Mark DeGarmo Dance Continues Annual Salon Performance Series, December 5

Mark DeGarmo Dance continues its annual Salon Performance Series with a December 5th performance, 7 PM performance of works in progress by choreographers ANABELLA LENZU, KANENE HOLDER, and KIRAN RAJAGOPALAN. Future Salon Performances will take place on Thursdays, February 6, March 5, April 2, May 7, and June 4, all at 7 PM in the Mark DeGarmo Dance Studio 310 at the Clemente Soto Velez Cultural and Educational Center, 107 Suffolk Street on NYC's Lower East Side (studio is a 3rd floor walk-up).

Founded in 2010, MDD's Salon Performance Series provides a unique opportunity to view and engage with original performing arts and dance works-in-progress of DeGarmo and guest artists. Its facilitated audience response approach is a unique way for the public to actively participate in the creation of new work. The series gives opportunities to transcultural, transdisciplinary artists and art forms underrepresented in traditional or commercial performing or performance art venues.

Following the December 5th performance, the Series will continue with:

February 6: Joan Liu, Jill Moshman, and Catey Clark
March 5: David Appel, Rachel Repins, and J Michael Winward
April 2: Ilona Bito, Jorrit Dijkstra, Enya Jordan, and Jessica Roseman
May 7: Kameron Chatman
June 4: Callie Hatchett and Catherine Tharin

About the Artists

Originally from Argentina, Anabella Lenzu is a dancer, choreographer, writer and teacher with over 25 years of experience working in Argentina, Chile, Italy, London and the USA. Lenzu directs her own company, Anabella Lenzu/DanceDrama (ALDD), which since 2006 has presented 380 performances, created 14 choreographic works and performed at 100 venues, presenting thought provoking and historically conscious dance-theater in NYC. ALDD's work has been seen at La Mama, Baryshnikov Arts Center, Movement Research at Judson Church, 92nd Street Y, HERE Arts Center, Abrons Arts Center, DUO Multicultural Arts Center, Queens Museum, Bronx Museum, Gibney Dance, Center for Performance Research, Roulette, Chashama, Dixon Place, Sheen Center, The Consulate of Argentina in NYC, NYU/Casa Zerilli Marimo, University Settlement, Baruch Performing Arts Center, Snug Harbor Cultural Center, Instituto Cervantes, 3LD Center for Art & Technology, Kumble Theater/Long Island University, among many others. She has received grants from Brooklyn Arts Council, Puffin Foundation, Rockefeller Brothers Fund, Edwards Foundation, The Vermont Community Foundation, and the Independent Community Foundation.Her choreography has been commissioned all over the world for opera, TV programs, theatre productions, and by many dance companies.Currently, Lenzu conducts classes at Peridance Capezio Center and NYU Gallatin, and is Artist-in-Residence at CUNY Dance Initiative, 2019-2020.

Kanene Ayo Holder is a bold and award winning artist, activist and educator dedicated to systemic change through critical analysis and community engagement. She teaches at the elementary and collegiate level on what she's deemed "Intersections of Injustice" (race/class/gender) to analyze current societal ills through multidisciplinary projects. She's lectured at Columbia University, NYU, Museum of Art and Design and Studio Museum of Harlem among others. She's often hired to devise and facilitate workshops on diversity and activism at institutions including Apollo Theater and The New York Times School.

She won numerous awards in the arts including from Franklin Furnace and Puffin Foundation for Activist Art and fellowships for education including Coro's Education Leadership Collaborative, The Colin Powell Center for Policy Study and The National Endowment for the Humanities. She recently completed a journalism and new media writing fellowship called THREAD at Yale University. She also is producing "BlackIssuesISSUES", a biting satire on race that premiered off-broadway in 2018 and currently at venues including The Schomburg Center for Research in Black Culture and completing a program at Cornell University for Diversity, Equity and Inclusion.

Kiran Rajagopalan is an award-winning dancer, choreographer, writer, and educator based in New Jersey. Trained extensively in Bharatanatyam (Indian classical dance) for over 25 years, Kiran has given many acclaimed performances in India, Indonesia, Germany, Spain, France, and the United States.

Kiran graduated with a B.A. (magna cum laude) in Behavioral Neuroscience and Spanish from Boston University in 2008, an M.A. (honors) in Bharatanatyam from University of Madras in 2010, and an M.A. in Performance Studies from New York University in 2015. Kiran also regularly conducts workshops, lectures, and demonstrations on neuroscience, Indian classical dance, and performance studies.

He is the co-founder and artistic director of Daya Arts which aims to bridge diasporic communities through original, high-quality artistic productions. Although focused on visual and performing arts rooted in South India and West Africa, Daya Arts also actively participates in initiatives that engage with other communities of color.