To close out the summer days, be sure to fit in Danspace Project and Times Square Alliance’s partnership site-specific commissions by Full Circle Souljahs (Ana “Rokafella” Garcia and Gabriel “Kwikstep” Dionisio), luciana achugar and Laurie Berg (Sept. 20-Sept. 23) in the midst of a Times Square crowd. Berg begins at 6 p.m. in Duffy Square, achugar follows at 7 p.m. on the Broadway Plaza and Full Circle Souljahs closes at 8 p.m., back at Duffy Square. For this undertaking, the “…artists [were] to consider Times Square’s history as a home to Broadway musicals, vaudeville dance halls and vernacular dance forms, including modern dance, tap and hip-hop, that emerged throughout the 20th century.” Each of them promises to “…explore strategies for perception, amplification and activism within the cacophonous landscape of Times Square. In New Mass Dance, achugar creates a site-specific procession inspired by the New Dance Group, a 1930s modern dance collective that taught classes near Times Square promoting social change through movement. In ‘scape,’ Berg overlays a landscape of information over live performance via 3-D glasses, exploring Times Square as not just a place of spectacle and traffic but of visual messaging. [And] Full Circle Souljahs’ ‘Behind the Groove, Times Square Edition’ is an homage to street and club dance trends from the ‘70s to today, giving visibility to an underground dance community long associated with Times Square,” according to the release. This event is a free. For more information, visit www.danspaceproject.org.
ALSO THIS MONTH:
Sept. 5-Sept. 8—The annual Dance NOW Festival, known for its “…adventurous short-takes format,” according to the release, returns with yet another packed lineup, featuring 40 emerging and established choreographers. Included are The Bang Group, Jane Comfort and Company, Raja Feather Kelly | the feath3r theory, Gus Solomons jr, Kate Weare Company, Nicole Wolcott, Paula Josa-Jones/Performance Works, Loni Landon Dance Project, Heidi Latsky Dance, Kyle Marshall Choreography, Schoen Movement Company, Cleo Mack/Rock Dance Collective, LAJAMARTIN, Claire Porter/PORTABLES and so many more. For more information, visit www.dancenownyc.org.
Sept. 12—At Dixon Place, for one night only, is Soles of Duende, a multicultural, all-female percussive trio based in tap, flamenco and Kathak dance. Soles of Duende will be in residence in the Dixon Place lounge for the entire year, with free monthly performances. For more information, visit www.dixonplace.org.
Sept. 12-Sept. 22—Gabri Christa’s multimedia solo performance, “Magdalena,” “a family story of love and dementia…part family album, part story of love and race, but above all, a reckoning with the harrowing consequences of a devastating illness that affects an increasing percentage of the world’s population,” according to the release, comes to Theaterlab. “Magdalena” is written, choreographed and performed by Christa. For more information, visit www.theaterlabnyc.com. Sept. 13-Sept 15—For their fifth anniversary season, Fadi J. Khoury’s FJK Dance brings premieres and repertory works to the Gerald W. Lynch Theater at John Jay College as part of the CUNY Dance Initiative. For more information, visit www.fjkdance.com.
Sept. 18—On a shared bill curated by Sangeeta Yesley around the theme of “Existence,” choreographers Chris Ferris & Dancers and Ranardo-Domeico Grays’ VISIONS Contemporary Ballet will present works at Dixon Place. For more information, visit www.dixonplace.org
Sept. 18-Sept. 19—As part of the French Institute Alliance Française’s annual fall festival “Crossing the Line,” Trajal Harrell returns to The Kitchen with the premiere of CAEN AMOUR, which “…reimagines the hoochie koochie, an erotic dance that was first popularized by the Syrian dancer, Little Egypt,” according to the release. For more information, visit www.crossingtheline.org
Sept. 19—Choreographer Candace Thompson-Zachery and writer/performer Rosamond S. King discuss contemporary dance influenced by their Caribbean heritage, the work of Dance Caribbean COLLECTIVE and the New Traditions Festival. For more information, visit www.gibneydance.org.
Sept. 22—Melanie Greene and Meira Goldberg will share the bill at DraftWork, curated by Ishmael Houston-Jones, and which gives choreographers an opportunity to share their work at various stages of development. This is a free event. For more information, visit www.danspaceproject.
Sept. 22-Sept. 23—At NYU’s Skirball, Bill T. Jones/Arnie Zane Company will present two marathon performances of the three part trilogy, “The Analogy Trilogy,” consisting of “Dora: Tramontane”; “Lance: Pretty aka the Escape Artist”; and “Ambros: The Emigrant” (in its New York City premiere). For more information, visit www.nyuskirball.org.
Sept. 25-Sept. 29—Also as part of FIAF’s “Crossing the Line,” choreographer Will Rawls, poet Claudia Rankine and video artist John Lucas come together in the making of “What Remains” (New York City premiere) at Danspace Project. “For this commission, the artists, who are all American, were asked to respond to the role of the surveillance state and the violence it inflicts upon its citizens,” according to the release. For more information, visit www.crossingtheline.org