
Year: 2020-2021
DanceForce Member: Jim Self
DanceForce Partnering Member: Ivan Sygoda
Artists: Megan Omohundro, Jim Self, Alice Sheppard
Community Partners: CherryArts Space
Audience: 298
County: Tompkins
Year: 2020-2021
DanceForce Member: Jim Self
DanceForce Partnering Member: Ivan Sygoda
Artists: Megan Omohundro, Jim Self, Alice Sheppard
Community Partners: CherryArts Space
Audience: 298
County: Tompkins
Year: 2019-2020
DanceForce Member: Kim Engel
Artist: Kyle Marshall
Community Partners: The Egg, Albany; UAlbany Foundation & Auxiliary Services; UAlbany Office of Intercultural Student Engagement; UAlbany Performing Arts Center
Audience: 115
County: Albany
Continue reading Bringing the Bessies Winner Upstate
Year: 2019-2020
DanceForce Member: Elena Mosley
Partnering Member: Ivan Sygoda
Artists: Kyle Marshall, Marcus McGregor
Community Partners: Hudson Hall; JD Urban Photography; Marathon Digital
Audience: 779
County: Columbia
Continue reading THE KYLE MARSHALL PROJECT
Year: 2019-2020
DanceForce Member: Toni Smith
Partnering Member: Ivan Sygoda
Artist: Kyle Marshall
Community Partners: Arts Westchester; Bethany Arts Community
Audience: 63
County: Westchester
Continue reading Kyle Marshall Residency at Bethany Arts Community
Year: 2018-2019
DanceForce Member: Toni Smith
Artist: Abby Zbikowski
Community Partners: The Egg, Albany; UAlbany Foundation & Auxiliary Services; UAlbany Performing Arts Center; University Auxiliary Services, UAlbany
Audience: 155
County: Albany
Continue reading Providing an Upstate Residency to the Bessies Juried Award Winner
Year: 2018-2019
DanceForce Member: Ivan Sygoda
Artist: Abby Zbikowski
Community Partner: Emelin Theater, Mamaroneck NY
Audience: 124
County: Westchester
The project supported the participation of 2017 juried Bessie artist Abby Zbikowski and her New Utility dance company in the spring 2019 edition of The Emelin Theater’s annual Dance Off The Grid series in Mamaroneck, NY. Specifically, Abby and three other company members occupied the middle third of the April program. DOTG Curator Andrea Snyder summarizes and provides a mini-review: “Abby Z and the New Utility performed a 20-minute work in progress – Radioactive Practice – to resounding applause and appreciation for the dancers’ extraordinary physical abilities and the stimulating choreography. The audience was ‘wowed’ by the work. Unintentionally and serendipitously, Abby’s choreography and the company’s performance aligned with the other two artists on the program – Caleb Teicher and Malini Srinivasan – through the association of rhythm, which turned out to be the noted ‘theme’ of the evening.”
The endeavor sustains the commitment the DanceForce made several years ago to support touring beyond New York City by each year’s juried Bessie artist, selected by a rotating panel of distinguished dance-makers convened by Bessie Director Lucy Sexton. Bessie artists who have toured with Dance Force support include Pam Tanowitz, Pavel Zustiak (Palissimo), Beth Gill, Gerard & Kelly and Darrell Jones. This project continued in particular the Dance Force’s fruitful collaboration with The Emelin Theater in Westchester and with Andrea Snyder, who curates their Dance Off The Grid Series.
Each DOTG program presents three different dance artists/companies and culminates in an informal audience-performer dialogue moderated by Andrea. She has built a faithful audience for the series, one comprised mainly of adults, who have developed an appetite for the eclectic nature of the dance on display and a willingness to be surprised and even challenged by unexpected idioms. The houses (the theater seats 265) are usually gratifying—between 150-200 patrons. The participating artists appreciate the evident curiosity and attention of the public and the liveliness of the post-performance discussion. With the exception of Fall for Dance, an eclectic dance sampler of this sort is simply not to be found in New York City. It thus offers participating artists the experience of sharing their work with a truly “new” audience. They value this.
Year: 2017-2018
DanceForce Member: Ivan Sygoda
Artists: Beth Gill, Jim Self, Pam Tanowitz, Adam Weinert
Community Partners: Emelin Theater, Mamaroneck, NY
Audience: 280
County: Westchester
Continue reading DanceForce Collaboration with Emelin Theater (Mamaroneck, NY)
Year: 2017-2018
DanceForce Member: Margaret Kaiser
Artists: Pavel Zustiak, Jaro Vinarsky, Christian Frederickson
Community Partners: Torn Space Theatre, Ujima Theatre Company
Audience: 450
County: Erie
Continue reading Buffalo’s Response Festival Features Bastard: The Painted Bird
Year: 2016-2017
DanceForce Member: Kim Engel
Artists: Palissimo Company
Community Partner: Lake Placid Center for the Arts
Audience: 355
Counties: Albany, Essex
Continue reading Extending the Reach of DanceForce Activity into Non-Member Counties
Year: 2015-2016
DANCEFORCE/BESSIES RESIDENCY FUND
Artists: Gerrard & Kelly
Community Partner: Pocantico Center
County: Westchester