THE AMERICAN DANCE GUILD PERFORMANCE FESTIVAL RETURNS TO AILEY CITIGROUP THEATER - SHAPING THE NOW: DANCE IN UNCERTAIN TIMES

October 3 through October 6 - Dedicated to past ADG President: Muriel Manings

Featuring 33 Contemporary Choreographers and Honoring Modern Dance Innovators  - 2019 Lifetime Achievement Awards to Dance Advocate Jody Gottfried Arnhold, Choreographer Gus Solomons jr and Abdel R. Salaam, co-founder of Forces of Nature Dance Theatre

The American Dance Guild 2019 Performance Festival returns October 3 through October 6 with Shaping the Now: Dance in Uncertain Times. This year's ADG Honors go to dance educator and advocate Jody Gottfried Arnhold and choreographic luminaries Gus Solomons jr and Abdel R. Salaam, co-founder and director of Forces of Nature Dance Theater. There will be four days of performances by thirty-three contemporary choreographers from across the United States. The 2019 ADG performance festival is dedicated to past ADG President Muriel Manings. *Full lineup below.

This year the Guild pays tribute to our American dance heritage. Jody Gottfried Arnhold, whose film PS Dance! offers a glimpse of her groundbreaking Dance Education Laboratory (DEL) which has brought modern dance into the public school system for the past 25 years. Jody is also recognized for her generous philanthropy to dance. The indomitable Gus Solomons jr, dancer, choreographer, teacher, writer – going strong for 6 decades! – brings a new work to the stage titled PS1 Redone. Abdel R. Salaam will present a medley of works to the Festival, including a solo dedicated to his mother, titled E.R., and A Question of Modesty with his company Forces of Nature Dance Theater who have been integrating modern and African aesthetics since 1981.

The Festival’s 33 participating artists represent a wide variety of aesthetic and cultural voices reflecting the broad spectrum of American dance life and the diverse character of dance today. This year’s theme was chosen in response to what many agree is a stressful time in our national political life. The programs feature works by mature as well as emerging artists.

Highlights include Amy Marshall Dance Company on opening night, Oct. 3; the work of Elizabeth Keen and a tango piece by Rebecca Nettl-Fiol, danced superbly by two men on Fri., Oct. 4; choreography by Dawn Marie Bazemore reflecting violence against black men, and Marie Baker Lee’s refined sensuous dancing of Nancy Zendora’s choreography on Saturday, Oct. 5. The program on Sunday, October 6 will include a brilliant dance film by Ara Fitzgerald and a work by Margie Gillis, winner of ADG Award of Distinction in Choreography in 2004.

Lifetime Achievement Awards will be presented to the three Festival honorees on opening night, October 3. Jacob’s Pillow will also be acknowledged for their ongoing collaboration with the Guild in providing a scholarship for young dancers each summer. The Thursday October 3 opening night performance will be followed by a gala reception.

TICKETS: https://www.brownpapertickets.com/event/4320791 or by phone 1-800-838-3006 ext.#1. Prices range from $10 to $25. Festival Pass $75. Discounts are available for students, seniors, ADG members, and groups. Tickets will also be available at the box office one hour prior to curtain.

FESTIVAL LINEUP (not in performance order and subject to change)

THURSDAY October 3 at 7:30pm: 2019 Achievement Award Presentation and Gala Reception to Follow Performance
Film Tribute to Muriel Manings, Joy-Marie Thompson, Cecelia Stockli, Boram Yi, Amy Marshall, JODY GOTTFRIED ARNHOLD, GUS SOLOMONS jr, ABDEL R. SALAAM/Forces of Nature.

FRIDAY, October 4 at 8pm: Rebecca Nettl-Fiol, Kaoru Ikeda, Enzo Celli, Elizabeth Keen, Anna Hooper, Amanda Selwyn, Christina Eltvedt, Alison Cook-Beatty, Jeanette Stoner, Sarah Botero, JODY GOTTFRIED ARNHOLD (film only). 

SATURDAY, OCTOBER 5 at 8pm: Leo Hishikawa, Gloria McLean, Dawn Marie Bazemore, Josh Pacheco, Nijawwon Matthews, Li Chiao-Ping, Zendora/Baker Lee, Janaki Patrik, Sue Bernhard, GUS SOLOMONS jr

SUNDAY October 6 at 7pm: Meagan Ahern, Jeff Kaplan, Margie Gillis, Hee Ra Yoo, Janis Brenner, Winston Dynamite Brown & Latra Ann Wilson, Ara Fitzgerald, Gregg Hurley, Susan Cherniak, Ashley Elizabeth Daigle, ABDEL R. SALAAM/Forces of Nature

The 2019 American Dance Guild Performance Festival thanks The Harkness Foundation for Dance, The Arnhold Foundation, and Janis and Alan Menken Charity Fund for their generous support.