2015 DUMBO DANCE FESTIVAL to Kick Off on October 8

On Thursday, October 8, 2015, WHITE WAVE Dance celebrates the 15th Anniversary season of the DUMBO Dance Festival (DDF) with a Gala Opening that heralds the most anticipated four-day festival of contemporary dance in New York. Committed to the future expressions of dance, WHITE WAVE scours the world seeking the most risk-taking emerging and renowned dance makers of our time and brings them to Brooklyn for one weekend.

For the first time in its history, the DUMBO Dance Festival will be presented in association with Gelsey Kirkland Arts Center. The festival will take place in the new state-of-the-art, 300-seat theater newly named Gelsey Kirkland Arts Center (formerly St. Ann's Warehouse).

"I am very proud to present the DUMBO Dance Festival in this fifteen-anniversary year at the Gelsey Kirkland Arts Center. I have been overwhelmed by the warm reception offered by co-artistic Directors Michael Chernov and Gelsey Kirkland in support of WHITE WAVE's mission to present opportunities for the innovative New York dance makers who contribute to our vibrant culture," said Ms Young Soon Kim, Artistic Director WHITE WAVE Dance.

"While New York is one of the world's leading centers of dance, our city suffers from a lack of dance space. With the support of the Gelsey Kirkland Arts Center WHITE WAVE seeks to address this urgent predicament."The Gala features performances by the two host companies, WHITE WAVE's Young Soon Kim Dance Com-pany and Gelsey Kirkland Ballet. These two special performances will be joined by the New York premieres of works by JÁNOS FELEDI/FELEDI PROJECT (Hungary) and Oniin Dance (Italy), as well as Buglisi Dance Theatre, James Hansen, Assemblage Dance, and Maxine Steinman (New York) and Annielille Gavino-Kollman (Virginia).

With all performances free of charge, the 15th DUMBO Dance Festival features 75 contemporary dance troupes combining over 300 hundred artists who will present solo, chamber and full scale works. Dancers from across the United States, Canada, Hungary and Italy will join in with New York's active dance community to offer a snapshot of the new directions in dance in the 21st century.

In this anniversary year, the roster of companies includes: TwiN dolls, Caitlin+Dutton, Winnie Berger/Mook Dance Project, Julieta Valero/Rastro, Kelly Ferris Lester, URSULA VERDUZCO/BBBALLET, BAXco, Tina Croll + Company, Lindsay Head, William Ervin, Ashley Robicheaux & Artists, Thomas/Ortiz Dance, Jackie O'Toole & Dancers, Azul Dance Theatre/ Yuki Hasegawa, BOINK! Dance & Film, Amos Pinhasi, Kyle Marshall Choreography, Sun ae Hwang/SUNPROJECT, Sonali Skandan & Jiva Dance, Tomomi Imai, Alchemy Dance Company, Yuka Kawazu/Danse En L'Air, JÁNOS FELEDI / FELEDI PROJECT, Artis Smith and Dancers, David J. Popalisky, James Hansen/Assemblage Dance, AMS Project, XAOC Contemporary Ballet/Eryn Renee Young, Satomi Itohara/ Sance, Peggy Choy Dance, Jesse Phillips-Fein, Shauna Sorensen and Dancers, Annielille Gavino-Kollman, Jeanette Stoner, Monica Hogan Danceworks, Monkeyhouse, Vanessa Long/Vanessa Long Dance Company, Shawn T Bible/stbdance, Aaron Atkins/Ballet Inc., Tara Lynch, Kathleen Helm and Dancers, Monteleone Dance Collective, Jazz Roots Dance Company, Savannah Heineken, Ciao Bella Arts, Chris Choreography, Heather Roffe, Keith Johnson/Dancers, De Funes Dance, Nadine Bommer Dance Company, Ekklesia Contemporary Ballet, Maxine Steinman, Company SBB, CORE Concert Dance Company, Siobhan Lawless, Texture Contemporary Ballet, Elisabetta Minutoli/Vivo Ballet, Alenka Cizmesija, TSAI HSI HUNG, Elizabeth Shea Dance, Birds of a Feather: Aerial Duo, Ju Hwan Hwang, Joori Jung/ARTLAB J DANCE, Emily Bufferd, Oniin Dance Company, Buglisi Dance Theatre, WHITE WAVE Young Soon Kim Dance Company, and more.

In its commitment to dance for all, the 15th annual DUMBO Dance Festival is also proud to announce the following events in its exciting 2015 program:

Family-Friendly Program: Sunday, 11th October, 12 noon-3pm
Celebrating the next generation of dancers... and their parents (!) WHITE WAVE's Kids Can Dance education program will lead Hip Hop/B-boy and Modern Dance classes for kids of all ages. Following the class, nine companies will take to the stage in a fun, exciting and educational program featuring the best, family-friendly performances of the 2015 festival.

GRAND FINALE: Sunday, 11th October, 8pm-9:30 pm
For the Festival Grand Finale, nine renowned choreographers/companies will present dance works, includ-ing Aaron Atkins/Ballet Inc., Alenka Cizmesija, Elisabetta Minutoli/Vivo ballet, Joori Jung/ARTLAB J DANCE, Keith Johnson/Dancers, Maxine Steinman, Oniin Dance, WHITE WAVE Young Soon Kim Dance Company and Winnie Berger/Mook Dance Project.

History of the DUMBO DANCE FESTIVALWHITE WAVE created the DUMBO Dance Festival in 2001 in response to the dance community's need for performance opportunities that would not only present, but also produce the work of rising choreographers at little or no cost to the artist. The festival is now recognized as New York's most prestigious gathering of cho-reographic excellence encouraging exploration, creativity, bravery and originality. For 14 years, the festival ran concurrently with the DUMBO Arts Festival (formerly d.u.m.b.o. arts under the bridge festival) and was presented at the company's home, the WHITE WAVE John Ryan Theater in DUMBO. The closing of our theater at the end of 2014 and the discontinuation of the DUMBO Arts Festival in 2015 are a testament to the changing character of DUMBO and the beginning of a new era for WHITE WAVE's festivals.

WHITE WAVE's festivals have garnered critical acclaim from The New York Times, PBS Ch.13 "NYC-Arts", The Wall Street Journal, The Daily News, The Village Voice, Channel 7 "Eyewitness News," and Dance Magazine. As WHITE WAVE has grown, so has the buzz surrounding us, garnering rave reviews in both local and international media citing the magnificence of our festivals.

In its short history WHITE WAVE Dance has presented over 2,400 choreographers/dance companies and over 10,000 performers to a total of more than 67,500 audience members.

Visit www.whitewavedance.com for more information about the 2015 DUMBO Dance Festival and WHITE WAVE's annual program.