BATTERY DANCE FESTIVAL
Robert F. Wagner Jr. Park, Battery Park City
20 Battery Pl.
August 12-14 online, August 15-20 in person, free, 7:00
batterydance.org
The Battery Dance Festival has a lot to celebrate this month. Not only is the free summer festival celebrating its fortieth anniversary, but it will be doing so with a series of live, in-person presentations in addition to virtual performances from around the world. “Dancing in the open air, with the river and sky in the background, is always a blissful Battery Dance Festival experience,” Battery Dance president and artistic director Jonathan Hollander said in a statement. “This year, it will be even more exhilarating as people come out of isolation to witness the entrancing performances at Wagner Park. Before the action starts onstage, three nights of truly riveting dance films from many corners of the globe will be screened. Creativity was running high during the pandemic, and we have harvested a heady mix from voguing on a mountaintop in Lebanon to swing dancing in South Korea, from commedia dell’arte in Mexico to birdlike flocking in the Netherlands.”
The festival will screen sixteen dance films online August 12-14 at 7:00, followed by forty live and livestreamed performances taking place August 15-20 at Robert F. Wagner Jr. Park in Battery Park City, including thirty-two premieres from fifty-three companies. Below is the full schedule.
International Dance Film Festival: Online Only at 7:00
Thursday, August 12
We Arnhem, Chapter II, Introdans, Jurriën Schobben & Alberto Villanueva Rodríguez (the Netherlands)
Uninhabited Island, Dance Troupe Braveman (South Korea)
MI blanco, MI Negro, Chilaquiles Rojos Colectivo, Vladimir Campoy (Mexico)
A Moment — Wakati, Nantea Dance Company (Tanzania)
Los Perros del Barrio Colosal, Boca Tuya, Omar Román De Jesús (Puerto Rico/NYC)
Friday, August 13
As Part of Lindy Hop Evolution, Team AJC, Andy Seo (South Korea)
WalkINN, Jiva Velázquez (Paraguay)
Downriver, Bollwerkfilm (Switzerland)
Our Stories, Arabesque Dance Vietnam (Vietnam)
The Circadian Cycle, Australian Dance Theatre (Australia)
Saturday, August 14
The Bait, Chenglong Tang (China)
Free Pita & Nilydna, Jill Crovisier (Luxembourg)
Fall Back, Abhilash Ningappa (India)
Groundworks Alcatraz (excerpts), Dancing Earth Creations (United States)
Goat & Al Jurd, Hoedy Saad (Lebanon)
Näss (People) (excerpt,) Massala Company, Fouad Boussouf (France)
Fortieth annual Battery Dance Festival will take place outside in Wagner Park and online (photo by Darial Sneed)
In-Person and Livestreamed Festival Performances at 7:00
Sunday, August 15: India Independence Day
Kathak: Parul Shah Dance Company
Bharatanatyam: Kasi Aysola & SaiSantosh Radhakrishnan, Water
Kuchipudi: “Ananda Tandavam”
Bharatanatyam: Maya Kulkarni presents two world premieres
Musical Interludes: Eventually Epic, with musicians Sachin Premasuthan and Debarun Bhattacharjya
Sutradhar (Narrator): Rajika Puri
Monday, August 16: Young Voices in Dance
The Stoic Bridge, Kate Louissaint & Nhyira Asante
ニ時二分 (2:02), Imani Gaudin
Repentino, Spencer Everett & Isabella Aldridge
This Is 22!, Brian Golden
Shiva Panchakshara Stotram, Ramya Durvasula
Mine, Yours, Ours, Lily Summer Gee
Garden Tongues, Grace Yi-Li Tong
Untitled, Kanyok Arts Initiative
Tuesday, August 17
A Little Old, a Little New, Luke Hickey
Warsaw, Graciano Dance Projects
Voila Viola, Company | E
John 4:20, Baye & Asa
The Underground, Rohan Bhargava/Rovaco Dance Company
Solstice, Jon Lehrer Dance Company
Observatory, Battery Dance
Wednesday, August 18
Od:yssey, Dancing Wheels
Donor, Will Ervin — Erv Works Dance
Radio Days, Demi Remick & Dancers
On the Waterfront, MorDance
The Liminal Year, Battery Dance
Honky Tonk Angels, William Byram
Thursday, August 19
Virtuoso, CHR Project
Deliver Us, Christian Warner
846 (Rite of Spring), Jamal Jackson Dance Company
Rondo & Size of the Sky, New York Theatre Ballet
Full Stop. Start Again., Akira Uchida, Maddy Wright, Joshua Strmic
The Prayer of Daphnis, Christopher Williams
It will happen again tonight, Dolly Sfeir
Ode to Yma, Battery Dance, Razvan Stoian & Jillian Linkowski
Friday, August 20
Alegrías, Flamenco Vivo II
Maps, Ohiole Dibua
Michoacán Suite, Ballet Nepantla
Flower, Stasis
Cuesta Abajo, Galletto y Guzmán
Yemaya: Rebirthing to Existence, Beatrice Capote
Untitled, Battery Dance