Young Dancemakers Company Comes to the NYC Boroughs This July

By: Jun. 20, 2017
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Young Dancemakers Company is a unique summer ensemble of ethnically diverse New York City teens, creating and performing their original choreography in free concerts at prominent theaters city-wide, July 26 through August 5th. YDC will present its 22nd season of topical, bold, and witty dances, created under the experienced eyes of founder and Bessie-award winner Alice Teirstein and music director William Catanzaro. All performances end with the lively "Dance With Us," in which audience members with dancing feet are invited onto the stage to improvise with the dancers, accompanied by percussionist Catanzaro.

The teens, who are selected annually through auditions in the NYC public high schools, have something to say through dance, and the performances feature a refreshing variety of themes, dance styles, and music choices. Every year the ensemble also learns a dance by a noted choreographer, and this year they will appear in an excerpt from Jose Limon's "A Choreographic Offering," taught by Kristen Foote, a principal dancer with the Limon Dance Company. Past years have featured dances by Mark Morris, Limon, Merce Cunningham, Robert Battle, Paul Taylor and others.

The public performances are preceded by four weeks of the ensemble working together, collaborating, and creating the original choreography, mentored by Teirstein and Catanzaro, who helps the participants with their choices and use of music.

Performance Schedule:
Wednesday July 26 at 2 PM - Fieldston School, 3901 Fieldston Rd., Bronx
Thursday July 27 at 2 PM - Theater of the Riverside Church, 91 Claremont Avenue (121st Street), Manhattan
Friday July 28 at 7 PM - 92nd St. Y Harkness Dance Center, 1395 Lexington Avenue (92nd Street), Manhattan
Saturday July 29 at 12 & 2 PM-Socrates Sculpture Park, 12 noon "Dancing the Art," and 2 PM Concert, 32-01 Vernon Blvd, Long Island City (raindate: Sunday July 30th) *
Tuesday August 1 at 1 PM - Kumble Theater for the Performing Arts @LIU, 1 University Plaza/Flatbush Avenue, Brooklyn (info@kumbletheater.org)
Wednesday August 2 at 2 PM-Symphony Space, 2537 Broadway @ 95th Street, Manhattan
Thursday August 3 at 2 PM - University Settlement, 184 Eldridge Street, Manhattan
Saturday August 5 at 7:30 PM-Season Finale at Ailey CitiGroup Theater, 405 West 55th St. @ 9th Avenue, Concert & Reception (reservations required)


* A special feature of the Socrates Sculpture Park performance of July 29th concert will be the innovative and challenging "Pop-Up Dances," which finds the Young Dancemakers Company travelling throughout the Park, creating spontaneous dances inspired by the works of art on display. "Pop-Up Dances" will start at 12 noon, with the concert following at 2 PM.

The 2017 Young Dancemakers roster features 17 teens from
NYC Public High Schools:
Business of Sports School
Frank McCourt High School
Lower Manhattan Arts Academy
Northside Charter HS
Repertory Company HS for Theatre Arts
School for Human Rights
Talent Unlimited HS
The Brooklyn International HS
University Neighborhood HS
Wadleigh Secondary HS

www.youngdancemakerscompany.org

Young Dancemakers Company is a free summer program made possible by the support of the Richenthal Foundation, Jody and John Arnhold, the Emily Davie and Joseph S. Kornfeld Foundation, the Harkness Foundation for Dance, the Ethical Culture Fieldston School, individual contributors, and the New York State Council on the Arts with the support of Governor Andrew Cuomo and the New York State Legislature.

Photo by Sam Polcer.

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