Pro/Motion

Boston Dance Alliance is sad to share the news of the passing of the Celebrity Series' Walter Pierce July 7 at the age of 91. A true gentleman, Walter led the the Celebrity Series for over 30 years and championed dance, including making sure that Boston was a home away from home for the Alvin Ailey American Dance Theatre. After he retired in 1996, he was a regular and enthusiastic audience member at music and dance events alongside his wife Margaret Ulmer, seen here with cellist Yo Yo Ma. Walter leaves a great legacy and will be missed. There will be a celebration concert in his memory this fall.   Congratulations to Toni Shapiro-Phim of Brandeis' Program in Peacebuilding and the Arts who recently returned from Bophana Audiovisual Resource Center in Phnom Penh, Cambodia after presenting the Center with precious digitized video records – a ten terabyte hard drive – of classical Cambodian dance and dance-dramas she taped in refugee camps in the 1990s. Cambodian dance was almost wiped out by the murder of over 80% of the country’s dancers 1975-1979 and her dissertation work was one of many efforts to revive and preserve it for future generations. While she was there, the artists engaged in a sampeah kru ceremony,  a ritual through which dancers and musicians venerate teachers and spirits of these arts. Artists asked for blessings for the digitized material, sought guidance in its use, and promised to continue to honor the spirits (and all teachers), as they keep these traditions dynamic.   This year's in-person Newport Dance Festival (NDF) presents six unique programs alongside Newport’s resident Island Moving Company. Visiting troupes are Khambatta Dance Company, Boston Dance Theatre, Italy’s Breathing Art Company, East Coast Contemporary Ballet, Janusphere Dance and Tristian Griffin Dance Company. Take classes, enjoy performances, and have an unforgettable summer experience! The festival runs Tuesday, July 19 – Sunday, July 24.   Take a dance class with members of Ronald K. Brown/EVIDENCE, A Dance Company Wednesday, July 20, 10:00 - 11:30 AM at the Yard.  The company will also perform a full evening of works including Ebony Magazine: To A Village, UPside Down, and their newest work The Equality of Night and Day (TEND) on Saturday, July 23, 7:00 PM at the Martha's Vineyard Performing Arts Center.   USArtists International Webinar: Am I eligible? provides program information for solo artists and performing arts ensembles considering an application to the USArtists International grant program. After attending, you'll have a clear understanding of the program guidelines, timeline, and what is needed to be eligible for funding. Thursday, July 21, 1:30 PM   The Shift Show, with spoken word poet U-Meleni Mhlaba-Adebo, dancer Emily Beattie, designer Rosa Weinberg, and musician Akili Jamal Haynes aka CHIBUZO DUNUN, invites audiences into a new world that rejects technology as we know it. Instead a new kind of power is produced by the catalytic offloading of objects, movements, and words we need to shed. Performances are Thursday, July 21, 6 & 8 PM, at the Mills Gallery on the BCA Campus and tickets are limited so make your reservation now!   Beheard.world, in association with The Dance Complex, will present Suite Talk on Thursday, July 21, 2022 at 7:30 PM at Complex@Canal. Suite Talk explores the possibilities of what lies beyond racism through hope and connection. The work encourages a spirit of mutual respect and understanding and the connection between vulnerability, overcoming fear, and empathy in creating a kind of flow that can coalesce into making personal and, ultimately, societal changes. The work is followed by a facilitated discussion.   8th Annual Salsa Squared It’s back! Dance the night away in the heart of Harvard Square! Free dance lessons, music from one of Boston’s most sought after DJs and cold beer in the Wusong Road al fresco Tiki Beer Garden Friday, July 22, 7-10 PM on Brattle Plaza (in front of Bluestone Lane Café at 27 Brattle Street).   Two and Izumonookunl (excerpt) a split-bill evening, featuring new work by Shura Baryshnikov and Adrienne Taylor, and Aretha Aoki and Ryan MacDonald. Friday, July 22, 7:30 PM at The Bates Dance Festival in Lewiston, Maine.   Join Grammy-nominated musician and Berklee graduate, Débo Ray and her Allstar Band for a dance party Saturday, July 23, 7 PM at Hyde Playground in Newton.   The Newton Festival of the Arts presents Dance Currents, 100 years of Modern Dance. Pieces of classic modern repertory plus dances to Bach’s Cello Suite in D and a new piece entitled Rewilding will be shown in this 45-minute program. Sunday, July 24, 1 PM at The Allen House, 32 Webster Street, Newton.   Suite Sundays at The Dance Hall: Contemporary Chamber Ballet Aliento Chamber musicians pair with Julie Hebb and her troupe, Annex Contemporary Dance Company, in a program of contemporary ballet featuring kalimba-based improvisation, Piazzolla, Gershwin, Camille Saint-Saëns and Johann Sebastian Bach Sunday, July 24, 3:00 - 4:30 PM in Kittery, Maine.   Company SBB performs at the Bates Dance Festival with Embarqued: Stories of Soil  a dance-theatre work centered around a transformative shipmast that invites migratory reflections that reveal post-colonial foundations and mythology. Questioning memorials, the dancers connect our country both forwards and backwards in space and time. Saturday, July 23, and Sunday, July 24, 7:30 PM at Simard-Payne Park, 46 Beech St. in Lewiston, Maine.   This week catch the legendary Limón Dance Company in repertory work and a world premier by Burkino Faso choreographer/dancer/musician Olivier Taparga at the Ted Shawn Theatre and the Afro-diasporic percussive troupe Music From The Sole, which brings its awareness of tap's connections to Afro-Brazilian dance and music to the outdoor Henry J. Leir Stage at Jacob's Pillow.   The Providence Fringe Festival in Providence features more than 300 performing artists from across the country sharing their work in theatre, dance, visual arts, and everything in between. Dance performances include Balliamo Dance Collective and Ray Terrill Dance Group Sunday, July 17 at 5 PM through Saturday, July 20 at 11:45 PM.   Laura Sánchez is back with a four-week, in-person Beginner Summer Flamenco at The Dance Complex July 6 to 27 from 6-7 PM. This is an intensive for beginner flamenco students to learn, connect with the basics of flamenco, and learn a piece of choreography for an upcoming showcase in a friendly and supportive environment.   There is still time to join Isaura Oliveira's classes, which bring her Brazilian culture rooted in African and Amerindian traditional movements into the current environment of our everyday lives. The movements have meanings, stories and purpose. They can be effective for our wellbeing. Sacred Space, for the joy of dancing, drumming, and restoration is a series of 8 workshops.   Let your voice be heard in support of arts, culture, and the creative workforce through this election season! Boston Dance Alliance is a member of the Create the Vote Coalition, and you can sign up with your organizational affiliation or as an individual -- or both! Once you've signed up, a social media toolkit makes advocacy easy. Audition for Nazar Bollywood! Nazar is a dance company focused on Bollywood whose dance background includes South Asian classical, folk, fusion, and western styles such as jazz, and contemporary. Nazar performs at large events, community and corporate events, weddings, festivals, and more. Don't miss your chance to join their team! You must fill out the tryout form with all the information to be considered for the team. Please complete the form no later than Friday, July 22 as we will have an online meeting you will be invited to on Sunday, July 24, at 9 PM. Practices start on Monday, August 1, at 7:30 PM in Allston.   Sunflower of Peace supports the people of Ukraine suffering from the Russian military invasion by raising funds to acquire medical first aid and humanitarian supplies which are distributed to doctors and paramedics in Ukraine. They are holding a Fashion Gala and Fundraiser Thursday, August 11 in Quincy where world-renowned Ukrainian designers will present their collections in a multimedia performance. They are looking for 6-8 contemporary dancers (or similar styles) to participate in the performance. A famous Ukrainian dancer/choreographer will lead you through the learning process. Feel free to contact Yulia if you want to participate or have any questions at (617) 237-0617.   Audition for A Major Dance Company! Andrea Major's company seeks male and female dancers. Audition happens this Wednesday, July 20, at 7 PM at Roxbury Center for Performing Arts. Call Robin Thompson at (617) 282-4561 to confirm your attendance.   https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=HnP2yjqrZDg Explore how trans dancemaker Sean Dorsey demonstrates that “dreaming is a political act”.   __________ Debra Cash, Executive Director