DanceAfrica 2017 DanceAfrica
BAM Howard Gilman Opera House
May 26 - 29
DanceAfrica, the country’s largest showcase of African dance, celebrates a bitter-sweet 40th anniversary because the founder, Baba Chuck Davis died just weeks ago on Sunday, May 14, 2017. Abdel R. Salaam, named artistic director three years ago, will carry on with what Baba Chuck built. This year under the theme of “The Healing Light of Rhythm: Tradition and Beyond,” Salaam, who honors the tradition has created “…a program that celebrates the past and the present with Asase Yaa, Forces of Nature, and Illstyle & Peace Productions, which have all performed in DanceAfrica before, will take the stage in the first half in a diverse style mesh-up. For the second half, Wula Dance and Drum Ensemble, a company of Guinean dance and drum masters led by M’Bemba Bangoura, continues the exploration of the diverse African dance cultures. All will be joined on stage by the BAM/Restoration Dance Youth Ensemble, which celebrates its own 20th anniversary. An integral component of the Festival, the Ensemble symbolizes DanceAfrica’s commitment to education and community outreach,” according to the release. Find out more here
Michelle Boulé
The Chocolate Factory
May 17 – 27
Boulé’s The Monomyth “…illuminates the emotional and choreographic transformation of the feminine/feminist hero, reimagining Joseph Campbell’s concept of myth-making as a “challengingly persistent suggestion of more remaining to be experienced than will ever be known or told,” notes the release. Find out more here
La MaMa Moves! Dance Festival
LaMaMa Theatres
May 18 - June 4
Now in its 12th year, curated by Nicky Paraiso with a lineup of “…different generations of choreographic artists dealing with the actual day-to- day contemporary, political, social, and ecological challenges that we face in our world,” says Paraso. This weekend’s lineup includes: Company SBB Stefanie Batten Bland (May 25 – 28), Shared Evening: Beth Graczyk | Mariana Valencia (May 25 – 26), Astad Deboo (May 25 – 26), Malini Srinivasan (May 27 – 28), Shared Evening: Brendan Drake | Jasmine Hearn (May 27 - 28), Shared Evening: Yoshiko Chuma | Rady Nget | Brother(hood) Dance! (May 25 – 26). Find out more here
The Bronx Dance Fest
BAAD!
April 28 – May 27
The Festival continues with Lehman College Dance Program as they take over BAAD!’s stage, and “Meet The Artists: Dance Your Future 2017” (May 25), which offers an opportunity to meet Beatrice Capote & Miguel Aparicio / The Sabrosura Effect, Tatiana Desardouin and Maleek Washington, from the artist-in- residency project with Pepatián and BAAD! Find out more here
Vanessa Anspaugh
Danspace Project
May 25 -27
Anspaugh “…finds a renewed relevance in her continued research and critique of male masculinities in her latest dance-theater work, The End of Men, Again,” notes the release. Find out more here
Jesse Phillips-Fein
JACK
May 28
Co-curated by Jesse Phillips-Fein and Shanté Paradigm Smalls, and part of JACK's year-long Reparations365 series, The Work of Imagining: Art in the Age of "Apocalypse," is a “…multi-genre performance event that asks us to wonder, witness, and explore what we do and make when the world we imagined we lived in goes away,” notes the release. Find out more here
Cathy Weis
“Sundays on Broadway”
May 28
Cathy Weis Projects continues the spring 2017 lineup for "Sundays on Broadway," an ongoing series of performances, film screenings, and discussions. This Sunday will be a shared evening with K.J. Holmes and Kathy Westwater. Find out more here
BAM Howard Gilman Opera House
May 26 - 29
DanceAfrica, the country’s largest showcase of African dance, celebrates a bitter-sweet 40th anniversary because the founder, Baba Chuck Davis died just weeks ago on Sunday, May 14, 2017. Abdel R. Salaam, named artistic director three years ago, will carry on with what Baba Chuck built. This year under the theme of “The Healing Light of Rhythm: Tradition and Beyond,” Salaam, who honors the tradition has created “…a program that celebrates the past and the present with Asase Yaa, Forces of Nature, and Illstyle & Peace Productions, which have all performed in DanceAfrica before, will take the stage in the first half in a diverse style mesh-up. For the second half, Wula Dance and Drum Ensemble, a company of Guinean dance and drum masters led by M’Bemba Bangoura, continues the exploration of the diverse African dance cultures. All will be joined on stage by the BAM/Restoration Dance Youth Ensemble, which celebrates its own 20th anniversary. An integral component of the Festival, the Ensemble symbolizes DanceAfrica’s commitment to education and community outreach,” according to the release. Find out more here
Michelle Boulé
The Chocolate Factory
May 17 – 27
Boulé’s The Monomyth “…illuminates the emotional and choreographic transformation of the feminine/feminist hero, reimagining Joseph Campbell’s concept of myth-making as a “challengingly persistent suggestion of more remaining to be experienced than will ever be known or told,” notes the release. Find out more here
La MaMa Moves! Dance Festival
LaMaMa Theatres
May 18 - June 4
Now in its 12th year, curated by Nicky Paraiso with a lineup of “…different generations of choreographic artists dealing with the actual day-to- day contemporary, political, social, and ecological challenges that we face in our world,” says Paraso. This weekend’s lineup includes: Company SBB Stefanie Batten Bland (May 25 – 28), Shared Evening: Beth Graczyk | Mariana Valencia (May 25 – 26), Astad Deboo (May 25 – 26), Malini Srinivasan (May 27 – 28), Shared Evening: Brendan Drake | Jasmine Hearn (May 27 - 28), Shared Evening: Yoshiko Chuma | Rady Nget | Brother(hood) Dance! (May 25 – 26). Find out more here
The Bronx Dance Fest
BAAD!
April 28 – May 27
The Festival continues with Lehman College Dance Program as they take over BAAD!’s stage, and “Meet The Artists: Dance Your Future 2017” (May 25), which offers an opportunity to meet Beatrice Capote & Miguel Aparicio / The Sabrosura Effect, Tatiana Desardouin and Maleek Washington, from the artist-in- residency project with Pepatián and BAAD! Find out more here
Vanessa Anspaugh
Danspace Project
May 25 -27
Anspaugh “…finds a renewed relevance in her continued research and critique of male masculinities in her latest dance-theater work, The End of Men, Again,” notes the release. Find out more here
Jesse Phillips-Fein
JACK
May 28
Co-curated by Jesse Phillips-Fein and Shanté Paradigm Smalls, and part of JACK's year-long Reparations365 series, The Work of Imagining: Art in the Age of "Apocalypse," is a “…multi-genre performance event that asks us to wonder, witness, and explore what we do and make when the world we imagined we lived in goes away,” notes the release. Find out more here
Cathy Weis
“Sundays on Broadway”
May 28
Cathy Weis Projects continues the spring 2017 lineup for "Sundays on Broadway," an ongoing series of performances, film screenings, and discussions. This Sunday will be a shared evening with K.J. Holmes and Kathy Westwater. Find out more here
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