Charmaine Warren
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Some Dance This Week(end) ~

10/25/2017

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Apollo’s Breakin’ Convention Festival – Various Artists
Apollo Theater
October 27 - 28

In Collaboration with London’s Sadler’s Wells Theatre, the global hip-hop dance theatre festival Breakin’ Convention will feature an appearance by hip hop legend Biz Markie as co-host, plus performances by: Dynamic Rockers (USA), Havoc and Klassic (USA), Popin' Pete (USA), Rep Your Style (USA), Protocol Dance Company (UK), Salah (France), Soweto Skeleton Movers (SA), Yeah Yellow (France), Bwreakfast Club from Litefeet Nation (USA), and Passionfruit Dance Company (USA).host one of the biggest and most elite dance competitions in the underground hip-hop community called Battlefest at the Apollo.  This competition brings dancers from all over the nation to participate in an intense show off of skill and technique.   “ This year’s festival will also directly address several pressing issues that are part of America’s current sociopolitical landscape through performances and accompanying events, with highlights including an artist talk with dancers Jon Boogz and Lil Buck centered on dance as a tool for social justice and prison reform,” notes the release. Find out more here
 
American Ballet Theatre
David H. Koch Theater
October 18 – 29
In addition to the long list of works for the season, the season ends with Counterpoint for Philip Johnson by Benjamin Millepied, “…an ode to the theater’s architect, is set to Nagoya Marimba by Steve Reich and features 24 dancers from American Ballet Theatre’s Studio Company and Jacqueline Kennedy Onassis School,” notes the release.  Find out more here 
 
nicHi douglas
JACK
October 19 – 28
In Black Girl Magic Show!, “…an absurdist dance theatre lecture by playwright/performer nicHi douglas on Black female identity…[douglas]… Utilizing African Diasporan histories, Black feminist theory, and a lot of stuff …to unpack, re-pack, and de-pack the Black female experience in America as witnessed by one Black woman - The Professor,” notes the release.  Find out more here
 
Cynthia Oliver
BAM/Fisher
October 25 – 28
Oliver’s world-premiere Virago-Man Dem “…explores both the overt and unspoken expressions of black masculinity through movement, spoken word, and original visual projections from the collaborative entity Black Kirby,” notes the release. The work is based on the lives of its African-American and Afro-Caribbean performers Duane Cyrus, Jonathan Gonzalez, Niall Noel Jones, and Ni’Ja Whitson, and shifts from their specific experiences to broader cultural perspectives. Read an interview with Oliver here.  Find out more here
 
ODC/Dance
BAM/Harvey Theater
October 25 – 28
At BAM ODC/Dance with founder Brenda Way and co-artistic director KT Nelson use British land artist Andy Goldsworthy’s work as a “…foundation for a meditation on the destructive and generative process of creation,” in boulders and bones. Find out more here
 
Compagnie Maguy Marin
The Joyce Theater
October 25 – 29
The French-based Compagnie Maguy Marin brings the U.S. premiere of  BiT, and evening-length “…confrontational piece exploring violence…[and]…features six dancers who carve through the space alternating between ecstatic celebration and a frenzied scurry,” according to the release. Find out more here
 
Matthew Bourne’s The Red Shoes
New York City Center
October 26 – November 5
Bourne’s new adaptation of the legendary Michael Powell and Emeric Pressburger film set to a new score arranged by New Adventures Associate Artist Terry Davies, plus Ashley Shaw, who originated the role of Victoria Page, and New York City Ballet principal dancer Sara Mearns, debuting as a guest star with the company, alternate in the role. American Ballet Theatre principal dancer Marcelo Gomes and New Adventures dancer Dominic North share the role of composer Julian Craster, and Sam Archer is Boris Lermontov, the iconic Svengali-like impresario.  Find out more here
 
Gibney Dance Company
Gibney Dance: Agnes Varis Performing Arts Center
October 26 – 28
The Company will offer the New York premiere of Gina Gibney’s Drafting Foresight and the premiere of PASTORAL by Shannon Gillen of VIM VIGOR DANCE COMPANY.   Find out more here
 
Various Artists
Peter Norton – Symphony Space
October 28
In an evening titled "AGES OF ENCHANTMENT: JPA Cultural Repertoires 2017," celebrating traditional Japanese performing and folk arts, featured will be dance styles of Iwami Kagura and Nihon Buyo, a world-acclaimed Bunraku puppet troupe and a fashion show of wedding kimonos.  Find out more here  
 
Karole Armitage/Armitage Gone! Dance
La Mama
October 27 - 29
Halloween Unleashed: Dancing Bones, Tasting Darkness and the Skeleton Within, is a subversive comedy designed to spook adults and families in a live action rendition of Disney’s 1929 animated masterpiece, The Skeleton Dance. Combined with images from the wild, capricious street theater of Haitian carnival, Halloween Unleashed offers punk attitude and visual high-jinx, in a dance where bones dance alone, shoes fly off feet, and skeletons turn into musical instruments. Find out more here
 
10 Hairy Legs
Kaatsbaan International Dance Center/ The Hudson Valley's Cultural Park for Dance
October 28
The Company will dance Randy James' The Lion, the Witch and the Wardrobe based upon the classic C. S. Lewis “Noveland,” plus Trouble Will Find Me by Doug Elkins.  Find out more here
 
Sundays on Broadway – Various Artists
Cathy Weis Projects/WeisAcres
October 29
Sundays on Broadway, a free and intimate, ongoing series featuring performances, film screenings and discussions, presented by the Cathy Weis Projects at WeisAcres, continues with “Shared evening: Dean Moss, Fast Forward, Ishmael Houston-Jones.”  Find out more here 


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NEWS: Have Fun and Help BAAD! at FunHouse - TONIGHT - THURSDAY, OCTOBER 26!

10/24/2017

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​Gypsy Wigs and sexy art are just some of the items in the silent auction. There is also a "Getaway in the Catskills," a coach bag, nights in NYC Hotels and more.

Click here for a full list of silent auction items and get ready to bid!

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Roots Party at Spaceworks in Williamsburg! WHEN: Thursday, October 26, 2017 from 4pm-8pm

10/24/2017

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Roots Party at Spaceworks in Williamsburg!

WHEN: Thursday, October 26, 2017 from 4pm-8pm

WHERE: Spaceworks @ Williamsburgh Library | 240 Division Ave, Floor 2 Brooklyn, NY 11211

WHAT: Join multi-disciplinary artist Edisa Weeks in making roots out of paper and twine for the installation of THREE RITES: Liberty; and participate in or listen to a communal discussion on the potential benefits and risks of legalizing marijuana.

4pm: We are making roots out of paper and twine. The activity is ongoing from 4pm-8pm
 
6pm-8pm: Community round table discussion:
  • Should people have the liberty to put whatever they want into their own body, as long as they are not harming others? If you don’t own your own body, who does?
  • Who benefits from marijuana being illegal? Who benefits from legalizing marijuana? What are the consequences of both?
  • Has the war on drugs eroded personal freedom and liberty in America?
  • Do the health benefits of marijuana outweigh any potential harm?
  • Should marijuana be regulated and taxed the way cigarettes and alcohol are?
  • Why was hemp cultivation and use made illegal in America, and who benefited from making it illegal? 

Come and go as you please and engage in whatever capacity you feel comfortable – make a root, participate in and/or listen to the conversation.
 
Food and beverages provided
 
RSVP at: https://spaceworksnyc.org/program/roots-party/

​
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NEWS: Founder and Director Ruth Grauert Names Peter Kyle as  Associate Director and Successor for Bearnstow

10/24/2017

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PictureKyle and Grauert
On October 17, 2017, Ruth made this announcement:

"After long consideration I am pleased to announce that I have chosen Peter Kyle as Associate Director and my successor for Bearnstow. He is the best qualified to carry on the aesthetic and the mission of Bearnstow, and he has accepted my invitation with great enthusiasm. Peter has told me how honored he is by this opportunity and how much he looks forward to working with the Bearnstow board of directors, staff and larger community in ensuring Bearnstow thrives long into the future.


"For those of you who may not know Peter, he has been working professionally in dance for the past 27 years. His work is far reaching, and he has a strong foundation in the Nikolais aesthetic. He brings outstanding creative vision, re­sourcefulness and professionalism to all that he does. He is Artistic Director of Peter Kyle Dance, longtime faculty member at Bard College and Marymount Manhattan College, and has been a part of Bearnstow's faculty since 2009. 

To read more about Bearnstow go to bearnstow.org

-Reg/Ruth
​

As Associate Director Peter will become a much more familiar face around camp as he joins Ruth to assist in making policy and administrative decisions. We wish him a hearty welcome! And those who know Ruth know she has no plans for stepping down anytime soon. At 98 she is still going strong!

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Save The Date! The Gathering 2018

10/24/2017

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PicturePhoto: Jacobia Dahm Photography
SAVE THE DATE!
The Gathering 2018
Sunday, January 14, 2018

Gibney Dance: Agnes Varis Performing Arts Center
280 Broadway
New York, NY 10007

Click here to check out our photo album from The Gathering 2017
Invitation to Follow

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NEWS: NYC Winter Study Applications are Open @ Gibney

10/24/2017

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January 2 – 16, 2018
Applications due by December 11, 2017
Application Fee: $50

Tuition: $985
Due within 2 weeks of acceptance: $493
NYC Winter Study offers participants two immersive weeks of study at Gibney Dance. Create a customized schedule of 30-35 classes, dance alongside members of the professional dance community, attend panel discussions, see numerous performances throughout the city, and much more!
Participants have access to Gibney Dance's wide range of artist services and programs and will join a wonderful and diverse community of artists pursuing their passion in one of the greatest cities in the world.
Choose from our Winter class offerings:
  • Master Classes with 10 Hairy Legs & Bates Dance Festival Faculty
  • Contemporary Forms with Jennifer Nugent, Kendra Portier, Dante Brown, Doug Gillespie, Donnell Oakley, Jenna Riegel, Trisha Brown Dance Company
  • Classes hosted by our partners: Cumbe, Movement Research, Kinected, Limón, Cunningham, Gaga USA
  • Closed Creative Process Class for Winter Study students
  • View more offerings on our Class Schedule!
Find out more here

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OPPORTUNITY: Apply now for Performance Mix Festival 2018 - just one week left!

10/24/2017

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Applications are now being accepted for the 32nd Annual Performance Mix Festival, to be held June 7-10, 2018 at University Settlement.

Performance Mix Festival presents physically-based, experimental performance. For short works programming, works should not be more than 15 minutes long. Longer works will be considered, but programming space is limited. Artists receive a fee, complimentary video documentation, and rehearsal space.

The application deadline is one week from today: Thursday, November 2, 2017.
Previous Performance Mix Festival artists should wait one year before reapplying.

APPLY HERE

Please forward this to any artists you know who may be interested.

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Some Dance This Week ~

10/18/2017

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PictureNorsworthy and Carcone
David Norsworthy and Kristen Carcone
Alchemical Studios, The Lab 
October 20

For one-evening-only, the presenting organization, Inception To Exibition (ITE) will showcase the recipients of their "Dance Space Grant for 2017/2018," Norsworthy and Carcone, in an informal showing of works-in progress. "ITE is passionate about the creation, presentation, and building a community of artists," writes Sarah Kleinke, ITE's Dance Curator / Director of Administration.  ITE provides space grants for the purpose of creating new work in the disciplines of dance and theater. Recipients are generally awarded $350-$1000.  Find out more here
​

Pam Tanowitz
Alexander Kasser Theater

October 19 - 22
Peak Performances will present the New York / New Jersey premiere and co-commissioned work New Work for Goldberg Variations, by choreographer Tanowitz and pianist Simone Dinnerstein, and seven Tanowitz dancers—Maggie Cloud, Jason Collins, Christine Flores, Lindsey Jones, Maile Okamura, Melissa Toogood and Netta Yerushalmy—“…moving all around her, translating the music into movement with a slyly deconstructed classical dance vocabulary,” according to the release.  Find out more here 
 
Sarah Michelson
The Kitchen
October 18 - 21

For Michelson's new work, October2017/\ described as "Playful, demanding, rigorous and inscrutable...[she]...considers her daily working practice to be a continuum that hybridizes itself with each institutional context as she composes each presentation on its own terms, with its own chronological and artistic conditions," notes the release.  Find out more here 

Tero Saarinen Company
The Joyce Theater
October 18 – 22
As part of Joyce Theater’s “Ice Hot New York Festival,” the Finnish-based, Tero Saarinen Company with the New York premiere of Saarinen’s evening length work, Morphed (2014) which “…showcases a cast of seven male dancers who charge the stage with virile energy and strength, as themes of sensuality and the abundant emotions and artistry of a man are explored,” according to the release.  Find out more here
 
Marc Bamuthi Joseph
BAM
October 18 – 21
Poet-performer Marc Bamuthi Joseph’s  evening-length /peh-LO-tah/, which “…explores the links between dance and sport, as well as the complexities of soccer… as a source of both joy and exploitation,” will premier as part of BAM’s Next Wave Festival, notes the release. Find out more here
 
Vangeline Theater
Howl!
October 19
The New York Butoh Institute and Vangeline Theater presents Queer Butoh 2017, a free three-hour evening of site-specific Butoh performances with three LGBT/Q Butoh artists from San Francisco, Chicago and New York.  Find out more here 
 
nicHi douglas
JACK
October 19 – 28
In Black Girl Magic Show!, “…an absurdist dance theatre lecture by playwright/performer nicHi douglas on Black female identity…[douglas]… Utilizing African Diasporan histories, Black feminist theory, and a lot of stuff …to unpack, re-pack, and de-pack the Black female experience in America as witnessed by one Black woman - The Professor,” notes the release.  Find out more here 

Brother(hood) Dance! (Orlando Zane Hunter, Jr and Ricarrdo Valentine) and J'Sun Howard
Danspace Project
October 19 – 21
In a shared evening, Howard will present Working on Better Version of Prayers: Volume 1, and in how to survive a plague, “Hunter and Valentine “…explores methods of healing, care-giving, as they share living testimonies,” notes the release.  Find out more here
 
Pam Tanowitz
Alexander Kasser Theater
October 19 - 22
Peak Performances will present the New York / New Jersey premiere and co-commissioned work New Work for Goldberg Variations, by choreographer Tanowitz and pianist Simone Dinnerstein, and seven Tanowitz dancers—Maggie Cloud, Jason Collins, Christine Flores, Lindsey Jones, Maile Okamura, Melissa Toogood and Netta Yerushalmy—“…moving all around her, translating the music into movement with a slyly deconstructed classical dance vocabulary,” according to the release.  Find out more here 

Walter Dundervill
Pioneer Works
October 20 - 22

Dundervill latest work Skybox "...begins where his previous work 
ARENA left off - with a group of mysterious individuals gathered in the skybox of a stadium," according to the release. Skybox is co-presented with NYLA.  Find out more here

Sundays on Broadway – Various Artists
Cathy Weis Projects/WeisAcres
October 22
Sundays on Broadway, a free and intimate, ongoing series featuring performances, film screenings and discussions, presented by the Cathy Weis Projects at WeisAcres, continues with “Shared evening: Lisa Nelson, Jennifer Monson/Zeena Parkins, Seline Baumgartner.  Find out more here
 
Pentacle’s Fall Further VI – Various Artists
Dixon Place
October 22
Pentacle Presents: Fall Further VI its annual fall showcase featuring the works of Pentacle Gallery artists and guests. This year’s performance includes works from CoreDance Contemporary, danceTactics performance group, Hanna Q Dance Company, SYREN Modern Dance and The Moving Architects.  Find out more here
 
Limón Dance Company
Aaron Davis Hall
October 24
The Company will present two acclaimed works by legendary dancer-choreographer José Limón to Harlem audiences for the first time.  On the program is The Moor’s Pavane (1949) and A Choreographic Offering (1964).  Find out more here 

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Interview - Cynthia Oliver - "Virago Man-Dem"  October 25 - 28 @ BAM Fisher

10/18/2017

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PictureOliver's "Virago-Man Dem Current cast of performers Niall Jones, Duane Cyrus, Jonathan Gonzalez. Not pictured: Ni'Ja Whitson. Photo: Chris Cameron
Next week, (October 25 - 28) Cynthia Oliver’s world-premiere dance work Virago-Man Dem opens at BAM Fisher.  Virago-Man Dem explores both the overt and unspoken expressions of black masculinity through movement, spoken word, and original visual projections from the collaborative entity Black Kirby. Reflecting on the term “virago” and its definition of characteristically male behaviors and female cultural transgressions, the work is driven by a core query: "How can a woman choreograph masculinity, without resorting to stereotypes?” Oliver tackles this challenge with a nuanced study in the multiplicities of masculinity, within Caribbean and African-American cultures. The work is based on the lives of its African-American and Afro-Caribbean performers Duane Cyrus, Jonathan Gonzalez, Niall Noel Jones, and Ni’Ja Whitson, and shifts from their specific experiences to broader cultural perspectives. (Read more @ BAM)

In an interview, Oliver responded to some questions about the making of Virago-Man Dem.

Charmaine - For those who may not know, tell us about the germ, and definition of title Virago-Man?
​
Cynthia - Like so many of us, I was sick of the ways in which black men have been construed (and of course treated) in the American media. Misrepresented, stereotyped, reduced and ill regarded - We rarely see black men in their fullness, their sensitivity, sense of humor, tenderness, thoughtfulness, or any aspect that is not reduced to a caricature. And we know so much more about black men. About masculinity(ies). And as a mother with a son, I needed to offer the world something more complex, something hopeful, something that does the masculine principle justice. SO, this work is my love letter to the masculine principle in all its sparkling and glorious variety.

Virago - Man Dem, came about as I was having a conversation with a dear friend in St. Croix and she brought up the term. I hadn't heard of it and she told me (as the old folks on the islands will often do) that I needed to know it. That it meant someone for whom you couldn't exactly pin down what was up with them - a certain je ne sais quoi. I later heard the term again as a derogatory one leveled at women who behaved in a way more customary for men - bravery, brashness, forward, etc. Someone told me Lani Guinier had mentioned being called that by her father, who was from Jamaica. I took note and knew I would use it one day. I have often been regarded at home, not so much as a gender non-conformist, as a bit enigmatic and fearless (which I think is quite funny. Since I am often afraid, but have made it a personal commitment to walk toward that which I fear). So I knew the term had a place in this new work that engaged masculinities. And because I wanted to offer up a number of ways in which the masculine operates, I needed the rest of the title to indicate plurality. Dem in the Anglophone Caribbean (like saying "them") is the plural of a term, rather than changing the vowel to "men" or to put and "s" on something  (i.e. apple/apples).  Thus was born Virago-Man Dem, a work made by a nervy woman about a multitude of masculinities.

Charmaine - Can you talk about your Caribbean heritage and how that may have played a role in the making of this work?

Cynthia - The Caribbean always figures in my work. It is the under-riding engine of everything I do. It was the rich place of my childhood and continues to give me strength, makes me question, challenges my ideas  and offers me a wellspring of myth, realities, and relationships to navigate. And the best way for me to work through anything is through my art. There are very few works of mine that have not had some Caribbean element in it.

Charmaine - The work is intended to "explore both the overt and unspoken expressions of black masculinity..." yet there are four men Duane Cyrus, Jonathan Gonzalez, Niall Noel Jones) and Ni'Ja Whitson, was this intentional?

Cynthia - There are three men and one gender non-conforming person in the work. Yes, that was intentional. The casting of the piece has gone through a lot over the past two years that we have been in process. And while I began the idea of the piece intending for there to be a gender non-conforming cast member, I didn't initially know it would be Ni'Ja. I had been in conversation with someone early on, before I had cast anyone, but when push came to shove, they were not available. I moved on. I put the word out. I knew about two members of my cast all along - Niall Noel Jones and Duane Cyrus. Both I had been in touch with and discussed working together and we seemed to be on the same page. I also knew them both because they had come to the University of Illinois as graduate students. While they were there we didn't work together for a whole host of reasons - for Duane, he had been in very demanding company environments - Ailey and Graham, and was taking grad school as time to focus on other things besides performing, and Niall came when I was recovering from cancer treatments and could not focus on anything else, although I knew I wanted to work with him one day. Jonathan came later as I began building the cast. Word of mouth led me to him as Jawole Zollar made a suggestion that I speak to him after I told her what I was trying to do and she saw who I had already enlisted. And Ni'Ja had been in my life all along, but we had never talked about working together until I realized that I was having this challenge and they were right there chatting with me about other things all during the process. It was like the Universe was saying..." Look here!" and I finally heard it. So these four folks - and I was always determined it was a quartet - are magic together. And yes, while not each person came in the same way and the same time, they all came as they were supposed to. Absolutely with intention.

Charmaine - If yes, or no, how does this decision speak to your the Caribbean "Virago-Man" image?

Cynthia - I think I have answered that above, but I will say that with Ni'Ja in the space, the Virago is not simply symbolic but is real. Prior to Ni'Ja, I was the Virago, the presence behind the scenes that might be implied in a couple of the areas of the work. With Ni'Ja in the space performing with the others, the notion of masculinity gets more expansive to move beyond biology in a visible way that my biology behind the work only indicated. Now their biology and the others call one another into question. What we designate and why gets pointed up. So perhaps in this way the whole picture becomes a bit more nuanced, more complex. and THAT I totally dig.

Charmaine - So how does a work like this begin, as you set out to answer, "...how can a woman choreograph masculinity, without resorting to stereotypes"?

Cynthia - Well this is interesting because I wanted to get beyond the stereotypes. But at the same time I know that some of us - audience and otherwise, only know such. So my interest has always been to gesture to them - the stereotypes - here and there and quickly depart, presenting something that is more expansive and porous. I think I can do this despite being born with a vagina, because I am always interested in the ways my world can be expanded, through thought, word and deed.  I have known a multiplicity of masculinities that differ based on the location, cultural environment, age range, class position, street savvy or other modes of education an individual has experienced. I want to bring that breadth to this work. So I essentially knew that I could do that with the right mix of folks. The thing for me was, I wanted to answer to the folks who might only imagine one had to be born with a penis to do so. So while I am drawing on the individual experiences of the cast, I am also negotiating my own background with brothers, relatives, friends, former lovers, my child, etc. I already have a rich well from which to draw and that nostalgia, reality, myth and dream all come into play as I began making this work. Then negotiating those ideas with real people in the room was the next step.

Charmaine - Were there challenges?

Cynthia - Absolutely. The minute you work with more than just yourself, there are challenges. There is the challenge of time. Who is available when? THAT is one that was and continues to make me crazy. It is a miracle that any of this gets made at all! But then there is the challenge of negotiating everyone else's ideas about the topic and about what collaboration in it means. It means different things to different people. And I have different ideas about the multiple roles that are a part of the process and how I am imagining the fluidity of that as well. So yeah, it's all a challenge. And I wouldn't change what this process has been because the work that the audience will see next week and hopefully over the course of the next year or two is the product of rich and challenging conversations/investigations/environments that have brought about the birth of this very thing that I am quite proud of.

Charmaine - Are there high points?

Cynthia - I think so. But I will leave that to y'all to decide. I will keep mine to myself;)

Charmaine - Is there an anecdote you could share about being in the studio?

Cynthia - Naw, I will keep that as a private experience as well. That rehearsal space is a charged one ain't it?! That is where magic occurs. That is our sacred space. I will leave it up to the others to share should they so decide. I'ma keep my mouth shut. LOL

Charmaine - Are you looking forward to bringing the work to New York, and being back in New York?

Cynthia - OMG! I LOVE NYC and love coming back to the place that has nurtured my artistry for decades. My people! My people!!! Come out! Come on out and show your sista some l-o-v-e!!!

PictureCynthia Oliver Photo: Val Oliveiro
​Cynthia Oliver is a Bronx-born, Virgin Island -reared performer who has danced with Theatre Dance Inc.; Caribbean Dance Company of St. Croix, Virgin Islands; Ronald K. Brown/Evidence; Bebe Miller Company; and Tere O’Connor Dance. Influenced by the black avant-garde, Oliver creates multi-genre performance collages, incorporating Caribbean, African, and American
aesthetic sensibilities. She has been awarded and/or commissioned by The Jerome Foundation, The National Performance Network’s Creation Fund, The Doris Duke Multi Arts Production (MAP)Fund, New York Live Arts, among many others. Her work has been performed in festivals and venues around the US and the Caribbean . In 2012, she was invited to Oagadougou,
Burkina Faso, via the Suitcase Fund, to work with a group of 16 women dance artists, creating a choreography which spoke to their empowerment as artists negotiating complex traditions that may impede their art. In addition to Cynthia’s performance work, she holds a Ph.D. in performance studies from New York University. Her scholarly work has focused on performance
in the Anglophone Caribbean. She has taught at NYU’s Tisch School of the Arts, The Newcomb Summer Dance Intensive at Tulane University, Florida State University, Bennington College, Bates Dance Festival, and the University of Utah. She is Professor of Dance at the University of Illinois, Urbana-Champaign. Oliver was last at BAM as a performer inTere O’Connor’s
BLEED (NWF 13).

Talk: Examining Black Masculinity
With Cynthia Oliver and Nora Chipaumire
Moderated by Jaamil Olawale Kosoko
Oct 27 at 6pm
Wendy’s Subway Reading Room, BAM Fisher (Sharp Lower Lobby), 321 Ashland Pl
Free

cynthiaoliver.com

PictureOliver's "Virago-man Dem" Current cast of performers Niall Jones, Duane Cyrus, Jonathan Gonzalez. Not pictured: Ni'Ja Whitson. Photo: Chris Cameron
Click photo or here for Vimeo clip

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​Roy Assaf Dance @ BAC

10/18/2017

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In the short run at BAC (October 12 – 13), Roy Assaf Dance managed to show many faces of intimacy in just two works.  The mood-shifting duet Six Years Later, matched the many musical moods from Beethoven, Handel, to the ‘60s pop group Marmalade, danced by Assaf and Madison Hoke.  Holding Assaf by hand, guiding him on stage (and later, leading him off), they set the stage for their story of entangled partnerships, with an equal mix of mood and movement.  Almost never letting go of each other, they lock or free their heads, chests, shoulders and take time to inject a conversation of smiles.  The nicely themed lights by Dani Fishof and Omer Sheizaf was soon interrupted with blaring whites for The Hill, the fast-paced male trio inspired by experiences of war veterans that followed.  Boom, the lights come up, the mood shifts and though the pace was markedly double or triple that of Six Years Later, the intimacy here was palpable.  Their countless calculated lifts, familial sequences hints of Israeli folk dance and comradery are proof enough. The men in The Hill, Igal Furman, Avshalom Latucha and Assaf are funny, daring, defying, and they dance well together. With a hug and a kiss on the forehead, Assaf celebrated Furman because it was his last time with the company.  What will the trio be without him?  
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    I am a performer, historian, consultant and dance writer. I am a Empire State College's online program Center for Distance Learning.  I am also a former faculty member at The Ailey School and the Alvin Ailey/Fordham University dance major program, Hunter College, Sarah Lawrence College (Guest), Kean University and The Joffrey Ballet School's Jazz and Contemporary Trainee Program.  I write on dance for The Amsterdam News, Dance Magazine and various publications.  Click below to read more about me at my home page - "About Me."

    "About Me"
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