Over a decade ago the DanceForce committed itself to foster upstate opportunities for each year’s Juried Bessie Artist. The following projects are among the results of that commitment.
Jamestown Dance Festival
Year: 2024-2025
DanceForce Member: Sukanya Burman
Partnering DanceForce Member: Ivan Sygoda
Artist: Barkha Patel
Community Partners: 171 Cedar Arts Center, Corning; American Dance Asylum; Chautauqua Region Community Foundation; Reg Lenna Center for the Arts; Robert H. Jackson Center; SatyaVani Arts; Sheldon Foundation; Sukanya Burman Dance; YWCA Jamestown
Audience: 900
County: Chautauqua
Barkha Patel – Juried Bessies Award Tour in Rochester
Year: 2024-2025
DanceForce Member: Missy Pfohl Smith
Artist: Barkha Patel
Community Partners: Bharata School of Indian Dance and Music; Eastman School of Music; Nazareth College, Rochester; Rochester Institute of Technology; SUNY Brockport; University of Rochester
Audience: 645
County: Monroe
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Passion Fruit Dance in the Hudson Valley
Year: 2023-2024
DanceForce Member: Ivan Sygoda
Partnering DanceForce Members: Elena Mosley, Toni Smith
Artists: Tatiana Desardouin; Lauriane Ogay
Community Partner: Adam Weinert (Kaatsbaan Cultural Park, Tivoli)
Audience: 61
Counties: Columbia, Dutchess
DANCE-WISE, GROOVE, and GROVE
Year: 2023-2024
DanceForce Member: Jim Self
Partnering Member: Ivan Sygoda
Artist: Tatiana Desardouin, Jim Self
Community Partner: Cherry Arts Space
Audience: 536
County: Tompkins
Alice Sheppard Kinetic Light HWS Residency 2022
Year: 2021-2022
DanceForce Member: Cynthia Williams
DanceForce Partnering Member: Ivan Sygoda
Artists: Alice Sheppard, Laurel Lawson
Community Partners: Hobart & William Smith Colleges Dance Department; Hobart & William Smith Colleges Education Department
Audience: 251
County: Ontario
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Kinetic Light / Alice Sheppard Residency
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
Bringing the Bessies Winner Upstate
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
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THE KYLE MARSHALL PROJECT
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
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Kyle Marshall Residency at Bethany Arts Community
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
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