DancEnthusiast

📯 has announced restructuring the organization in 2024 with 𝘀𝘂𝘀𝘁𝗮𝗶𝗻𝗮𝗯𝗶𝗹𝗶𝘁𝘆 at the forefront.

To focus resources on fundraising and restructuring efforts, The Bessies will pause 🫷on holding in-person events (the annual Bessie Awards Ceremony, Angel Party, and Press Conference) in 2024. That said, the award selection and nomination process will continue.

Want to learn more? Attend one of the following virtual 𝗥𝗼𝘂𝗻𝗱𝘁𝗮𝗯𝗹𝗲 𝗗𝗶𝘀𝗰𝘂𝘀𝘀𝗶𝗼𝗻𝘀:
Thu, Sep 12 (5:30 - 6:30 pm ET)
Wed, Sep 18 (6 - 7 pm ET)
Thu, Sep 19 (5:30 - 6:30 pm ET)

📧 Email [email protected] to reserve your spot.

💐 A dearly missed dancer, teacher and choreographer will be honored at “JANET PANETTA: REPERTOIRE” next week.

The exhibition of original artworks, video, photographs and manuscript material upholds the legacy of Panetta as a dancer, teacher and choreographer.

𝒲𝐻𝐸𝒩: August 15 - 30, 2024 [Mon - Fri, 12 - 5 PM]
𝒲𝐻𝐸𝑅𝐸: , 545 W 20th St, NYC

📷: David Bergé and Yakoone

“The two lovers, beautifully portrayed by Allie Hutchins and Marcos Antonio, get separated by the maidens of the deep. 🧜🏻‍♀️ These gorgeous mermaid-like creatures have flowing blue hair and mysterious ways. It’s all very intriguing […]

All in all, the company was full of powerful, beautifully trained dancers. Rounds of applause to choreographer Valerie Mae Browne who created the entire piece. Be sure to catch the show if it is staged again. It’s a wonder.”

— Excerpt from AUDIENCE REVIEW of in “Titanic Tale”

🌐 Visit www.dance-enthusiast.com to read the rest.

📸: and

Ever wanted to participate in ’s “Table of Silence Project 9/11”?

𝗦𝗧𝗘𝗣𝗦:
1. 📧 Email [email protected] with “Table of Silence – Dance Enthusiast” in the subject line.
2. Attach: A résumé listing your professional dance experience, 1 headshot, and 1 photo of yourself in motion (please include your name on the photo).

𝗗𝗔𝗧𝗘𝗦:
Open Call for Dancers: August 15 @ 7:30 PM
Advanced registration by: August 14
Rehearsal Period: August 19 - September 10
Performance: September 11

📷: Darial Sneed

“On July 1st, 2022, dancers Madelaine Burnett and Tomislav Nevistic found themselves at South Beach’s famous Clevelander Hotel for a night of fun and dancing. The night took a quick turn as gun shots were sound, and chaos erupted within the Clevelander crowd.

Burnett mentions that “At first we didn’t realize what people were running from, but the crowds almost seemed accustomed to this type of situation. That in itself is sad and very problematic.”

The two took fast cover behind a bar and were fearful of the uncertainty of their future. Police were quick to respond to the scene and local news later reported that the hotel’s bouncer was shot dead by an upset individual who was denied entry to the club.

Burnett and Nevistic were deeply traumatized from being a part of this awful tragedy and were upset to see how gun reform legislation in the United States continues to be undervalued. The dancers decided to turn their pain into action and tell their story through art.”

— 𝙴𝚡𝚌𝚎𝚛𝚙𝚝 𝚏𝚛𝚘𝚖 𝚊𝚗 𝚊𝚞𝚍𝚒𝚎𝚗𝚌𝚎 𝚛𝚎𝚟𝚒𝚎𝚠, 𝘛𝘩𝘦 𝘋𝘢𝘯𝘤𝘦 𝘌𝘯𝘵𝘩𝘶𝘴𝘪𝘢𝘴𝘵

LINK IN BIO to read about the duo’s newest dance, which addresses gun violence in America.

🌞 Summer edition of our weekly Top Picks!

🎤 When we interviewed Tony Waag, founder of , back in 2021, he owned approximately 20 pairs of tap shoes at the time. 👞 We wonder if this figure has risen since!

This evening, at 𝘼 𝘾𝙚𝙡𝙚𝙗𝙧𝙖𝙩𝙞𝙤𝙣 𝙤𝙛 𝙏𝙝𝙚 𝘼𝙢𝙚𝙧𝙞𝙘𝙖𝙣 𝙏𝙖𝙥 𝘿𝙖𝙣𝙘𝙚 𝙁𝙤𝙪𝙣𝙙𝙖𝙩𝙞𝙤𝙣 hosted by the board of the American Tap Dance Foundation and the Jerome Robbins Dance Division of , Waag will be bestowed with the 𝗟𝗶𝗳𝗲𝘁𝗶𝗺𝗲 𝗔𝗰𝗵𝗶𝗲𝘃𝗲𝗺𝗲𝗻𝘁 𝗔𝘄𝗮𝗿𝗱 for his 24 years of service, leadership, and inspiration to the tap community.

Why not cheer for the dance enthusiast at the event, which is public and open to all!

WHERE: Bruno Walter Auditorium, New York Public Library for the Performing Arts at , 111 Amsterdam Avenue, New York, NY
WHEN: Thursday, July 11 @ 6 - 8 PM
PRICE: Free! (Registration recommended)

🗽 recently launched the “Our New York City Dance” campaign, a series of solutions that respond to challenges laid out in the latest “State of New York City Dance” report.

“We wanted an easy way for people to talk about the issues and take tangible actions to build that vision, and so we bucketed the issues into three areas.
1️⃣ One speaks to the fact that dance workers are not valued or protected in society.
2️⃣ The second issue is around the financial sustainability of dance workers.
3️⃣ And then the third issue is that justice, equity and inclusion is lagging in the dance industry,” explained Candace Thompson-Zachery (), co-executive director of , in an interview with The Dance Enthusiast’s Theo Boguszewski ().

📲 Click the link in our bio for the full scoop.

📷: State of NYC Dance event by Jeffrey Lee/On The Spot Image
1- Dance/NYC’s Director Operations and Finance Sara Roer, Director of Programming and Justice Initiatives Candace Thompson-Zachary and Director of Development Vicki Capote
2 - Dancer Lorena Jaramillo from SLMDance

“Artistic Director .introdans wasn’t kidding when he titled his company’s return to  after more than a decade 𝙀𝙣𝙚𝙧𝙜𝙮.

High-octane and dynamic,  thrills in athletic, razor-sharp works by Akram Khan, Lucinda Childs, and Mauro Bigonzetti.”

Continued on 𝚠𝚠𝚠.𝚍𝚊𝚗𝚌𝚎-𝚎𝚗𝚝𝚑𝚞𝚜𝚒𝚊𝚜𝚝.𝚌𝚘𝚖 (link in bio).

📸: Filibert Kraxner & Hans Gerritsen

“ premiered four classic pieces this week at . The works were created between 1964-1978, but this incarnation demonstrated a vibrant energy and fresh perspective.”
— 𝗔𝗨𝗗𝗜𝗘𝗡𝗖𝗘 𝗠𝗘𝗠𝗕𝗘𝗥

Visit 𝚠𝚠𝚠.𝚍𝚊𝚗𝚌𝚎-𝚎𝚗𝚝𝚑𝚞𝚜𝚒𝚊𝚜𝚝.𝚌𝚘𝚖 for the full audience review and share your own on our platform!

📸: Repost from x

“𝐻𝑜𝓌 𝐿𝑜𝓃𝑔 𝐵𝓁𝓊𝑒𝓈 is one full hour of joy, bliss, heartache, love, and a sincere display of dance as a mechanism for story-telling. Set at in Chelsea, Manhattan, the stage is positioned amidst the dewy sun setting along the Hudson River.

The work provides the viewer just enough details to create their own narrative, a storyline with equal parts flow and unease.

With choreography by and music by and , it is a true collaboration of legendary artists and art-makers.”

Read the rest of the 𝐀𝐔𝐃𝐈𝐄𝐍𝐂𝐄 𝐑𝐄𝐕𝐈𝐄𝐖: link in bio.

📷:
1 - Promotional poster for performance
2 - Twyla Tharp in rehearsal for “How Long Blues.” Photo by Julieta Cervantes

“Christian Warner ()’s 𝘞𝘏𝘐𝘛𝘌 𝘏𝘖𝘛 𝘙𝘖𝘖𝘔 envelopes us in its raw subject matter.

Warner, along with movement collaborator Elinor Kleber-Diggs () and vocal collaborator Denise Ward (), details his experiences with addiction, loss, and mental-wellness…”

Click link in bio to learn about the climactic scene involving pie and a can of whipped cream… 🥧☁️

📸: Sandy Shelton / Full Out Creative

Wanting to wish the happiest of birthdays to the amazing woman who is my partner in enthusiasm on The Dance Enthusiast - Sowerby aka Sammi Lim. She started out as an intern from Pentacle and now is CRUCIAL to keeping things together here on DancEnthusiast The Dance Enthusiast. Love you Sammi! My soul sister in China. Happy Happy Happy Happy !!!!

“Ashley R.T. Yergens’ () offering on transmasculine reproduction and surrogacy politics does not propose answers or even strive for legibility.

He chooses instead to push against the confinement and stratification of social definitions to lay bare the messiness of trans identity and experience — an urgent and timely call that merits further exploration.”

Read the rest: 𝚠𝚠𝚠.𝚍𝚊𝚗𝚌𝚠𝚠𝚠.𝚍𝚊𝚗𝚌𝚎-𝚎𝚗𝚝𝚑𝚞𝚜𝚒𝚊𝚜𝚝.𝚌𝚘𝚖𝚎-𝚎𝚗𝚝𝚑𝚞𝚜𝚒𝚊𝚜𝚝.𝚌𝚘𝚖

📸:

“It will be a long wait till Nritya Darpan 2025. A year long wait, but I am sure that the Indian Heritage and Cultural Association-NJ () will again deliver and pull us dance enthusiasts back to our seats next year.”
— 𝗠𝗲𝗴𝗵𝗮𝗻𝗮 𝗞𝗮𝗿𝗮𝗻𝗷𝗸𝗮𝗿, 𝗮𝘂𝗱𝗶𝗲𝗻𝗰𝗲 𝗺𝗲𝗺𝗯𝗲𝗿

The dance enthusiast attended the acclaimed dance festival in New Jersey with “feverish, almost childish excitement” and wrote to us about it. Read the rest on 𝘛𝘩𝘦 𝘋𝘢𝘯𝘤𝘦 𝘌𝘯𝘵𝘩𝘶𝘴𝘪𝘢𝘴𝘵.

📷: ; repost from .chandrashekar

“I’ll take from the pleasures of theater, but not all of them because I don’t find them enjoyable. I’m not into narrative, story, arc, and all those things. Actually, I don’t even believe in it.”
— ᴀɴɴɪᴇ-ʙ ᴘᴀʀꜱᴏɴ, ɴᴇᴡ ʏᴏʀᴋ

Moving Visions Editor interviews Annie-B Parson for 𝘛𝘩𝘦 𝘋𝘢𝘯𝘤𝘦 𝘌𝘯𝘵𝘩𝘶𝘴𝘪𝘢𝘴𝘵.

Click the link in our bio to learn about her published and soon-to-be-published books 👆📚

📷: Big Dance Theater’s  .sui . Credit:  and . Regram from

🎭 “Adapting a five act, four-hundred-year-old play is an ambitious undertaking. Aside from having over a dozen characters, Shakespeare’s story is ripe with psychological drama and intense emotions.

, who has created over forty-five ballets spanning the course of twenty-four years, is up for the challenge.

[…] audiences are treated to an up-close view of movements that utilize the clarity and precision of classical ballet combined with the fluid weight and rebound of modern dance.”

Read our full IMPRESSIONS of 𝔗𝔥𝔢 𝔚𝔦𝔫𝔱𝔢𝔯𝔰 𝔗𝔞𝔩𝔢  at - 𝐿𝐼𝒩𝒦 𝐼𝒩 𝐵𝐼𝒪

 📸: John Eng

“A dense and challenging work that demands patient, participatory witnessing and rewards in turn with piercing empathy.”

“Oona Doherty ()’s choreography is both depersonalized and hyperpersonal…”

“The work speaks in many registers, though its most effective vehicle remains the pulsating bodies and roaring spirits of its dancers.”

— Excerpts from our IMPRESSIONS of“Navy Blue” at < 𝑳𝑰𝑵𝑲 𝑰𝑵 𝑩𝑰𝑶 >

📷: D.Matvejevas and Dajana Lothert

𝘛𝘩𝘦 𝘋𝘢𝘯𝘤𝘦 𝘌𝘯𝘵𝘩𝘶𝘴𝘪𝘢𝘴𝘵 writer Cecly Placenti () caught ’s inaugural evening at featuring three works by Jesse Obremski and one by 2024 Vision Fellow, Hoyuri Maruo, calling them “well-crafted examples of movements power to communicate.”

🔗 Read the full review by clicking the link in our bio.

📸: .mcc; regram from

“Filmmaker and curator, the diminutive , perched on the shoulders of Owen Prum’s very tall frame, waves a back scratcher as scepter in the air, and reminds the packed audience that this May 19 performance concludes Sundays on Broadway for the season. […]

This greeting, amusing, unplanned and festive, is in keeping with the freewheeling sensibility of the long-running series 𝗦𝘂𝗻𝗱𝗮𝘆𝘀 𝗼𝗻 𝗕𝗿𝗼𝗮𝗱𝘄𝗮𝘆 of ten years.”

Read the rest: 𝙻𝚒𝚗𝚔 𝚒𝚗 𝚋𝚒𝚘.

📸: Richard Termine
1 - Cathy Weis perched on Owen Prum’s shoulders
2 - Nami Yamamoto, Leah Ogawa, and Takemi Kitamura in 𝘣𝘦𝘵𝘸𝘦𝘦𝘯...𝘯𝘰 𝘸𝘩𝘦𝘳𝘦….𝘣𝘶𝘵 𝘐 𝘫𝘶𝘴𝘵 𝘢𝘮 𝘩𝘦𝘳𝘦
3 - Cayleen Del Rosario and Angelina Hoffman in 𝘛𝘩𝘦 𝘋𝘢𝘯𝘤𝘦 𝘢𝘵 𝘛𝘩𝘦 𝘊𝘦𝘯𝘵𝘦𝘳

💕 Get enthused for ’s new evening-length narrative ballet 🩰, head to a rooftop for ’ solstice celebration, and more! 🌸

“A tendu isn’t gendered,” stated, towards the end of our conversation.

“We have moments where the dancers are doing their double saut de basques and double tours en l’air… it’s like, steps are steps, period. The steps themselves don’t qualify gender in any way. I really believe that.

Tendu, coupé, pirouette.. all those steps can hold many multitudes of identities. There’s so much to love about ballet. Just get rid of the rest, you know?”

👄 Check out our interview with Adriana Pierce, founder and artistic director of and…
🎟️ catch the company at this Friday, Saturday and Sunday from June 21-23, 2024.

📷: Q***r the Ballet in rehearsal: Mia Domini, Annia Hildago, Lenai Alexis Wilkerson, Demi Trezona and Ayala O’Day. Photos by Howard Sherman

“The writings, the dance’s underpinning, reveal ’ private thoughts and reflect his experiences about love, desire, lust, anger, giving in, the fear of rejection, and what can hurt, states of being to which we all relate.

Betts, who is Black and , who is white, read from the scrolls and sometimes their voices overlap…

🗣️ From 𝘍𝘳𝘦𝘦 𝘵𝘩𝘦 𝘕𝘪𝘨𝘨𝘢𝘴 — 𝘍𝘳𝘦𝘦 𝘔𝘺 𝘕𝘪𝘨𝘨𝘢𝘴: “I remember the first time I fell in love with you- I scan with my sight, felt in the sense, scan you from your feet, it was on my rooftop out on tar beach — both of us black as night from the summer heat.”

📲 Visit 𝚠𝚠𝚠.𝚍𝚊𝚗𝚌𝚎-𝚎𝚗𝚝𝚑𝚞𝚜𝚒𝚊𝚜𝚝.𝚌𝚘𝚖 for our IMPRESSIONS of 𝘸𝘩𝘢𝘵 𝘩𝘢𝘱𝘱𝘦𝘯𝘴 𝘸𝘩𝘦𝘯 𝘵𝘩𝘪𝘯𝘨𝘴 𝘣𝘦𝘤𝘰𝘮𝘦 𝘶𝘯𝘥𝘰𝘯𝘦? at

📸: .mertz.photography

3 𝙁𝙪𝙣 𝙁𝙖𝙘𝙩𝙨 about , multi-percussionist and choreographer-in-demand:

1️⃣ While his specialty has been castanets, he taught himself to play spoons during the pandemic. 🥄
2️⃣This year, he designed a jacket covered with bells. 🔔
3️⃣ Now he is exploring ways for  to manipulate shawls as though they were the train of a skirt. 💃

All these elements are all integral to his new work 𝘌𝘘𝘜𝘐𝘓𝘐𝘉𝘙𝘐𝘖 (Clásica/Tradición) for FVCS’s season at from June 18-23, 2024.

Read the rest of the interview: 𝐰𝐰𝐰.𝐝𝐚𝐧𝐜𝐞-𝐞𝐧𝐭𝐡𝐮𝐬𝐢𝐚𝐬𝐭.𝐜𝐨𝐦 (LINK IN BIO)

📷: Alec Himwich and Christopher Duggan

Get enthused for these PRIDE Month events at ! 🏳️‍🌈

🖼️ Now through June 30: Celebrate Pride Gallery Show

👠 June 18 @ 7 PM: 14Y After Dark: Drag Bingo

🎨 June 26 @ 7:30 PM: A Radical Pride of Love: A Celebration of Q***r Art with

💃🏿June 27 @ 7 PM: Pride and Joy: An Evening of Q***r Performances

June 29 | 10 AM- 5 PM: Family PRIDE Day

Visit www.14streety.org/pride for more info.

📷: Repost from

“(12-year-old Bea Yon) is followed by her dad, Chris Yon, and her mom, Taryn Griggs, former performers with , in a shifting, side-by-side, straight-faced, make-you-smile series of movements.

👧🏻👦🏻👩🏻

To jazzy percussive symbol sounds, and an occasional train whoosh, Yon and Griggs’ shake heads (Griggs’ black bob emphasizing every movement) while they step touch, step touch, flick hands, step together, repeat, and accumulate.”

🆕 IMPRESSIONS from Moves! Dance Festival ‘24: link in bio.

📸: Steven Pisano

“, an outward acting artist, points out inequities, but patiently, and often exuberantly, encourages the community to gather and change for the greater good.”
— 𝗖𝗮𝘁𝗵𝗲𝗿𝗶𝗻𝗲 𝗧𝗵𝗮𝗿𝗶𝗻 𝗳𝗼𝗿 𝙏𝙝𝙚 𝘿𝙖𝙣𝙘𝙚 𝙀𝙣𝙩𝙝𝙪𝙨𝙞𝙖𝙨𝙩

Check out our full IMPRESSIONS of “SATURN, A Revelation” at [ 𝚠𝚠𝚠.𝚍𝚊𝚗𝚌𝚎-𝚎𝚗𝚝𝚑𝚞𝚜𝚒𝚊𝚜𝚝.𝚌𝚘𝚖 ]

📷: Screen grabs from the March 16, 2024 broadcast; repost from

🌬️ “Amid a shifting soundscape undergirded by the roar of wind and sea, 🌊 weaves popular and spiritual aspects of Caribbean culture into a seamless mesh […]

Sound, imagery, and text drawn from pirate radio and Jamaican sound system traditions open a portal to a cosmic dimension inhabited by totemic creatures who wield powers to conjure and enchant.” ✨

— Excerpt from IMPRESSIONS of 🌀 “[ the hurricanes in your mouth ]” 👄 at : link in bio

📸:

“Ultimately we are celebrating community, possibility, and hope. My mother who passed away at almost 99-years-old, when people would ask her what got her through the war, she said she never lost hope. I will tell you in these darkest of times right now in this country and the world, I try to remember that.” 
— ᴄᴀʀᴏʟʏɴ ᴅᴏʀꜰᴍᴀɴ, ɴᴇᴡ ᴊᴇʀꜱᴇʏ 💬

𝘛𝘩𝘦 𝘋𝘢𝘯𝘤𝘦 𝘌𝘯𝘵𝘩𝘶𝘴𝘪𝘢𝘴𝘵’s .hedberg caught just before her company ’s 40th anniversary season: link in bio!

𝐖𝐇𝐀𝐓: “Celebrate 40/NYC”
𝐖𝐇𝐄𝐍: Wed, June 12 and Thu, 13, 2024
𝐖𝐇𝐄𝐑𝐄: Ailey Citigroup Theater, NYC

📸:
1 - Carolyn Dorfman in “The White Waltz” by Barbara Hayley. Photo: Lois Greenfield
2 - Carolyn Dorfman’s “ECHAD.” Photo: Christopher Duggan
3 - The company in Juel D. Lane’s “NOW.” Photo: Whitney Browne
4 - Carolyn Dorfman’s “The Attitude of Doing.” Photo:

Get enthused for 𝑵𝒐𝒍𝒊 𝑻𝒊𝒎𝒆𝒓𝒆, a collaborative piece between choreographer/dancer Rebecca Lazier () and sculptor , at in the heart of the Hudson Valley on June 22, 2024.

Dancers will be suspended overhead in a series of voluminous nets in the piece, which combines the virtuosity and awe of 🎪 with thoughtful choreography 💃🏻 to question how we might navigate uncertainty and precarity in a changing world…

📸: Janet Echelman; repost from