First Annual Beth Silverman-Yam Social Action Award to be presented to Vangeline

Dance/NYC NEW YORKERS FOR DANCE videos featuring Gibney Dance Clinical Advisor Beth Silverman-Yam and Sanctuary for Families Mentor Liaison Joan Hutton-Mills

 “I AM AGAINST VIOLENCE” Photo Campaign &
We Are Against Violence Installation

Public Gibney Dance Community Action Workshop
October 12

New York, NY, October 1, 2015—In observance of Domestic Violence Awareness Month, Gibney Dance Community Action will present a number of activities and initiatives throughout the month of October including the bestowal of the first annual Beth Silverman-Yam Social Action Award; two new Dance/NYC NEW YORKERS FOR DANCE videos featuring Community Action Program Clinical Advisor Beth Silverman-Yam and Sanctuary for Families Mentor Liaison Joan Hutton-Mills; the month-long “I AM AGAINST VIOLENCE” photo campaign and We Are Against Violence installation at the Gibney Dance: Agnes Varis Performing Arts Center at 280 Broadway; an open-to-the-public Community Action Workshop on October 12. See below for information on each.

“Domestic Violence Awareness Month is a time not only to recognize the significant efforts that have been made to reduce domestic violence but also to recommit ourselves to serving the critical needs of survivors and their families,” says Gina Gibney, CEO and Artistic Director of Gibney Dance. “Through our Community Action work, we have learned that there is a powerful synergy between domestic violence and dance that helps survivors take their whole self forward—both body and mind. We look forward to sharing with the broader community the knowledge and expertise we have gained through 15 years of work around the issue of domestic violence.”

Gibney Dance Community Action provides New York City domestic violence shelters with over 500 free movement workshops each year. At these workshops Company members share activities that draw from artistic practices to address issues of choice and self-expression. Community Action was initiated in 2000 in collaboration with Sanctuary for Families, one of the country’s most prominent domestic violence agencies. Since inception, the program has partnered with other impactful agencies such as Safe Horizon and Day One. Widely regarded as a model in the field, Community Action’s methods for integrating arts and social action are distributed nationally—via Institute for Community Action Training, hosting dancers annually from across the US—and internationally—through Global Community Action Residencies, most recently in Dar Es Salaam, Tanzania. In 2014, Community Action initiated a dance project for youth titled Hands are for Holding with the goal of creating awareness around the issue of Teen Dating Violence. Hands are for Holding has reached over 2,000 New York City public school students in the last two years, promoting healthy relationships and providing strategies for where and how to get help if a teenager is in an abusive relationship.

INAUGURAL BETH SILVERMAN-YAM SOCIAL ACTION AWARD

Beginning this October, Gibney Dance will present the Beth Silverman-Yam Social Action Award annually to an individual within the dance community whose use of dance in conjunction with social change is exemplary and reflects the values of Gibney Dance’s Community Action program: self-reflection, personal choice, equity in collaboration and self-care. The inaugural award is presented to Vangeline in honor of her Dream A Dream Project, which offers movement workshops to incarcerated men and women, helping them to reenter life with coping skills and strategies learned through dance. Vangeline’s strong partnerships with correctional facilities and the connections she creates between dance and transformation exemplify the values of the Gibney Dance Community Action Program.

The $1,000 award is named for Gibney Dance Clinical Advisor Dr. Beth Silverman-Yam, DSW, LCSW, whose lifetime dedication to generosity and activism serves as its inspiration. The award aims to celebrate her extraordinary efforts by encouraging others in theirs, focusing on those that have impacted both the fields of dance and social change through successful partnerships, genuinely innovative efforts and particularly effective social change projects in the pursuit of social justice.

Silverman-Yam recently retired from her 20-year tenure as Director of Clinical Programs at Sanctuary for Families where she was responsible for crisis shelters, individual and group counseling, and advocacy services for adults and children who are victims of domestic violence and sex trafficking. A social work clinician, program developer and administrator for more than 40 years, she has served in leadership roles with the New York State Psychiatric Institute, labor-based social service programs and the British Government’s Department of Social Services in Southeast London. She was a full-time member of the faculty of Columbia University School of Social Work where she taught Advanced Generalist Practice, Advocacy and Clinical Practice in the World of Work. She is currently an Adjunct Associate Professor at Columbia teaching a course on Domestic Violence, as well as Clinical Advisor for Gibney Dance’s Community Action Program. She holds an MSW from Columbia and a doctorate from the City University of New York.

“NEW YORKERS FOR DANCE” VIDEO RELEASES

Silverman-Yam is also featured in one of two new “NEW YORKERS FOR DANCE” videos to be released by Dance/NYC on October 1 in conjunction with Gibney Dance’s observance of Domestic Violence Awareness Month. The second video features Joan Hutton-Mills, who serves as Mentor Liaison for Sanctuary for Families and has been advocating for the issue for many years in different New York City communities.

“NEW YORKERS FOR DANCE” is a video series created by Dance/NYC that features personal statements from leading New Yorkers on why dance matters to the City.

“I AM AGAINST VIOLENCE” PHOTO CAMPAIGN & WE ARE AGAINST VIOLENCE INSTALLATION

Throughout the entire month, Gibney Dance invites individuals to take personal stands against violence by posing for photos in which they hold a sign reading “I AM AGAINST VIOLENCE” and another proclaiming something positive for which they stand. The photos will appear online, and a selection of shots from previous years will also be included in a month-long installation at the Gibney Dance: Agnes Varis Performing Arts Center at 280 Broadway entitled We Are Against Violence. The installation will also feature the Dance/NYC “NEW YORKERS FOR DANCE videos” and include information on how to get help and how to get involved with Gibney Dance’s Community Action Hub.

HUB WORKSHOP WITH GIBNEY DANCE COMMUNITY ACTION

On October 12 at 6:30 p.m., Gibney Dance Community Action will share its social action model with the public through a free event at the Hub at 280 Broadway, Gibney’s physical space dedicated to the arts and social action. Led by Gibney Dance Company, the event will give participants a chance to experience the movement workshops the Company regularly conducts in domestic violence shelters. A brief discussion about the program will also be included. No dance experience necessary.

Initiated in partnership with Sanctuary for Families in 2000, Gibney Dance Community Action is the first program to unite dancers with intimate partner violence survivors. It has since expanded to include Safe Horizon and many other New York City organizations, offering over 500 free workshops annually to individuals and families who are on journeys to healthier futures.

ABOUT GIBNEY DANCE

Gibney Dance, founded in 1991, is a trailblazing organization whose mission is to bring the possibility of movement where it otherwise would not exist. Through three interrelated fields of action—Company, Community Action, and Center—Gibney Dance is “Making Space for Dance” in studios, on stages and in underserved shelters and schools.

Gibney Dance Company is the Center’s acclaimed resident dance ensemble, led by choreographer Gina Gibney. Since its founding in 1991, the Company has steadily developed its reputation for excellence, building a repertory of over 30 works. In 1998, The New York Times declared, “Gibney has established herself as a poet of modern dance today.” The Company is known for using intricate and dynamic movement to craft interpersonal dynamics between the dancers. The dancers’ artistry has been palpably influenced by their Community Action work—as observed by The Village Voice: “That Gibney’s troupe has long worked for the empowerment of battered women is reflected in the dancers’ struggles, their uncommon resilience, the support one readily offers another.”

Gibney Dance Community Action provides New York City domestic violence shelters with over 500 free movement workshops each year. At these workshops Company members share activities that draw from artistic practices to address issues of choice and self-expression. Community Action was initiated in 2000 in collaboration with Sanctuary for Families, one of the country’s most prominent domestic violence agencies. Since inception, the program has partnered with other impactful agencies such as Safe Horizon and Day One. Widely regarded as a model in the field, Community Action’s methods for integrating arts and social action are distributed nationally—via Institute for Community Action Training, hosting dancers annually from across the US—and internationally—through Global Community Action Residencies, most recently in Dar Es Salam, Tanzania. In 2014, Community Action initiated a dance project for youth titled Hands are for Holding with the goal of creating awareness around the issue of Teen Dating Violence. Hands are for Holding has reached over 2,000 New York City public school students in the last two years, promoting healthy relationships and providing strategies for where and how to get help if a teenager is in an abusive relationship.

Gibney Dance Center is a powerhouse of cultural support for the performing arts community and the city itself. The Center originated in 2000 when Gibney Dance began leasing a studio in the historic 890 Broadway building to house Company rehearsals. Today, with the addition of 280 Broadway, it has grown into a performing arts complex in two locations: Gibney Dance Choreographic Center at 890 Broadway and Gibney Dance: Agnes Varis Performing Arts Center at 280 Broadway. The Center houses three theaters for performing arts presentations; 16 studios for classes and rehearsals; two “labs” for work with technological and production elements; a visual arts gallery; a Digital Technology Workroom for work with video, audio and online media; a Learning and Leadership Collaborative for professional development programming; and a Community Action Hub for social action workshops with a library on the use of the performing arts to effect social change. These remarkable spaces enable a robust roster of events designed to meet the needs of the dance field by fostering the creative process, encouraging dialogue, and providing professional development opportunities.

http://www.gibneydance.org

For more information, please contact
Chris Schimpf or Carla Sacks at Sacks & Co., 212.741.1000,
chris.schimpf@sacksco.com or carla@sacksco.com.