Year: 2024-2025
DanceForce Member: Kim Engel
Partnering DanceForce Member: Nancy Long
Artist: Barkha Patel
Community Partners: Abram Lansing Elementary School; Hudson City Library; Hudson City School District; Elena Mosley; Russell Sage College
Audience: 701
Counties: Albany, Columbia, Rensselaer
In support of the NYS DanceForce’s commitment to the Juried Bessie Award winner, members Elena Mosley and Kim Engel generated outreach activity for Barkha Patel in their respective regions prior to the artist’s March 28 showcase performance at The Egg in Albany. All planning, scheduling and promotion was done by the DanceForce members and the artist.
The schedule of activity was as follows:
• Demonstrations with students at Hudson High School on March 26
• Workshop/demonstration at the Hudson Area Library on March 26
• Workshops with 5th graders at Abram Lansing Elementary in Cohoes on March 27
• Performance for the student body at Abram Lansing Elementary on March 28
• Master class with dance students at Russell Sage College in Troy on March 28
• Open community workshop at Russell Sage College on March 29
Additionally, an initial planning meeting for a 2026 residency at Schenectady High School took place on March 27. Continued planning is ongoing through email correspondence.
A master class had been scheduled at the Emma Willard School in Troy but had to be canceled in advance because of logistical issues.
All total, this project reached over 700 Capital Region and Columbia County residents. It allowed the artist to interact with these communities prior to her performance and ideally attracted some of those participants to become audience members at that free performance. Besides the open community workshop, the outreach activities were offered at no charge to the participants.
The success of this project has prompted a return visit by this artist during the first half of 2026, not only to work at Schenectady HS but in other educational locations in the region. Activities may take place in conjunction with a planned April residency in Lake Placid and/or with a possible performance again here in the Capital Region that is currently being considered.
This and other similar projects have had a profound effect on this artist:
“In a time where funding for the arts has been extremely uncertain, I am doing things I have always dreamt of doing – touring my works (with live music!), teaching kathak in various schools, and connecting with new audiences and communities. I cannot help but thank the community of movers and shakers making this happen – the NYS Dance Force. After a successful 2024 tour, I was invited to perform at The Egg in the Albany region, thanks to the efforts of NYSDF members.
In the packed residency days in Hudson/Capital Region, I made new connections and was asked questions about kathak in a way I have not been. It made me think about how I really talk about my form to those who are engaging with it for the first time, what I should begin and end with in a workshop, and how I can offer a lasting connection to the form.
The NYSDF support continues to shape my experience as an artist and dance educator. I cannot help but be more grateful to their support for making this all happen.” — Barkha Patel