Performance Schedule Announced for 38th Annual Battery Dance Festival

Battery Dance announces the 38th Annual Battery Dance Festival with free performances from August 11-16, 2019 from 7 - 9 pm, against the backdrop of New York Harbor, the Statue of Liberty and Ellis Island at Robert F. Wagner, Jr. Park in Battery Park City. At 9 pm the audience gets into the groove with an interactive dance experience led by members of a different troupe chosen each evening from among that night's program artists. The Festival culminates in a closing performance on August 17, 2019, from 6pm to 8pm at The Schimmel Center at Pace University. Tickets for the closing performance are$10; or $65 including after-reception. For more information, visit batterydance.org/battery-dance-festival/.

Established in 1982, the Battery Dance Festival (BDF) ranks as New York City's, longest-running free public dance festival as well as one of its most wide-ranging. Audiences are traditionally drawn from the large downtown working population, residents, families, tourists, senior citizens and dance fans from the greater NYC metropolitan area. Each year, the Festival attracts a combined audience of over 12,000 people.

The Battery Dance Festival provides a unique opportunity for established and emerging dance companies to present original works of high artistic merit in a free public forum. BDF revels in the panoply of dance that New York City offers, with strong emphasis on the inclusion of diverse dance styles and an international roster of performers. American choreographers such as Robert Battle, Michelle Dorrance and Jacqulyn Buglisi have all presented their works alongside pre-eminent companies from Asia, Europe, South America, Africa and the Caribbean.

This year's featured artists include a curated selection of local dance companies as well as dancers from Argentina, Austria, Curaçao, France, India, Iraq, Lithuania, Netherlands, Sri Lanka and Turkey.

Sunday, August 11, 2019

• Danuka Ariyawansa (Sri Lanka)
• Leah Barsky and Cristian Correa (Argentina)
• Mezopotamya Dans (Turkey)
• Hussein Smko - Adel Euro Campaign for Dancers Seeking Refuge Fellow (Iraq)
• Keerati Jinakunwiphat / DIVE
• Battery Dance
• Music from the Sole

Monday, August 12, 2019

• Water Street Dance Milwaukee
• Jon Ole Olstad
• Mari Meade Dance Collective / MMDC
• Laboration Art Company (France)
• Pony Box Dance Theatre
• Mezopotamya Dans (Turkey)
• Emma Evelein Dance and Choreography (Netherlands)

Tuesday, August 13, 2019

• Laboration Art Company (France)
• Janice Rosario & Company
• Buglisi Dance Theatre
• NVA & Guests
• YYDC
• Emma Evelein Dance and Choreography (Netherlands)
• Ashlé Dawson - Breaking Conformity Productions

Wednesday, August 14, 2019

• Ballet Nepantla
• B-E (Lithuania)
• VIVO Ballet
• Ballet Boy Productions
• Konverjdans
• Chloe London Dance
• Vanaver Caravan

Thursday, August 15, 2019: Day of Indian Dance on Indian Independence Day -- Celebrating Manipuri Dance

Darshana Jhaveri & Drummers and Dancers of Munipur:

Darshana Jhaveri, Sanjib Bhattacharya, Sinam Basu Singh, Surbala Devi Bachaspatimayum, Monika Devi Kongengbam. Brojen Kumar Singha Thingom, Angousana Singh Oinam, Premkumar Singh Lourembam,

Friday, August 16, 2019

• Battery Dance
• MATHETA Dance
• SEAD's Bodhi Project (Austria)
• Reuel Rogers (Curaçao)
• Annalee Traylor

Saturday, August 17, 2019

• B-E (Lithuania)
• Battery Dance
• SEAD's Bodhi Project (Austria)
• Reuel Rogers (Curaçao)

Battery Dance created its outdoor festival in 1982, an engagement with the lower Manhattan community where it has been based since its founding in 1976. As one of America's leading cultural ambassadors, Battery Dance connects the world through dance. The Company pursues artistic excellence and social relevance by creating vibrant new works, performing on the world's stages, presenting dance in public spaces, serving the field of dance and teaching people of all ages with special attention to the disadvantaged and areas of conflict. Battery Dance is committed to enhancing the cultural vibrancy of its home community in New York City, extending programming throughout the U.S., and building bridges worldwide through international cultural exchange with programs in 70 countries to date. www.batterydance.org

Photo Credit: Bob Karman