Enjoying Dance, The Liveliest Art!

Photos by Melissa Blackall Photography. 

THANK YOU to everyone who participated in yerday’s Open Call Audition and Dancer Health Day! We had a great time at Mass Motion Dance Boston and appreciate the talents of our teachers Adriana Suarez, Haley Day, Lindsey Klein and John Ying as well as the indefatigable Carmen Rizzo and our crew of accomplished and caring dance medicine clinicians led by Dr. Lauren Elson and Kester Cotton.

After eight (momentous!) years at the helm of Boston Dance Alliance, Debra Cash is stepping down at the end of September.

See separate email in your in-box for news about Boston Dance Alliance’s next chapter of serving our community!

Mass Cultural Council announced the release of a field guide that offers a roadmap for communities to develop programs that integrate arts, culture, and nature resources into local health and social care systems. Arts on Prescription: A Field Guide for US Communities, developed by the Agency in partnership with Dr. Tasha Golden and the University of Florida Center for Arts in Medicine, is now publicly available.

Start off the week with movement. Dance it all out at the Human Movement Lab’s last event on grand opening weekend. BDA’s own Carmen S. Rizzo will be leading a free Dance Church class to celebrate Kim Holman’s new movement space! Every body is welcome, class has no religious affiliation and no previous dance experience is necessary. Monday, September 11, 6 PM at 98 Business Street, Hyde Park.

Enjoy Cuban modern dance technique at Cambridge’s Magazine Beach starting Monday September 11 with 6:30 PM for Cuban Modern Foundations and  7:30 PM for Cuban Modern Choreography Metamovements Latin Dance Company‘s workshop series is a fusion of European ballet and traditional Afro-Cuban dances and rhythms that help beginner, intermediate and advanced dancers improve quickly.

Assets 4 Artists is rolling out fall workshops. Join the first one with Doctora Xingona Diana Alvarez. Radiant Thriving: Bold Writing for Boundless Artists is a two day workshop happening Wednesdays, September 13 & 20, 2-4 PM on Zoom, for artists in Boston and rural RI.

Join Practice Best Practice’s next free workshop: Tax Planning and Schedule C for Creatives:
Filing As a Business Since You Are One. This workshop will provide info to help you understand planning for taxes, organizing record keeping and what you can write off against your 1099 (grant & other) income. They  will focus on how to manage tracking what should be declared on your Schedule C or other tax records filed under your own tax ID. Wednesday, September 13, 5:30-7:30 PM on Zoom.

Join MIDDAY for their BIPOC Social Event, a welcoming space for BIPOC dance artists and affiliated professionals to meet and mingle. Light refreshments will be served. Wednesday, September 13, 6-8 PM at the Multicultural Arts Center Gallery, 41 Second St, East Cambridge.

Otros Aires will be in Boston for two fun-filled days and  lots of dancing. On Wednesday, September 13, from 7-8:30 PM join the Musicality Class at Dance Union. They will show every rhythm inside tango (not milonga or waltz but tango) and they teach how to understand them and dance with them. Stick around for a meet and greet and dancing with DJ David Chester. On Thursday, September 14, 7:30 PM-12:30 AM enjoy the live show and dancing at Arts at the Armory.

Body Music is a musical movement practice for the cultivation of rhythmic precision and neuroplasticity. Through his practice of Body Music, Keith Terry invites us with hands, feet and voice, into a polyrhythmic world of music making. As an internationally acclaimed percussionist, Keith can support any and all to find ease in a deeper “felt sense” of rhythm and timing. Thursday, September 14, 4 PM-Sunday, September 17, 4 PM at the Field Center in Vermont.

There’s still time to catch free Healing Arts to the People, the Living Experience Outdoor Program. You’re invited to join at 5:00 PM for some restful guidance. The dance workshop begins at 6:30 PM. Thursdays, September 14 & 18 at Carson Beach in Dorchester, MA.

Join the dance at the second fall Harvard Milonga. At 6:30, there will be a special workshop on elegance & musicality with Thomas & Mary Ellen directly from Buenos Aires and the milonga follows at 7:30 PM. Thursday, September 14 6:30-10:30 PM at the Barker Center Cafe in Harvard Square.

On this international tour, Authentic Flamenco  presents the passionate flamenco of Yolanda Osuna, brought by the Royal Opera of Madrid & Fever. Witness the raw power of this Spanish art form. Friday, September 15–Sunday, September 24, at the Greater Boston Stage Company, 395 Main Street, Stoneham, MA.

Day 1 of Millpond.Live 2023 will include performances by Ethiocolor, Orchestre Tout Puissant Marcel Duchamp, and San Salvador. On stage, a mix of local, regional, national, and international musicians perform in unique collaborations knit around a different musical theme each week. Friday, September 15, 6 PM, Millside Park Easthampton, MA.

Salsa in the Park kicks off Hispanic Heritage Month in Cambridge in Termeer Square (300 Athenaeum St) on Friday, September 15, 6-9 PM. Enjoy, lessons (featuring lessons by Silent Rhythms in American Sign Language), performances, music corner, animaciones (group dance), social dancing, and more! Join the following day, Saturday, September 16, 1-4  PM for more lessons and fun dancing at the BCYF Blackstone Courtyard (50 W Brookline St, Boston).

IzumonookunI is a multidisciplinary dance inspired by Izumo no Okuni, 17th century cis-female founder of the Japanese dance-drama form, Kabuki. Choreographer Aretha Aoki and Bessie-nominated sound designer and artist Ryan MacDonald are resurrecting and re-imagining Okuni as a punk/synthwave/glam-goth figure. IzumokookunI aims to reclaim the origins of Kabuki, collapse reductive binaries, and allow audiences to make new connections between seemingly disparate forms. Friday, September 15, 7:30 PM & 9:00 PM at the Sophia Gordon Center for Creative and Performing Arts, 356 Lafayette Street, Salem.

Catch Public Displays of Motion’s newest work Passeggiata: A Stroll With Sinners and Saints as a part of the Momentum series. The company has woven a metaphoric response to the Italian heritage of Boston’s North End, conjuring myths- old and newly created- about our ancestors and celebrating the saints and sinners of our lineage. The performance occurs in two parts: an installation of saints waiting for their parade and  a procession in search of its festival. Saturday, September 16, 11 AM & 3 PM at The Greenway at the Carolyn Lynch Garden. Rain date is Sunday, September 17.

The 23rd South Boston Street Fest features local businesses, artists, and community organizations, as well as shopping, live music, local performances, food, kids’ activities, and so much more. The two stages will offer live entertainment – including Houston Bernard, Thomas Park, Guilty Pleasure, and the Late Risers – local dancers, and self-defense demonstrations. Saturday, September 16, 11 AM-4 PM on East Broadway between I and L streets.

The City of Boston celebrates Latinx Heritage Month with Fiesta en la Plaza, a diverse program taking place over four weekends on the renovated City Hall Plaza. The program brings together Latin American artists residing in Boston in musical presentations, comparsas, dance classes, poetry readings, documentaries, and an artists’ panel about Afro-Latin art and culture. The Inauguration Day on Saturday, September 16, 12-7 PM will feature a comparsa by the Puerto Rican theater group Agua, Sol y Sereno, famous for being the creators of the “cabezudos” who co-starred in the opening of the 2023 Grammy Awards with Bad Bunny. The artistic parade will include Jorge Arce, Verónica Robles and her mariachi, Claudio Ragazzi’s Jazz Tango, and Eguie Castrillo and his orchestra.

The Precious Pearls of the Psi Iota Omega Chapter of Alpha Kappa Alpha Sorority, Inc. in support of the Upsilon Iota chapter invite you to join an evening of dance, music and spoken word. The event Celebrating the Arts will feature talented local artists. Please bring a canned food item to donate to Bridgewater State University’s food pantry. Saturday, September 16, 6-9 PM at Bridgewater State University, Horace Mann Theater, 131 Summer St, Bridgewater, MA.

Cape Symphony invites you to  gathering in the Celtic tradition, featuring a session with Chatham fiddler Rose Clancy followed by a community dance led by traditional dance caller Summer McCall with live music by Cape Cod’s own Kelly Family Band. For the dance, Summer McCall will draw from Irish, Scottish, Cape Breton, English folk and New England folk traditions including contra-dancing and square dancing. The dances will be easy and fun to learn and no prior experience is necessary. Saturday, September 16, 6:30-9:30 PM, at 60 Highfield Drive, Falmouth, MA.

Celebrate the vibrant culture and natural history of El Salvador. Enjoy captivating folk dances by Grupo Torogoz and try hands-on activities. Sunday, September 17, 12-3 PM at the Harvard Museum of Natural History, 26 Oxford Street, Cambridge.

Audition for the Marco y Sara Bachata Team! Moves n’ Vibes Dance Studio is collaborating with Esencia teams by Marco and Sara from Spain. Marco and Sara Bachata (Marco Espejo and Sara Panero) are 6 times Spanish Bachata champions and world famous dancers. They will have a short free class followed by the audition. At the audition, you will be taught a short choreography (5-6 moves). All you need to know is the basics of Bachata. No partner necessary. Wednesday, September 13, 8-9 PM at Moves and Vibes Entertainment co. 44 Fifth St., Cambridge, MA. If you can’t attend the audition, you can also schedule another time by emailing inna@movesandvibes.com.

North Atlantic Ballet is casting youth for their Nutcracker. If your child is between the ages of 5 and 18, this is the moment to shine. Kids aged 5-10 are guaranteed roles, while those 11 and above will audition at the NAB Studios, 85 Tileston St, Everett, MA. Rehearsals will take place on Saturday and Sunday afternoons at their Everett studios.

Saturday, September 16
Ages 5 – 7 | 12:30 – 1:15 PM
Ages 8 – 10 | 1:30 – 2:15 PM

Sunday, September 17
Ages 11 – 13 | 2- 2:45 PM
Ages 14 + | 3 – 3:45 PM

The Next Steps for Boston Dance grant cycle opens today, Monday, September 11! Dance-makers and circus artists of all genres and at all career levels are invited to apply. Grant value is over $12,500 including $5,000 in paid rehearsal space; $6,000 in implementation funds; and more.

Call for Arts Education Mentors! Arts|Learning received funding to support novice arts educators over the next two years. Arts|Learning and DESE will collaborate with 10 arts mentors to create a professional development program for the Second Cohort (2023-24) of up to 80 arts educators. Fill out the application form and send a letter of interest to Jackie Carvey, New Arts Teacher Mentoring Network Manager; any additional questions, please email to New Arts Teacher Mentoring Network Director, Dr. Erin Zaffini. Enrollment deadline is Friday, September 15, or until all positions are filled so act today.

The Mayor’s Office of Arts and Culture is redesigning the Boston Cultural Council Organizational Grants. The application will open October 1, 2023. Please be on the lookout for more information. If you have any questions, you can email artsgrants@boston.gov

Sign up today for the Master Course on Proprioceptive Neuromuscular Facilitation (PNF) presented by Irene Rampino, SMT, MFA, MSPT. This 3-day course taking place November 10-12 at Upward Spiral Studio will be tailored to instructors of all movement disciplines, somatic instructors, and manual therapists. It addresses the interrelationship between the bodies’ neuromuscular, soft tissue and joint systems. Fitting for professionals of any body-centered discipline! Email martha@upwardspiralstudio.com for more information and for registration instructions.

On the anniversary of 9/11 it’s important to remember all the ways we lift each other up.

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Debra Cash, Executive Director