Year: 2025-2026
DanceForce Member: Kim Engel
Partnering DanceForce Member: Nancy Long
Artists: Sondra Loring; Kara Janelle Wade
Community Partners: Dance Alliance; Union College
Audience: 200
County: Schenectady
In a collaborative partnership, the NYS DanceForce and Union College with funding assistance from the Dance Alliance will present two studio performances in Union’s Henle Dance Studio on two summer evenings this July. Both presentations will be open to the public, free of charge and followed by dessert receptions for audience and artists.
On Tuesday, July 27 at 7pm, a performance of Sondra Loring’s “Witness” will be presented followed by a discussion. Bridging worlds through movement, poetry and trust, “Witness” is a performance born from years of creative risk, deep listening and radical collaboration. Created by the founder of MovingPotential, the work began inside the walls of Greene Correctional Facility where Sondra led yoga, writing and dance improvisation workshops for incarcerated men. These quiet moments of breath and movement grew into a collective story — a shared language of resilience, imagination and dignity.
In “Witness,” those stories move beyond the prison walls. Artists on the outside respond to the work of men inside through dance “scores,” gestures and what Sondra calls telepathic dancing — a practice of connection that defies separation. The result is part ritual, part performance and wholly human.
Original music for “Witness” is by Aidan Samp. The ensemble includes Sunder Ashni, Eric Cherry, Erick Montes, Peggy Gould, Dwayne Resnick, Hana van der Kolk, Suanny Upegi and Noa Woodley. Inside Greene, collaborators include Andre, Arkeyse, Bipartisan, Brandon, Brian, Bruce, Cash, Christopher, Dennis, Donte, Jason, Joseph, Joshua, Josiah, Kevin, Lemar, Maurice, Mazraany, Mitchell, Otto, Player, Randy, Ricky, Robert, Royan, Terri, Thimas, Tim, Timothy and Vashant. One longtime participant, now released, has joined the company full-time — a living embodiment of art’s power to transform.
On Wednesday, July 28 at 7pm, KaJe Movement Collective will present a program entitled “Behind the Rhythms: Choreography in Context.” Founded by Kara Jenelle Wade, the group is a performance ensemble of radiant artistic Sistas embodying cultural legacy, creativity and powerful presence. Rooted in rhythms of the African diaspora, social dance and contemporary expression, the company integrates spoken word, musical composition and cinematic visuals to evoke, educate and represent their culture as members of the global majority. Their choreographies honor the impact of Black histories, the vibrancy of Black joy and the urgency of liberation.
In this presentation, attendees are welcomed into the creative process to witness how movement emerges from research rooted in culture, rituals and lived experience as well as to recognize choreography not only as performance, but as archive, language and a vessel for storytelling. This focus will situate their work “ÌYÁguration” within its cultural, historical, and artistic lineage, illuminating the work as both practice and inquiry.