Dance Rising NYC announces its next Hyper-Local Dance Out: WE KEEP DANCING, throughout the five boroughs and the Tri-State area on June 1 & 4, 2022, from 4pm-8pm. A grassroots movement for embodied advocacy, Dance Rising NYC organizes non-curated dance outs – improvised or choreographed simultaneous performance actions – by hundreds of professional dance artists in all styles and forms -- to campaign for visibility of the dance field. For this June 2022 Dance Out, Dance Rising invites professional dance artists to choose a location, be in community and perform in their own styles on June 1 & 4 between the hours of 4-8pm. Dance artists of all styles can learn more, sign up to dance, and choose a location at www.dancerising.org. More information, including venue locations and details are also at www.dancerising.org.

 

Dance Rising insists that dance is a vital performing art -- one that shapes NYC's identity as a cultural center. For WE KEEP DANCING, artists and institutions across the five boroughs of New York City, Upstate NY and the Metro Area are aligning with Dance Rising in this mission. 

 

WE KEEP DANCING will launch on Wednesday, June 1 with dancers performing in every kind of space, and on Saturday June 4, Dance Rising dance artists will be performing as part of the FIGMENT Festival on the gorgeous campus of Snug Harbor Cultural Center. 

 

The solidarity of the dance field is clear from the partnerships built through this action: "Mark Morris Dance Groupappreciates and supports how Dance Rising has elevated the voices of so many dance artists and choreographers who are still impacted by the pandemic, particularly around space," says Sarah Marcus, Director of Education and Community Engagement at Mark Morris Dance Group. "We are inspired by their ability to provide a platform for creation of new work and to engage new audiences through initiatives like the Hyper-Local Dance Outs."

 

 "The pandemic has had a wide range of effects on us and our art, including the challenges of not being able to dance together, '' says BAAD! Deputy Director, Marcus Gualberto. "We're honored to serve as a hyper-local dance hub in the Bronx – right here in our own backyard – and provide an inclusive space for artists to finally dance publically again, regardless of style, discipline, level or origin." 

 

Teresa Fellion, founder of Middlebrook Arts Research + Residency Center (MAR+RC) in Jefferson, NY says: "Bridging and celebrating dance in NYC and NY rural areas is a meaningful way to connect with dancers throughout our state. MAR+RC aims to offer a place of impactful experiences and exchanges amongst artists and advocates." 

 

As with past Dance Outs, artists are asked to record their dance and share it with Dance Rising, with an eye towards future video compilations.

 

ABOUT THE ORGANIZERS

Dance Rising was formed in August 2020 as an urgent response to the pandemic by a collective of independent NYC dance artists and administrators. A platform for embodied advocacy that unites the dance industry and amplifies diverse voices and bodies, Dance Rising focuses public attention on the field and engages with stakeholders about partnership and possibility. It also provides audiences with opportunities to enjoy safe, site-specific performances and celebrates local artists--a potent reminder of the importance of arts and culture in NYC. Led by Melissa Riker, director of Kinesis Project dance theatre, Dance Rising is fiscally sponsored by The Field and advised by Lucy Sexton of New Yorkers for Culture & Arts. SHARED SPACE marks Dance Rising's fifth, organized, live hyper-local dance out - inviting hundreds of dancers, of all styles to take up space and dance. Previous dance-outs include 400+ NYC dancers across the boroughs simultaneously taking to the parks, streets, and rooftops to dance, calling attention to an entire sector that has been shut down by the pandemic. Dance Rising compiled and edited video recordings from these dance-outs, representing individual artists and established companies. These videos became the focus of Dance Rising's 5 Borough Video Tour (Still Dancing) in March, 2021, in multi-screen installations and on Linked NYC and bus shelter kiosks across all five boroughs as a tribute to the industry's tenacity during quarantine. They have subsequently screened as part of Dance Parade's WNYE public TV special Dance Brings Us Together: Dancing Through the Pandemic, in Bryant Park, Inwood Art Work's Films Al Fresco, and Summer on the Hudson at Riverside Park to hundreds of thousands of people. 

 

THE DANCE RISING COLLECTIVE FOUNDING AND CURRENT 

Alyssa Alpine/CUNY Dance Initiative, Maura Nguyen Donohue, DJ McDonald/Dance Parade, Joya Powell/Movement of the People Dance Company, Melissa Riker/Kinesis Project, Leslie Roybal/Flamenco Vivo, JoAnna Mendl Shaw/Equus Dance Projects, Jill Sigman/thinkdance, Amber Sloan, André Zachary/Renegade Performance Group, Kristina Bermudez/KBProjects, Juan José Escalante/Limon Foundation, Teresa Fellion/BodyStories: Teresa Fellion Dance, Marcus Gualberto/ Bronx Academy of Arts and Dance (BAAD!), Sophia Harrison/Art's House School, Shawna Salmon/Snug Harbor Cultural Center and Botanical Garden