Last week, Boston Dance Alliance (BDA) completed the “International Moves & Food” series in partnership with The Esplanade Association (EA). Shout out to the BDA members who led the fun-filled dance sessions that featured Haitian Folkloric dance by Jean Appolon Expressions, Traditional Irish Dance by Rebecca McGowan, Latin Dance by Metamovements, and Classical Indian Dance by Souls of India.

A big thank you also to the 100+ dancers who participated in the series and to our partners at The Esplanade Association, whose Executive Director Jen Mergel said “Thank you for introducing more park users to the connective and healing energy of dance–especially in greenspace. ‘International Moves & Foods’ was a huge success!”

Looking ahead to November, BDA is preparing for our annual Dancewear Distribution Program, which provides much-needed items to lower-income dancers. Special thanks to our friends at Dance This Way in Concord, MA for their generous in-kind donations to this program. A related call for volunteers is coming soon, so please stay tuned. In the meantime, check out all of the exciting dance opportunities in this week’s edition of BDA’s Pro/Motion newsletter.

Thank you,

Aaron Myers, Executive Director

WBUR selected BDA’s fiscal sponsee Beth Mochizuki – who also was one of the master class teachers at our open call auditions last month – as one of the 2024 Makers. BDA is beyond proud to be supporting Beth and her Asian American Ballet Project in her artistic journey.

The 2025 We Create! Festival Fellows will explore this year’s powerful theme: “The Movements that Free(d) Us.” Through their unique lenses, these artists will delve into how movements—both personal and collective—shape our paths to liberation.

2025 Fellowship Artists:

• Tanya Nixon-Silberg
• Charmaine Santiago-Galdón
• Zaquia Luisa
• Carmen S. Rizzo (BDA Fiscal Sponsee)
• Mnfath
• Simon Montalvo (BDA Fiscal Sponsee)
• Egbesola Efunyemi
• Giovanna Sosa Santos
• Jovielle Gers
• Nitika
• Yaya Inaru’Ni
• DeVante Love
• Ananth Udupa
• Danza Orgánica

This year’s fellows, working across various mediums such as dance, poetry, puppetry, and film, will examine how their perceptions of freedom inform their personal liberation and the liberation of their communities.

Mark your calendars for the We Create! Festival on April 11-12, 2025, and stay tuned for more details on this transformative event.

Congratulations to The Dance Complex, A Trike Called Funk and VLA Dance for being awarded the Expand Mass Stories Grant!
The Dance Complex‘s “Dancing Through Time: The Untold Stories of The Dance Complex” will compile dance narratives from a wide spectrum of sources that include local dancers with a global perspective. With their $20,000 award they will create interactive content for a website (active and archival intents), a podcast, live displays, and performances.

BDA’s fiscal sponsee A Trike Called Funk was awarded $20,000 for “GraffiTour Oral History Project”. GraffiTour is an artist-designed & -narrated tour of graffiti in the city of Boston that A Trike Called Funk plan to pilot for free in 2025. The GraffiTour will feature audio recordings of the graffiti artists providing insights on their artwork and its relationship to the communities where their artwork lives.

BDA’s fiscal sponsee VLA DANCE‘s “For Nina, a zine archiving stories of liberation” was also awarded $20,000. “The For Nina Project” is a series of interviews of 15 Black femme dance and movement leaders in Massachusetts archived in audio recordings, written interviews and visual arts responses.

FREE! – Dance Caliente leads a swing dance workshop in which Eileen and Raul will introduce 6-count Swing and mix it up with 8-count Lindy, but leave the “counts” out of the equation. Wednesday, October 30, 7:00-8:30 PM at Charlotte and William Bloomberg Medford Public Library

Bonsignore Hall (wonderful floor to dance on) – 2nd Floor, 11 High Street, Medford. RSVP required.

For this month’s First Friday at the ICA, cozy up in your comfiest autumn sweater and fall in love with the talented artists—musicians, dancers, visual artists, and more—that call Boston home. Plus, sip drinks, show off your moves on the dance floor, and meet WBUR’s new cohort of The Makers, including BDA member and fiscal sponsee Beth Mochizuki‘s Asian American Ballet Project. Friday, November 1, 6-10 PM, at the ICA, 25 Harbor Shore Drive, Boston. Tickets: $30-$35

Encore Dance Ensemble proudly presents “Undercurrents,” an evening-length performance of original modern, jazz, and improvisational choreography exploring love, loss, nature, memories, and the powerful ways that relationships sustain us. Saturday,  November 2, 8 PM, & Sunday, November 3, 7 PM, at The Dance Complex,  536 Massachusetts Avenue, Cambridge. Tickets: $30.

The Click seeks fall/winter dance instructors and assistants for a paid opportunity ($45/hour for instructor pay and $20/hour for assistant pay as a 1099 employee) from December 2024 – March 2025. These positions require teaching creative movement classes weekly on Wednesdays from 3:30 pm – 4:30 pm at the Lesley Ellis School in Arlington, MA. To apply, please send an email introduction with a resume and a brief summary of the relevant highlights in your dance and teaching experience, as well as a general understanding of who you are beyond dance. Emails should be sent to Click coordinator Alexandria Nunweiler at bostonclicknotclique@gmail.com with subject line “Arlington Creative Movement” by 6pm November 8, 2024.

The Harvard University Standing Committee for Undergraduate Degrees in Theater, Dance, and Media seeks to appoint a Senior Lecturer in Dance. The appointment is expected to begin on July 1, 2025. The successful candidate will provide instruction in the art of dance, encompassing technique, theory, choreography, history, and improvisation. The position is for five years and renewable contingent upon review and approval of the divisional/SEAS dean. Candidates are encouraged to apply by November 15, 2024.

Midday’s Rough Drafts applications are now open. This process-focused program supports early and mid-career contemporary dance makers to strengthen their craft and iteration. Up to six artists/companies will be selected to participate. This program is meant to supplement artists’ current plans to create, continue developing, or re-investigate a choreographic project. Rough Drafts is not a choreographic residency and does not provide funds or rehearsal space; rather, it is a professional development opportunity intended to support artists in optimizing their current projects as a tool to reach future artistic goals. Deadline: November 10, 2024.

The Salem State University Music and Dance Department, in collaboration with the Salem State University Center for Creative and Performing Arts, invites submissions of short HIP HOP dance films for screening at its inaugural Intergenerational Hip Hop Symposium. Selected films will be screened at the Sophia Gordon Center for the Performing Arts January 31, 2025. Submission deadline: November 15.