Kun-Yang Lin/Dancers to Celebrate Final Season With IGNITING THE FLAME: A BENEFIT CONCERT

Following the announcement of the company's upcoming closure, Kun-Yang Lin/Dancers will present a benefit concert on Saturday, November 8, 2025 at the Performance Garage. The fundraiser will support the company's final spring home season in March 2026. Tickets start at $150 and are available now.

After 28 years of dance, 10 in New York and 18 in Philadelphia, KYL/D will host a celebratory evening, honoring the extraordinary legacy of Kun-Yang Lin/Dancers in their final season. Igniting the Flame is more than a fundraiser-it's a heartfelt gathering of community, artistry, and memory. This night marks a turning point, offering space to celebrate, reflect, and support a company that has boldly shaped the cultural landscape of Philadelphia and beyond.

Along with the artists, collaborators, and supporters who have made KYL/D's journey possible, attendees will savor an evening filled with live performance, fundraising activities, and endless food and drink by sponsor Alex Carbonell (Bourbon & Branch).

The benefit concert will feature curated performances, including signature KYL/D works, a sneak peek of the final world premiere work, and pieces by KYL/D alumnae Evalina "Wally" Carbonell and Jessica Warchal-King.

With the community's presence and generosity, the fundraiser will fuel the closing chapter of KYL/D with passion, resilience, and intention. Proceeds from this benefit support the production of Fire Ritual Dance/Fenghuang Awakens, the culminating 2026 Sunset Concert -a final performance honoring founding Artistic Director Kun-Yang Lin and the staff, the many artists, patrons, and community who have shaped this remarkable journey.

Fire Ritual Dance/Fenghuang Awakens will close Kun-Yang Lin/Dancers' home season on March 27 & 28, 2026 at the Mandell Theater at Drexel University.

Concert Program

*Kylin's Garden (1997)

Choreography: Kun-Yang Lin

Music and Text: Steve Craig (Stavo Mustang Craft)

Costume: Jill Peterson

Performer: Keila Pérez-Vega

In Chinese mythology, the Unicorn is known as Ky Lin, with the "Ky" meaning masculine and the "Lin" meaning feminine. The Ky Lin embodies the Yin-Yang balance. When we create our art, our lives, we communicate with an invisible world of feelings and intuitions. There is no solid ground, but only fluctuation and balance, as if we are walking on water. It is a constant search through the invisible, the unseen, the unknown...for the unicorn, the Ky Lin...

*1997 Premiere at Merce Cunningham Studio Theatre. KYL/D emerged from this concert

*Spring 101 excerpts (2019)

Choreography: Kun-Yang Lin

Music: Bach

Costumes: Jill Peterson

Using a chance method of selected music, Lin breathes new life into famous Baroque works through a pairing of contemporary movement and sound design. Evoking the joy of Spring and the excitement of new beginnings, Spring 101 marks Lin's 101st choreographic work in his creative journey.

*Premiere: April 12, 2019 at Penn Live Arts (formerly the Annenberg Center), co-presented by NextMove Dance, Philadelphia

*Glacier (excerpt) -JCWK Dance Lab

Choreographic Direction: Jessica Warchal-King

Music: Marty Bonk

Performer: Arielle Ridley, Megan Zalek, Sarena Gable, & Jessica Warchal-King

*Earth Blood

Choreography and Performance: Evalina "Wally" Carbonell & Weiwei Ma

Music: Hildur Guðnadóttir & Jóhann Jóhannsson

*Fire Celebration (preview-excerpt of new work, Fire Ritual Dance/Fenghuang Awakens)

Choreography by Kun-Yang Lin

Music: Original music by Dayn Ng

Costumes: Jill Peterson