Urbanity Dance Announces Programming For 10th Anniversary Season

Urbanity Dance-dedicated to inspiring, engaging and empowering the Boston community through the art of dance and movement- has announced programming for its tenth anniversary season.

Recognizing the 10th anniversary of the organization's non-profit founding, Urbanity invites its community to a series of performances and events that celebrate its achievements over the past decade, while looking to its next chapter of continuing to provide meaningful dance experiences for its community.

Kicking off the season is the organization's signature dance crawl event, choreographed by Founder Betsi Graves. This year's crawl, Go stop listen. Still wait go, will have performances on September 23, 24 and 25, 2021, bringing together the talent of Boston movers, musicians, storytellers, and poets to dive into the many layers of history in Boston's South End neighborhood. Small pods of 1 to 6 people will travel to various locations beginning near Blackstone Square Park and continuing to ten different locations, each activated by dance and music, ending at Urbanity's Harrison Avenue location. Dance vignettes performed by Urbanity's Professional Company and Creative Class, as well as AfroBeats Dance Boston, will unite with original scores from Boston favorites including Tim Hall, Valerie Stephens, and The Lotus Sound. Show times will take place every 5 minutes from 6:00 to 7:30 p.m.

Urbanity Dance's Professional Company is additionally featured in Our Place, an intimate performance experience on February 11 and 12, 2022 at 6:30 p.m. and 8:00 p.m. and February 13, 2022 at 12:30 p.m. and 2:00 p.m. at Urbanity's Central studio (725 Harrison Avenue) featuring a new work in progress by Urbanity Dance's Choreography Fellow. Following the performance is a talkback with the artists. Applications are currently open for Urbanity's Choreography Fellow, who will teach and create work for the company over a two-year period; more information and application requirements can be found here.

The Professional Company season concludes with inTENtion with performances on Friday, May 20 and Saturday, May 21, 2022 at the Multicultural Arts Center. The performances feature works by Teddy Forance (appearances on the Oscars, Emmy's, and Dancing With The Stars, and founder of CLI Studios), Nailah Randall-Bellinger (dance educator and scholar at Harvard University and The Cambridge School), Meg Anderson (Urbanity Dance Artistic Associate), and Key'aira Lockett (author, former Urbanity Dance Company member, and Dance Fellow at The Institute for Contemporary Art).

In addition to these performances, the Professional Company will be featured as a collaborative partner in performances with Valerie Green Dance Entropy at the Museum of Science (October 20) and with the Cantata Singers at First Church Boston (March 28).

Urbanity Dance will commemorate its 10th anniversary with a celebratory block party held on Saturday, October 16 from 12:00 to 5:00 p.m., which is almost ten years to the day when Urbanity received its nonprofit status. The 10th Anniversary Celebration will include dance classes, performances, kids activities, and food trucks. The event will take place in the South End and will be free to the public.

Urbanity also continues to offer a broad array of dance classes for children ages 1 to 18 and works to ensure that students have equitable opportunities to participate in dance education through its Access for All Scholarship Fund. The organization also offers a full array of classes for adults in both session and drop-in formats.

Urbanity's impactful work in the community continues this season with its free, weekly Dance with Parkinson's classes; Urbanity in the Community program, which brings dance into Boston Public Schools and beyond; Community Residencies with Afrobeats Dance Boston and Diversify Your Narratives Boston; and affordable studio rentals for the artistic community.

"While our plans were delayed for the full extent of our tenth anniversary celebrations last season, we are tremendously excited to present a robust array of dance experiences and educational offerings this season that reflect Urbanity's past achievements and demonstrate its future vision!" said Urbanity Dance Founder/Director Betsi Graves. "Urbanity's driving force over the past decade has been rooted in collaborations within the community and we continue to look towards the future of Urbanity and our next decade of engaging our community through dance. Please join us this season for a class or performance!"

2021-22 Programming Information

Fall Crawl

Go stop listen. Still wait go.

September 23, 24 and 25, 2021
Rain date is September 26, 2021

Locations throughout the South End

Featuring the Professional Company, Urbanity Underground, and Junior Apprentices

Tickets: $100/pod; available at https://give.classy.org/gostoplisten

10th Anniversary Celebration

October 16, 2021

Public Park in the South End to be announced

Featuring dance classes for all games performances by Urbanity School and Community members, kids activities, and food trucks

Free and Open to the Public

Collaboration with Valerie Green Dance Entropy

October 20, 2021

Museum of Science
1 Museum Of Science Driveway
Boston, MA 02114

Work in Progress
Our Place

February 11, 12 and 13, 2022

Urbanity Central
725 Harrison Avenue
Boston, MA 02118

Featuring the Professional Company

Tickets: $20; available at https://give.classy.org/ourplace

Collaboration with Cantata Singers

March 28, 2022

First Church Boston
66 Marlborough Street
Boston, MA 02116

Season Finale
inTENtion

May 20 and 21, 2022

Multicultural Arts Center
41 Second Street
East Cambridge, MA 02141

Featuring the Professional Company