Boston Dance Alliance is delighted to welcome two new members to our Board of Directors!
Karen Krolak is a Boston based choreographer, performer, teacher, presenter, costume designer, and writer. Since 2000, she has been the Founder/Artistic Director of Monkeyhouse. Her choreography has been featured in dance concerts, site-specific works, plays, musicals, performance art pieces, films and gallery installations. Krolak’s ongoing project, the Dictionary of Negative Spaceholds space for unnamed ideas related to mourning and complex grief and was inspired by her experiences after a car crash killed her mother, father & brother.
Karen’s quirky knitting pattern/personal essay/instruction based art piece, Slippers to Soothe Your Emergency Room Blues, won the First Annual Feels Blind Literary DIY Prize and has been presented in at the Institute for Conceptual Studies online and at the CICA Museum in Gimpo, Korea. Her essay, Unexpected Artist in Residency in a Hospital, and her DIY hospital robe pattern were recently published in Piney Woods Atlas’s Midwest edition.
A former BDA Board member returning to these responsibilities after a long hiatus, this term follows her crucial contributions to the success of BDA’s year-long Dance and Disability Initiative. Karen is the first person to identify as a dancer with disabilities to serve in this capacity.
Laura Levitan is Business Development Manager at Mintz. With 15 years of experience in legal marketing and business development, Laura leads client acquisition, engagement and retention initiatives and develops brand awareness and market penetration strategies. Laura received her degree in political science from The George Washington University.
Laura has long advocated for the arts. As a childhood dancer she wrote a letter to President Bill Clinton lobbying for increased funding for the National Endowment for the Arts. Her passion continues to this day and she thrilled to support dancers across the Boston metropolitan area.
A recent transplant from Chicago, Laura lives on the North Shore with her husband, the visual artist Paul Jeanes, and their tiny hound, Romy.
We bid a fond farewell to Portia Abernathy Brown and thank her for her service, and especially her passion for supporting artists with disabilities.
BDA is proud to share the news that the Massachusetts Cultural Council has awarded BDA UNIVERSAL PARTICIPATION DESIGNATION in recognition of our demonstrated commitment to learn, take action and embrace inclusivity as a core organizational value.
BDA was so sorry to hear of the devastating fire at Brookline Academy of Dance in the early hours of Friday morning. Both studios were damaged but, fortunately, no one was harmed.
We hope that the school’s faculty, staff, students and their families can find comfort and resilience in this difficult situation. Erin Washington has set up a GoFundMe recovery campaign.
Alice Heller is hosting a Solstice Healing Movement class on Monday, December 20th from 7-8pm. This class is a Nia/Qi gong/free dance blend and will feature music from Karl Jenkins. Class is donation based and all proceeds will go to support Dance New England. To sign up contact Alice.
Fiddler on the Roof is coming to the Emerson Colonial Theatre fromTuesday, December 21st throughSunday, December 26th. Tony-winning director Bartlett Sher brings a fresh and authentic vision to the beloved theatrical masterpiece with choreography contributed by Hofesh Shechter, based on the original staging by Jerome Robbins.
Join Bands Don’t Tell Dan and The Rubin Brothers for a Savoy Night at Crystal Ballroom Lindy Hop Dance Contest on Tuesday, December 21st from 6-10pm. Then on Tuesday, December 28th from 6-10pm come back for Savoy Night at Crystal Ballroom Winter Ball with Dan Gabel and the Abletones featuring The Moon Maids. Both events start with an optional dance lesson from 6-7pm to get into the swing
Mesma Belsaré dances Maya Kulkarni’s GHORĀ: The Grotesque Goddess, sharing the vision of Chinnamastā, the goddess who cuts off her own head. Her bold act is a visual metaphor of freeing oneself from the limitations of both the body and the mind, of transcending imagination, and of erasing one’s identity: a complete dissolution of the self. The film, streamed from Hyderabad, India, is available December 26, 9 AM EST,and available until December 31, 2021 after the premiere.
Inventive Natick recreational baker Eileen Roche Ahuja came up with these Nutcracker and Mouse King cupcakes for a friend’s seasonal tea party. Talk about a journey to the kingdom of sweets!