch Theater/Lincoln Center
June 24-27
The Joyce Theater presents The Royal Ballet  in the company’s first engagement in over 11 years, and celebrates the work of British choreographers Kenneth MacMillan, Frederick Ashton, Wayne McGregor, Liam Scarlett and Artistic Associate Christopher Wheeldon. Find out more here 

Rachel Tess
Fort Jay Magazine, Governors Island
Jun 25-28
Co-commissioned and presented by BAC, Lower Manhattan Cultural Council and the Princess Grace Foundation-USA, choreographer/dancer Tess will present Souvenir Undone as part of the River To River Festival 2015..  Find out more here 

"Out of La Negrura" – Various Artists
Pregones Theater
June 26
This multi-media event pays tribute to the original troupe of dancers/choreographers who crafted the dance/theater piece Out of La Negrura in 2004, and now includes a new generation of dance artists.  Featured are: Sita Frederick, Ana “Rokafella” Garcia, Marion Ramirez Beatrice Capote, Odylle “Bgirl Mantis”Beder and Jadele McPherson. Find out more here

Filip A. Condeescu, Kharis Collins +
BAAD!
June 26
Concluding the "OUT LIKE THAT! Festival" at BAAD! Condeescu, Collins and eight other choreographers celebrate SYLVESTER and Gender Freedom.  Find more here 

Everybooty
BAM Fisher
June 26
Curated by SPANK, Sarah Jenny, and Big Art Group, this multi-genre, multi-gender celebration of queer culture returns with “…mash-up highlight[ing] local artists shaping the future of contemporary art and culture in a one-night-only event featuring musicians, dancers, visual artists, drag performers, DJs, and more,” according to the release.  Find out more here 

Christopher Williams
92nd Street Y
June 26
Williams' Spirits of the Air and Heros, “….finds inspiration in art and stories from around the world," according to the release. This program will also feature special guest Douglas Dunn & Dancers.  Find out more here

Bridgman | Packer Dance
The Yard
June 26-27
The Yard welcomes Bridgman | Packer Dance’s Truck, performed inside a 17-foot box truck with the audience viewing from the outside, creating a re-imagined space.  Find out more here

The Equus Projects
Snug Harbor Cultural Center
June 27
Grazing Gracefully by JoAnna Mendl Shaw & Company, and described as a “…wacky tea party for humans and horses...” in the release happens this weekend.   Find out more here

River To River Festival – Various Artists
Various Downtown Manhattan Venues
June 18-28
See Lower Manhattan’s waterfronts, parks, plazas and history during Lower Manhattan Cultural Council's 14th annual "River To River Festival" in and around downtown NYC.  This free summer arts festival will feature: Michelle Boulé in White (June 26-27), Wally Cardona, Jennifer Lacey, Jonathan Bepler in The Set Up: Saya Lei (June 24-26), Catherine Galasso in Fall of the Rebel Angels:X (June 26-28), Emmanuelle Huynh—Company Mua in Cribles/Wild Governors (June 26-28) and more.  Find out more here   

Saturday, June 20 at 10:30am 
West Harlem Piers Park -Summer on the Hudson
125-133rd Street and the Hudson River 
(workshop on plaza across from Fairway Market)
Take the #1 train to 125th Street, walk west towards river, Bx15 to last stop west
 
Celebrate moving in strong and creative ways!
ALL FUN. ALL WELCOME.
Nothing is better than dancing outside by the water on a beautiful day!
 
Free Movement Classes continue in Washington Square Park every Thursday morning @ 9:30 AM  at Garibaldi Plaza.  

Special DVP Collaboration with The Joyce Theater Foundation and the Central Harlem Senior Center.  Join David Pickering, former soloist of the Royal Ballet in a special class for seniors Friday June 26 10:30 to 11:30AM at Central Harlem Senior Center, 34 West 134th Street

Join DVP in Upstate New York, Monday, July 6 - Friday, July 10 for workshops at PS 21 in Chatham and Movement Speaks® at Camphill Ghent!

For more information 347-683-2691

Bill T. Jones/Arnie Zane Dance Company
Peak Performances' Alexander Kasser Theater
June 18-21
Analogy/Dora: Tramontane, based on an oral history Jones conducted with 94-year-old Dora Amelan, a French Jewish nurse and social worker during World War II, is Jones’ first new work since 2013.  “Analogy began twelve years ago, simply, as a gift Jones created for his longtime partner and collaborator, Bjorn Amelan and his family.  Dora Amelan's harrowing, touching and inspirational story is broken into 25 episodes that become the basis for choreography, narrative and music.  These episodes chronicle her early family life, her mother's death as the Germans were marching into Belgium, her journey onwards to France and the loss of further family members during the war.  Arriving in Vichy France she encounters the internment camps of Gurs and Rivesaltes, where she devotes herself to working for a Jewish underground organization.  Dora currently lives in Paris and will attend the premiere,” notes the release.  Find out more here 

Elisa Monte, Jacqulyn Buglisi and Jennifer Muller
New York Live Arts
June 16-20
Together Monte, Buglisi and Muller join forces in a shared evening  of works titled Reflections on Water which will include: Alchemy (Jennifer Muller/The Works), Hurricane Deck (Elisa Monte Dance), Sand and Sacred Landscapes 1 (Buglisi Dance Theatre).  Find out more here

Polish National Ballet
Joyce Theater
June 16-21
For their New York debut, Poland’s Polish National Ballet, under the artistic direction of Krzysztof Pastor, will present a program of three works: Pastor's Adagio & Scherzo (US Premiere) and Moving Rooms (New York Premiere), plus Emanuel Gat’s Rite of Spring.  Find out more here 

Hudson River Dance Festival
Hudson River Park
June 17-18
For the inaugural Hudson River Park Festival on one of the nation's longest waterfront (Pier 63) featured companies include Ballet Hispanico, Paul Taylor Dance Company, and Parsons Dance.  Find out more here

New York Theatre Ballet
Dancespace Project
June 18-20
New York Theatre Ballet will perform Legends & Visionaries 2015 at Danspace Project.  On the program is Richard Alston's Such Longing, Frederick Ashton's Capriol Suite, the World Premiere of Gemma Bond's Cat's Cradle, a new, as-yet-untitled work by David Parker, and Antony Tudor's Dark Elegies.  Find out more here 

River To River Festival – Various Artists
Various Downtown Manhattan Venues
June 18-28
See Lower Manhattan’s waterfronts, parks, plazas and history during Lower Manhattan Cultural Council's 14th annual "River To River Festival" in and around downtown NYC.  This free summer arts festival will feature: Souleymane Badolo (June 19, 21, 22 - Pier 15) in a new solo Dance My Life; A Canary Torsi (June 19 – 20 - Federal Hall) in Court/Garden a dance and live music performance; Twyla Tharp and 100 “community members” (June 20 - Nelson A. Rockefeller Park - Battery Park City) in The One Hundreds;  Rachel Tess (June 21- St. Cornelius Chapel, Governors Island) in These Are Bodies, These Are Motions, This Is The Place; and Trisha Brown Dance Company  (June 21 - Robert F. Wagner Jr. Park - Battery Park City) in Trisha Brown: In Plain Site. Find out more here 


American Dance Guild
Eden’s Expressway
June 19 – 20
The American Dance Guild's “Bare Bones 2015 Choreography Showcase” will feature new works in tribute to independent dance artist Frances Alenikoff in the space she created, Eden’s Expressway. Find out more here 


Richard Rivera & Ni'Ja Whitson
BAAD! 
June 20
Rivera, as part of BADD!’s “Open Rehearsal,” and Whitson with When Water Dries the Mouth: Experiments & Suite Prayers present works as part of "The OUT LIKE THAT! Festival" at BAAD!  Find more here 


Paloma McGregor 
BAX
June 21
McGregor develops “Phase Two” of her process based project Building a Better Fishtrap.  For the past four years, Caribbean-born choreographer McGregor has been developing this performance project rooted in the vanishing fishing tradition of her 89-year-old father. Find out more here 

Dance Brazil
June 20
Celebrate Brooklyn! Prospect Park Bandshell
Under artistic director Jelon Vieira, DanceBrazil the company that fuses contemporary movement with the dance/martial arts form of capoeira will perform repertory works.  Find out more here