Year: 2024-2025
DanceForce Member: Kim Engel
Artists: A.I.M. by Kyle Abraham; Nai-Ni Chen Dance Company
Community Partners: Proctor’s Theatre, Schenectady; Saratoga Performing Arts Center; Skidmore College, Saratoga Springs; Union College, Schenectady
Audience: 2,370
Counties: Albany, Rensselaer, Saratoga, Schenectady

DF member Kim Engel will use her full allocation to support a couple of venue/college collaborations resulting in a pair of extended residencies concentrated in two Capital Region counties but expanding outward to also include two additional ones.

In the fall, the Saratoga Performing Arts Center (SPAC) and Skidmore College’s Department of Dance, both in Saratoga County, will collaborate to host A.I.M by Kyle Abraham for a week-long residency from November 4-10, 2024. Outreach activity, conducted by four company members, will take place for the first five days at Skidmore College and potentially other Capital Region locations. Included will be technique, repertory and creative process classes for Skidmore’s dance students as well as presentations/lectures to non-dance departments within the college and an open-to-the-public master class. An additional outreach activity(ies) in Albany and/or Rensselaer counties is being explored. The residency will culminate in two public performances at SPAC’s Little Theatre on November 9 & 10 with an anticipated combined audience of approximately 1000.

This residency marks a second partnership by the two entities after collaborating in March 2024 to present Ballet X in a residency with performances. SPAC is fortunate to have previously presented Kyle Abraham’s work as part of their longstanding New York City Ballet residency (The Runaway in 2019 and Love Letter on Shuffle in 2023).

After the first of the year, Proctors Collaborative and Union College’s Department of Theater and Dance, both in Schenectady County, will collaborate to host Nai Ni Chen Dance Company in a multi-day residency. Outreach activity, conducted by one or more company members, will take place for two to three days at Union College and potentially other Capital Region locations. Included will be technique and choreography classes for Union’s dance students as well as presentations/lectures to non-dance departments within the college. An additional outreach activity(ies) in Albany and/or Rensselaer counties is being explored. The residency will culminate in two performances at Proctors on Thursday, February 6 with an anticipated combined audience of approximately 1000.

This residency marks a first-time collaboration between the two entities and is being embraced as the starting point of a long-term relationship.