DANCE PARADE PRESENTS
A ONE-HOUR TV SPECIAL FEATURING TOP NEW YORK DANCE FROM ALVIN AILEY AMERICAN DANCE THEATER, DANCE THEATRE OF HARLEM, URBAN BUSH WOMEN, BUGLISI DANCE THEATRE, AMONG OTHERS
Dance Parade, the non-profit organization that normally produces the Annual Dance Parade on Broadway, has this year teamed up with four-time Emmy Award winner Mickela Mallozzi to produce a one-hour television special that “Dance Brings Us Together – Resilience of Dance Through the Pandemic”. The program served as the organization’s follow up to its virtual parade online and premiered on NYC Life Thursday June 10th as the kick-off to NYC Dance Week.
“The Dance Community is back and stronger than ever!” says Dance Parade Director, Greg Miller. “We are so honored to present such compelling art and stories from the dance community through this past year with dancers from New York and all around the world.”
As the COVID-19 pandemic hit New York City last year, New York Governor Cuomo issued emergency directives to close theaters, rehearsal studios and limit in-person gatherings leaving the fate of dance culture unknown. Dance Parade felt compelled to serve the dance community and leveraged its ability to gather 10,000 dancers in the streets and collaborated with dozens of dance makers to document how the dance community survived and thrived through the pandemic.
From riveting choreography to outdoor dance classes to multi-cultural performances including performances by Alvin Ailey American Dance Theater, Dance Theatre of Harlem, Heidi Latsky Dance, National Dance Institute, Urban Bush Women, Buglisi Dance Theatre, Saung Budaya Indonesian Dance, Alison Cook Beatty Dance, DrumatiX, Dance Rising NYC, 5Rhythms Movement Meditation, Dancing Wheels Company, Moksha Arts, New York Chinese Cultural Center, Fusha Dance Company and Calpulli Mexican Dance Company.
ABOUT DANCE BRINGS US TOGETHER:
● Dance Parade, with remarks by Executive Director Greg Miller, Community Engagement Director Carlye Eckert, Board Chair Jerry Goldman, Board Member and Emcee of Virtual Dance Parade Shireen Dickson and Virtual Parade Curation Lead, Jamila Holman
● Alvin Ailey American Dance Theater presents “Testament” (excerpt), a dance film tribute to Revelations 60th year Anniversary, a celebration of our shared experiences in our oneness and in both our sorrow and in our joy. With remarks by Associate Artistic Director Matthew Rushing. https://www.alvinailey.org
● Dance Rising NYC, “NYC Compilation” of dancers from all five NYC boroughs with remarks by Founder Melissa Riker. Dance Rising NYC is a platform for embodied advocacy that affirms the importance of dance in all its forms, makes dance visible in a reopening landscape, and sparks crucial conversations about the future of our field in NYC. https://www.dancerising.org
● Moksha Arts, “Agar Tum”, an Indian modern fusion piece that is a homage to friendship, “If you are with me, we can conquer the worst of times” with remarks from Artistic Director Punchali Kumar. http://mokshaarts.com
● Carlye Eckert, Director of Dance Parade’s Community Engagement programs, introduces a segment on the importance of Dance Education including clips from the Calpulli Mexican Dance Company (https://calpullidance.org and Camille A. Brown’s “Every Body Move” program http://www.camilleabrown.org Funmilayo Chesney, Director of the Fusha Dance Company brings dance classes outdoors with Congolese/African dance. https://www.fushadance.com
● The National Dance Institute’s Celebration Team performs “When the Saints Go Marching In”, with remarks by Artistic Director Ellen Weinstein. With this performance, legendary ballet dancer and NDI founder Jacques d’Amboise is honored and celebrated. https://nationaldance.org
● Saung Budaya Dance “Tari Piring”, a plate dance from West Sumatra performed in Indonesia during the harvest that mimics martial arts, with remarks by Dancer & Artistic Director Amalia Suryani https://www.saungbudaya.com
● Alison Cook Beatty Dance “Central Park Field #4” (excerpt), a contemporary ballet on a baseball diamond scored to Philip Glass’ Violin Conerto #2 American Seasons. with remarks by Artistic Director Alison Cook-Beatty. https://www.alisoncookbeattydance.org
● Heidi Latsky Dance, “Solo Flight”, a series of movement portraits, largely in silence, presented as a pastiche to illustrate the feelings of isolation from the pandemic and need for community. Remarks by Artistic Director Heidi Latsky https://heidilatskydance.org
● DrumatiX, performs “Rhythm Delivered” with remarks by Artistic Director Noa Barankin who illustrates the challenges that a Boston-based novel tap dance and percussion group faced during the pandemic. https://www.drumatixdance.com
● 5Rhythms© dance facilitator, Henya Emmer, shares how she used silent disco technology to broadcast music and dance meditation to her community outdoor in parks. https://www.5rhythms.com
● New York Chinese Culture Center presents vibrant traditional Chinese dance performances to use the arts, dance and music in support of a unified people in this divided time. Remarks by Executive Director Ying Yen. https://www.nychineseculturalcenter.org
● Urban Bush Women’s “Wading in the Wobble” as introduced by dancer and rehearsal director Courtney J. Cook presents an artistic piece that demonstrates a creative response to the pandemic. https://www.urbanbushwomen.org
● Dance Theatre of Harlem’s “Dancing Through Harlem”. Artistic Director and Dance Parade 2021 Grand Marshal Virginia Johnson introduces the company’s outdoor ballets set in iconic Harlem locations. https://www.dancetheatreofharlem.org
● Dancing Wheels Company’s “Walking on Clouds” (excerpt), eleven members of a physically integrated dance company, the first company of its kind formed in the United States. https://dancingwheels.org
● Dance Parade’s Board Member and Virtual Parade Emcee Shireen Dickson presents the 2021 Grand Marshals with awards, Virginia Johnson of Dance Theatre of Harlem, Lisa Lisa, latina pop music legend and H.T. Chen and Dian Dong of the Chen Dance Center. https://danceparade.org/grand-marshals
● Buglisi Dance Theatre’s Artistic Director Jacqulyn Buglisi introduces, “The Reimagined Table of Silence Prologue” (excerpt) which was created as an awakening and features composer/violinist Daniel Bernard Roumain and spoken word poet Marc Bamuthi Joseph. Manifesting a transcendent experience that illuminates the hope and resilience of our collective humanity, this performance ends the program as a call to action for peace. https://www.buglisidance.org
ABOUT DANCE PARADE NEW YORK:
Dance Parade New York is the world’s only street parade to exclusively celebrate and showcase the diversity of dance. This annual celebration of eclectic dance styles from around the world, features over ten thousand dancers, and presents more than 100 unique styles of dance.
Launched in 2006, Dance Parade is a 501(c)3 non-profit organization whose mission is to celebrate diversity and cultural equity by presenting as many forms of dance and culture as possible. The organization offers free dance programs to schools and community centers throughout New York City. In 2020 the pandemic caused the parade to go online and reached dozens of dancers and spectators from 90 countries around the world.
The 15th Annual Dance Parade and Festival is made possible with private support as well as public funding from the National Endowment for the Arts and New York City Department of Cultural Affairs.