Bridge Street Dance To Present RECLAIMING Next Week

Bridge Street Dance will present an evening of honesty, excitement, and transformation to Bridge Street Theatre in Catskill.

"Healing isn't linear. Wholeness doesn't mean perfection. And movement can be both a mirror and a doorway."

These are the ideas fueling reclaiming, a one-night-only dance performance at Bridge Street Theatre, curated by Francesca Avani.

Now in its eighth year collaborating with Bridge Street Theatre, Bridge Street Dance is the brainchild of local movement artist and curator Francesca Avani. Each year, Avani brings together a group of choreographers and dancers to explore a shared theme through physical storytelling, emotional truth, and community connection.

This year's theme, reclaiming, goes far beyond the stage. The show offers audiences more than just a showcase of dance - it invites them into a shared experience of vulnerability, truth-telling, and hope, expressed through the visceral language of the body.

"'reclaiming' means taking back ownership of the self - from trauma, patterns of survival, and old identities - by choosing how to move forward with intention, agency, and self-trust," says Avani. "It's a return to wholeness through conscious transformation."

The evening's lineup is a carefully curated ensemble of dancers working across styles - from fusion belly dance to waving - all chosen not only for their technical skill, but for their deep capacity to story tell. Each artist shares a personal connection to the show's central theme: confronting pain, navigating uncertainty, and spiraling through the nonlinear work of healing.

As part of the lineup amongst other incredible dancers from all over the country, we're also thrilled to welcome Jesse Sykes back to the Bridge Street stage for a second year-a featured dancer flying in from Las Vegas, known for his mesmerizing style and performances with Cirque du Soleil and other world-renowned productions. Jesse has been teaching, battling, speaking on panels, and sharing his artistry all over the world for many years-don't miss this rare chance to witness his artistry live in Catskill. Throughout reclaiming, a current of poetry threads through the performance - anchoring movement to word, and inviting interpretation beyond the literal. The show's emotional terrain is wide, tracing arcs of survival, grief, tenderness, resistance, and awe.

"Dance allows us to reconnect with the body as a site of agency, expression, and truth - especially in a world that often teaches us to disconnect from it," says Avani. "In reclaiming our voice, we give form to what's been hidden or unheard, transforming pain, memory, and desire into movement."

Ultimately, reclaiming asks its audience to listen - not just to the dancers or the music, but to themselves. The evening can be experienced as a mirror, a challenge, and a question: What part of your voice, your story, your self might still be waiting to be reclaimed?