this week in dance

HARLEM ARTS FESTIVAL 2012

Queen Esther will close the 2012 Harlem Arts Festival with dancer-choreographer Francesca Harper tonight

Richard Rodgers Amphitheater
Marcus Garvey Park
Madison Ave. between 120th & 124th Sts.
Saturday, June 30, free, 1:00 – 8:00
www.harlemartsfestival.com

The second day of the free Harlem Art Festival, held in Marcus Garvey Park, features another fine lineup of live music, dance, and theater, emceed by DJ Stormin’ Norman. The party gets started at 1:00 with Gary Samuels & the Prayz’N Hymn Ensemble on the main stage and Isaac Katalay on the second stage at 1:30. Other performers include the Mighty Third Rail, Gwen Laster, Illstyle & Peace Productions, James Browning Kepple, Benjamin Barson, Guerilla Dance Collective, Shelah Marie, and Vernard J. Gilmore / La Verdad, with Queen Esther & the Francesca Harper Project closing the show at 7:00. There is also a kids’ corner with children’s activities in addition to local food vendors, a market, special programs in the Harlem Library, and a gallery walk with work by such artists as Leon Barber, Laura Gadson, Judy Levy, Bryce R. Zackery, and Maxine DeSeta.

RIVER TO RIVER FESTIVAL: SHOW

Maria Hassabi and Hristoula Harakas have taken SHOW outside for the River to River Festival (photo by Francis Coy)

Broad & Wall St.
Saturday, June 30, and Sunday, July 1, free, 5:00
rivertorivernyc.com
www.mariahassabi.com
show slideshow

Back in November, Maria Hassabi presented SHOW at the Kitchen, where she and longtime collaborator Hristoula Harakas slowly weaved, wiggled, and wound their way across the floor amid the audience, which was allowed to go wherever they wanted, whether standing in the back or sitting right next to the performers. Hassabi and Harakas are now taking the fab gathering outdoors as part of the free River to River Festival, where they will be interacting not only with an audience specifically there to see them but by passersby who are bound to wonder just what is going on. Featuring sound design by Alex Waterman that incorporates freshly recorded noise and voices, the performance is an intimate experience that is sure to have renewed life from being out in the sun, compared to the more cramped and dark black-box room at the Kitchen. Hassabi and Harakas can do amazing things with their bodies, displaying elegance and strength, in what we called back in November “a brilliant, often erotically charged evening-length piece performed by two dynamic, brave dancers unafraid to take risks, involving the audience in unique and, at times, demanding ways.”

Maria Hassabi and Hristoula Harakas put on quite a SHOW at River to River Festival (photo by twi-ny/mdr)

Update: As it turns out, SHOW does indeed offer a very different kind of experience in its new incarnation outdoors as part of the River to River Festival. On a cobblestone path on Broad St., Maria Hassabi and Hristoula Harakas move incredibly slowly, staring deep into each other’s eyes, crawling over each other’s bodies, and lifting their legs high into the air in breathtaking positions. Depending on which angle you are watching from ― you can sit on sidewalk benches, move around the area, or spread out on the street itself, where you might have to get out of the dancers’ way as they approach you ― you can see the large American flag on the Stock Exchange building or the George Washington statue in front of Federal Hall in the background. Alex Waterman’s score mixes in noises recorded earlier around Wall St., including construction work and sirens, layered with live sound. Despite the intense heat, Hassabi and Harakas soldier on as tourists gawk, shutterbugs surround them, food deliverers speed by on their bicycles, and dogs on leashes amble past them. Yet the two extraordinary dancers manage to maintain the piece’s inherent intimacy, especially when they make extended eye contact with people in the crowd.

FREE SUMMER DANCE 2012

Friday, June 22
through
Sunday, June 24 River to River Festival: Le Grand Continental by Sylvain Émard Danse, Pier 16 & 17, South Street Seaport, 7:00

Friday, June 29 SummerStage Dance: Master Class by Limón Dance Company, St. Mary’s Park, 7:00

Saturday, June 30 Washington Square Dances: Naomi Goldberg Haas/Dances for a Variable Population, Garibaldi Plaza, Washington Square Park, 4:00 & 7:00

Saturday, June 30
and
Sunday, July 1 SummerStage Dance: Limón Dance Company with special musical guest Paquito D’Rivera, Central Park, 8:00

Saturday, June 30
through
Tuesday, July 3 River to River Festival: FEELingpleasuresatisfactioncelebrationholyFORM by Luciana Achugar, Staten Island Ferry Terminal, 1:00 or 6:00

Sunday, July 1 River to River Festival: Commentary = Not Thing (In Process) by Juliana F. May, Building 110, Governors Island, advance RSVP recommended, 2:00

Friday, July 6 Passport Fridays: Haiti, with dance by ASE Dance Theatre Collective, music by DJA-Rara, and screening of When the Drum Is Beating (Whitney Dow, 2011), Queens Museum, 6:30

Monday, July 9
through
Thursday, July 12 River to River Festival: Tere O’Connor Dance, untitled new project, Mannahatta Park, Wall St. between Front & South Sts., 2:00

Tuesday, July 10
through
Thursday, July 12 SummerStage Dance: Ill Style & Peace Productions, multiple locations, 10:30 am

Thursday, July 12
through
Saturday, July 14 River to River Festival: The Set Up: Junko Fisher, choreographed by Wally Cardona and Jennifer Lacey, with music by Pete Drungle and danced by Dylan Crossman, 80 Broad St., 4:00

Sunday, July 15 MoonDance: George Gee Swing Orchestra, Hudson River Park Pier 84, dance lessons 6:30, concert 7:00

Friday, July 20 Passport Fridays: Cuba, with dance and music by Oyu Oro and screening of Suite Habana (Fernando Pérez, 2003), Queens Museum, 6:30

Friday, July 20 SummerStage Dance: Liberation Dance Theater and Jamal Jackson Dance Company, Queensbridge Park, 7:00

Saturday, July 21 SummerStage Dance: Malcolm Low Formal Structure and Von Ussar Danceworks, Master Class by Jamel Gaines Creative Outlet Dance Theatre of Brooklyn, Queensbridge Park, 7:00

Sunday, July 22 MoonDance: Los Hermanos Colón, Hudson River Park Pier 84, dance lessons 6:30, concert 7:00

Tuesday, July 24 SummerStage Dance: Uptown Dance Academy, Maria Hernandez Park, 10:30 am

Thursday, July 26 SummerStage Dance: Uptown Dance Academy, Morningside Park, 10:30 am

Friday, July 27 Passport Fridays: Egypt, with dance and music by Egyptian Celebration Company and screening of Microphone (Ahmad Abdalla, 2010), Queens Museum, 6:30

Sunday, July 29 MoonDance: Nu D’Lux, Hudson River Park Pier 84, dance lessons 6:30, concert 7:00

Friday, August 3 Passport Fridays: West Indies, with dance by Something Positive, music by Village Drums of Freedom, and screening of Fire in Babylon (Stevan Riley, 2011), Queens Museum, 6:30

Friday, August 3 Lincoln Center Out of Doors: Phil Kline: “dreamcitynine,” performed by Talujon and friends, Josie Robertson Plaza, Hearst Plaza, Damrrosch Park, 6:30

Friday, August 3 Lincoln Center Out of Doors: Chio-Tian Folk Drums and Arts Group, Hearst Plaza, 7:30

Saturday, August 4 Lincoln Center Out of Doors: Heidi Latsky Dance: GIMP, Hearst Plaza, 7:30

Sunday, August 5 Lincoln Center Out of Doors: Heritage Sunday: Ayiti Rasanble! Featuring Feet of Rhythm, Kongo featuring Peniel Guerrier, La Troupe Makandal, and Raram, Hearst Plaza, 1:00–6:00

Sunday, August 5 MoonDance: Hector Del Curto’s Eternal Tango, Hudson River Park Pier 84, dance lessons 6:30, concert 7:00

Tuesday, August 7 SummerStage Dance: Abada Capoeira NYC and Edna Limia, Columbus Park, 10:30 am

Thursday, August 9 SummerStage Dance: Abada Capoeira NYC and Edna Limia, Van Cortland Park, 10:30 am

Thursday, August 9 Celebrate Brooklyn! Complexions Contemporary Ballet, Prospect Park Bandshell, 8:00

Friday, August 10 SummerStage Dance: Uptown Dance Academy, Poe Park, 10:30 am

Friday, August 10 Passport Fridays: Taiwan, with dance by Nai-Ni Chen Dance Company, music by Taiwanese Music Ensemble of New York, and screening of Fishing Luck (Wen-chen Tseng, 2005), Queens Museum, 6:30

Friday, August 10 SummerStage Dance: Camille A. Brown & Dancers and MoralesDance, Master Class by Camille A. Brown, Marcus Garvey Park, 7:00

Saturday, August 11 SummerStage Dance: Kùlú Mèlé African Dance and Drum Ensemble and MBDance, Master Class by Kùlú Mèlé African Dance & Drum Ensemble, Marcus Garvey Park, 7:00

Saturday, August 11
through
Saturday, August 18 Downtown Dance Festival, multiple locations

Sunday, August 12 MoonDance: David Berger Jazz Orchestra, Hudson River Park Pier 84, dance lessons 6:30, concert 7:00

Wednesday, August 15 SummerStage Dance: Koresh Dance Company, BalletX, and Dancin’ Downtown at the Joyce, Central Park, 8:00

Friday, August 17 Passport Fridays: Dominican Republic, with music by Irka & the Women of Fire and Los Calientes and screening of Louis Vargas: Santo Domingo Blues (Alex Wolfe, 2004), Queens Museum, 6:30

Friday, August 17 SummerStage Dance: White Wave Yuong Soon Kim Dance Company, DoubleTake Dance, Master Class by Desmond Richardson from Complexions Contemporary Ballet, East River Park, 7:00

Saturday, August 18 SummerStage Dance: Eleone Dance Theatre, Niles Ford, Urban Dance Collective, Master Class by Calvin Wiley, East River Park, 7:00

Tuesday, August 21 SummerStage Dance: Something Positive, Underwood Park, 10:30 am

Thursday, August 23 SummerStage Dance: Something Positive, Faber Park, 10:30 am

Friday, August 24 Passport Fridays: Puerto Rico, with dance by Bombazo Dance Company, music by Orquesta Rovira, and screening of Cayo (Vicente Juarbe, 2005), Queens Museum, 6:30

THE MONKEY CHANNEL

Fred Torres Collaborations
527 West 29th St. between Tenth & Eleventh Aves.
Saturday, June 16, 7:00, and Sunday, June 17, 4:00
Tickets: $15
212-244-5074
www.johnbyrneproductions.com
www.fredtorres.com

Last summer, dancer and choreographer John Byrne presented “Facility of Movement,” an engaging site-specific lunchtime dance made in conjunction with David LaChapelle’s “From Darkness to Light” installation at Lever House, which was designed by Fred Torres Collaborations. Byrne and LaChapelle also worked together on Byrne’s evening-length Transcending Form at Theatre 80. This weekend Byrne will be premiering The Monkey Channel, a play with dance inspired by the writings of John Krakauer (Into Thin Air), running June 16-17 at Fred Torres in Chelsea. In 1990, midwestern single mom Cindy suddenly decides to climb Mt. Eiger, the more-than-thirteen-thousand-foot-high mountain in the Bernese Alps made famous by the Trevanian book and Clint Eastwood movie The Eiger Sanction, leaving her teenage daughter at home with an exchange student from the Dominican Republic. The play is written and directed by Byrne, who also appears in the production along with Debra Zalkind and Natasha Murray. Tickets are available with advance RSVP to john@johnbyrneproductions.com.

QUEER NEW YORK INTERNATIONAL ARTS FESTIVAL

Silvia Costa’s LA QUIESCENZA DEL SEME will examine birth and consciousness at the Queer New York International Arts Festival

Abrons Arts Center, Henry Street Settlement (and other locations)
466 Grand St. at Pitt St.
June 7-15, $20
212-598-0400
www.abronsartscenter.org
www.queerny.org

In March 2011, Zvonimir Dobrović, the curator and producer of the Eastern European Perforacije Festival, put together the inaugural American Perforations Festival at Club La MaMa, a collection of eclectic theatrical productions from Bulgaria, Croatia, Serbia, Slovakia, and Macedonia. Dobrović, who is also the artistic director of Queer Zagreb, has now teamed up with art historian and independent curator André von Ah to present the first Queer New York International Arts Festival. Taking place June 7-15 primarily at the Abrons Arts Center on the Lower East Side, QNYI features multidisciplinary projects that recontextualize and reconsider what constitutes queer art. The opening-night party, held June 7 at the Delancey, includes performances by Carol Pope, Carmelita Tropicana, Eyes Wild Drag, Sarah-Louise Young, Raul de Nieves, Justin Sayre, Kayvon Zand, and others, with DJ sets by JD Samson, DJ R!C, and DJ Malakai. The shows begin with Stefano Ricci and Gianni Forte’s Macadamia Nut Brittle, which is inspired by writings by Dennis Cooper and focuses on four characters in search of their identity. In Tadaku Takamine’s Kimura-San installation, the artist documents how he cared for a paraplegic, including sexually. In Auto + Batterie, David Wampach uses dissonant music, live drumming, extreme choreography, and whipped cream to bring together sound and movement. In Guintche, a drawing by Marlene Monteiro Freitas explodes into life and becomes unstoppable. Silvia Costa of Plumes dans la tête examines birth and not-birth in La Quiescenza del seme. Igor Josifov’s 2-Dimensional reconfigures performer and audience, as people walk over the Macedonian artist, who is trapped under a plexiglass structure. Body parts figure significantly throughout the festival; François Chaignaud and Cecilia Bengolea look deep into “a reflection of the denial of the anus in dance” in Paquerette at the Invisible Dog in Brooklyn, while Biljana Kosmogina’s ‘P’ Campaign follows the exploits of the presidential candidate Vagina. And East Village Boys are hosting the art exhibit “For personal use” June 7-16 at the Impossible Project, with specially commissioned works by Mx Justin Vivian Bond, Jeff Hahn, Jayson Keeling, Josh McNey, and others.

CELEBRATE ISRAEL PARADE: ISRAEL BRANCHES OUT

Israel will celebrate its sixty-fourth birthday on Fifth Ave. on June 3 (photo by twi-ny/mdr)

57th to 74th St. up Fifth Ave.
Sunday, June 3, free, 11:00 am – 4:00 pm
www.salutetoisrael.com

Sponsored by the Jewish Community Relations Council, the annual Celebrate Israel Parade, previously known as the Salute to Israel Parade, takes place on Sunday, June 3, on Fifth Ave. from Fifty-seventh to Seventy-fourth Sts. This year’s theme is “Israel Branches Out,” focusing on the sixty-four-year-old Mideast country “being fruitful, growing flowers and other crops, and finding its roots, seeds, etc.” The parade, which features more than thirty thousand marchers and hundreds of thousands of viewers, will be led by Grand Marshal Harvey Kaylie, a CCNY graduate, philanthropist, and founder of the Brooklyn-based design, manufacture, and distribution company Mini-Circuits. The 2012 parade lineup includes the NYC Transit Pipes & Drums, the Shabazz High School Marching Band, the Amir and Ron Orchestra, the Brooklyn Jumbies, the Youth Arts Marching Cobras, the Israeli Dance Institute, Sisters in Motion, the Approaching Storm Marching Band, Areyvut Mitzvah Clowns, the DSNY Pipes and Drums of the Emerald Society, and the Frederick Douglass Academy Harlem Samba. Among the special guests are Dr. Ruth Westheimer, anchorman Harry Martin, reporter Robert Moses, sports commentator Becky Griffith, and such bands as SOULFARM, Blue Fringe, Musical Minds, J Viewz, the Moshe Hecht Band, and 613.

BUSHWICK OPEN STUDIOS 2012

Bushwick Open Studios will include such interactive installations as Michelle Jaffe’s “Wappen Field”

Throughout Bushwick
June 2-3, free
artsinbushwick.org

The sixth annual Bushwick Open Studios is under way throughout the Brooklyn neighborhood, with hundreds of local artists opening their doors to visitors and participating in special projects all weekend. This year’s multimedia indoor/outdoor festival will include a Street Art Pop-Up Store hosted by Robin Grearson, record release parties, live art battles, concerts at Lone Wolf, XPO, and Pine Box Rock Shop, site-specific installation performances by jill sigman/thinkdance, Valentina Loseva, and Sophia Cleary, bike tours and safety programming, the “Spread Art Outdoors” Parade of Art, such group shows as “Surreal Estate,” “Figure Fragments,” “Usual Suspects,” “Conceptual Death,” and “True Nature,” panel discussions, interactive participatory exhibits by MG Stillwaggon, Running Rebel Studios, Bushwick Dimensions, Michelle Jaffe, Salon des Fous, Will Bates, the Desert Forest, Jack Aldrich, Roarke Menzies, and Pass Kontrol, and plenty of live music, dance, performance art, and general weirdness.