Laurel Lawson leading Disability & Technology workshop Sep. 2, 2022. Photo by Kevin Colton.
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
Alice Sheppard, balances on her hands, arms straight, and on a pair of silver crutches, lifting her lower body and wheelchair high. Alice’s head is tucked and her short curly hair peeks out from behind her strong arms. She is a coffee-skinned multiracial Black woman, wearing a shimmery gold bodysuit. Set against a black background, light reflects off her costume, chair, and crutches. Photo by Mengwen Cao.
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
Kyle Marshall Choreography at Judson Church, November 20, 2017.
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: 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: 2014-2015
DanceForce Member: Ivan Sygoda
Artist: Darrell Jones
Community Partner: Danspace Project
Audience: 60
County: New York Continue reading Darrell Jones in New York→
Year: 2013-2014
DanceForce Member: Ivan Sygoda
Artist: Heidi Latsky
Community Partners: Adaptive Sports Foundation (for Wounded Warriors), Catskill Mountain Foundation, The College at Brockport, University of Rochester
Audience: 211
Counties: Greene, Monroe Continue reading Heidi Latsky Dance Upstate→
A network of dance activists working to increase the quality and quantity of dance throughout upstate New York.