WHITE WAVE Dance Receives $125,000 Matching Gift From John C. Ryan
Founder Young Soon Kim has led the company's choreographic vision for nearly four decades.
WHITE WAVE Dance has announced that philanthropist and longtime patron John C. Ryan has pledged a $125,000 Matching Gift for FY 2027.
Ryan's support will benefit WHITE WAVE Dance and its ongoing work presenting contemporary dance, developing the work of artistic director Young Soon Kim and providing performance opportunities for independent choreographers and companies.
"When I first encountered Young Soon's Dance Company, the world of modern dance opened up before my eyes in a way that was both captivating and transformative," Ryan said. "Their performances radiated grace, passion, and innovation, leaving an indelible mark on the New York dance scene."
Ryan also cited Kim's leadership of WHITE WAVE over the past 38 years and the company's creation of "thought provoking and emotionally charged works" as inspiration for his support.
WHITE WAVE Dance
Led by artistic director Young Soon Kim, WHITE WAVE Dance is a contemporary dance company whose work combines dance, music, theater and visual art. Kim frequently collaborates with composers, musicians, video artists, costume designers and dramatists to create multimedia dance-theater productions.
In addition to producing the WHITE WAVE Young Soon Kim Dance Company, the organization has developed festivals designed to provide independent choreographers and companies with opportunities to create and present new work.
Since 2001, its festival programming has included the DUMBO Dance Festival, Wave Rising Series and CoolNY Dance Festival, and now includes the SoloDuo Dance Festival.
Recent Work
WHITE WAVE presented the New York premiere of Here NOW So Long, a multimedia dance-theater production, May 21-23, 2026 at New York Live Arts.
The company has performed internationally at venues and festivals throughout the United States, Europe and East Asia. Recent appearances have included the 2025 Mostra Internacional de Dança de São Paulo and ChangMu International Dance Festival.
WHITE WAVE was named a 2023 Bessies Angel Honoree and received a Jerome Robbins Foundation grant for Eternal NOW, which is archived at the New York Public Library for the Performing Arts.
Young Soon Kim
Young Soon Kim is the artistic director of WHITE WAVE Dance and a recipient of the 2023 Bessies Angel Honoree Award. Her career as a choreographer and performer has spanned four decades.
In 2001, following the opening of the WHITE WAVE John Ryan Theater in DUMBO, Kim launched a series of dance festivals that have provided performance platforms for emerging and established choreographers in New York City.
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