Dear BDA Community,
Happy Black History Month! During this important time of the year, BDA has a couple of related fun facts to share about some pioneering African-American members of our dance community.
Did you know that BDA’s Dance Champion Award, which honors local dance leaders over the age of 60 whose body of work represents a significant legacy for greater Boston’s dance community, is named after the late, beloved physician & dancer Dr. Michael Shannon, who was African-American? In addition to serving as the President of the Boston Dance Alliance’s Board of Directors, Dr. Shannon made major advancements in the fields of pediatric toxicology and environmental health while balancing his active participation in the local dance scene, where he was known as the ‘dancing doctor’.
Building on this remarkable example, did you also know that several other remarkable African-American dance leaders have received the Dr. Michael Shannon Dance Champion Award? They include DeAma Battle (2006), Adrienne Hawkins (2011), Tony Williams (2019), Andrea Herbert Major (2017), Ann Brown Allen (2023), and Dianne “Lady Di” Walker (2023). Across time and so many forms of dance, they have paved the way for so many dancers today and are enduring sources of inspiration to the greater Boston dance community. All of us at BDA thank & celebrate all of you!
All the best,
Aaron Myers, Executive Director
Join BDA in welcome Sean Bjerke to the BDA Community as the newest fiscally sponsored artist! Sean has been a House reference in the Boston dance community for many years and we are thrilled to be supporting him in this next step in his path. Next up, Sean is bringing Sambanismo Experience back! You can expect workshops, cyphers, battles and parties that will blow you away, May 16-18. Dance workshops include house, hiphop, popping, locking, waacking, jazz, samba and sabar taught by many of the pioneers and OGs of these dance forms. Get your tickets today!
BDA Member Events This Week
Let’s Talk About It is a show presented by Tess Saoirse Dance Company and Collective Moments Dance Company that focuses on topics that simply need to be talked about more. Each piece and act operates as an individual within the larger work. Tess and Kaylee have been collaborating on excerpts from this show within the local New England dance community for two years. What better way to celebrate these collaborations than in the space where it all started? So, let’s talk about it. Saturday, February 8, 7 PM, at The Dance Complex, 536 Massachusetts Ave., Cambridge. Tickets: $15-35. This performance is also available via live-stream.
FREE! – Join an all-levels workshop with renowned House dancer and educator Caleaf Sellers, aka Big Leaf! Fusing House and Hip Hop to create his own unique style, Sellers will teach the foundation of House dance and demonstrate how it relates to other dance styles. The workshop will be followed by a Q&A. DJ Liza Zayas-Sellers, aka Luna del Flor, will provide live beats. Thursday, February, 6, 7:30-9:00 PM, at the Harvard Dance Center, 66 Garden St., Cambridge.
Guests at this special 50th anniversary edition of Drinks at the Danforth will enjoy a fun night with 70’s themed music, fun art-making and dancing! Professional dance instructors Marisa and Peter of Boston Ballroom will be teaching some classic disco moves while spinning disco hits. No experience necessary, all materials provided. Friday, February 7, 6-9 PM at the Danforth Art Museum and School, 14 Vernon Street, Framingham. Admission: $25 for non-members, $15 for members.
Counterpointis the latest collaboration between pianist and composer Conrad Tao and choreographer and tap dancer Caleb Teicher. In this dynamic duet performance, the artists engage in a mesmerizing dialogue of harmonic, theatrical, and rhythmic interplay, bridging their disparate traditions and creating a collective experience that fires the imagination and opens the heart. Friday, February 7, 8 PM and Saturday, February 8, 2 & 8 PM at the Boston Arts Academy Theater, 174 Ipswich St, Boston. Tickets: $44-$108.
JIG, a Trinity Irish Dance Company (TIDC) production, is a fresh take on TIDC’s internationally-renowned, alternative approach to a traditional form. Centered by a live band in a unique space, JIG immerses audiences in an authentic experience that celebrates the power of vibrations, rhythm, and movement—redefining what is possible for Irish music and dance. Saturday, February 8, 8 PM, at the Berklee Performance Center, 136 Massachusetts Ave., Boston. Tickets: $42-$65.
Join Caleb Teicher at Deborah Mason Performing Arts Center as their Guest Artist Series continues. Sunday, February 9, 12:00-1:00 PM (slow intermediate), 1:00-2:30 PM (intermediate/advanced) and 2:30-3:30 PM (vernacular jazz) at DMPAC, 624 Somerville Avenue, Somerville. Registration: $25-$30/class.
City Ballet of Boston is looking for ballet and jazz dancers, ages 10-18 for their upcoming performance, Dance Distinctive, at the Strand Theatre on April 12 and 13. Please arrive at least 15 minutes before your audition time to check-in. The audition will consist of a short warm-up followed by choreography & technique. Their auditions are open to the entire city of Boston and surrounding areas. Their mission is diversity through dance, and their goal is to cast our show with the most talented, and widely diverse dancers our community has to offer. Audition attire: leotard and flesh-tone tights, or slim t-shirt with black tights, with ballet slippers or jazz shoes. Hair should be slicked back, long hair secured in a bun, headband if needed for bangs. Rehearsals will be held on Sunday afternoons beginning February 23 at Tony Williams Dance Center. Theatre tech rehearsals will be in the evening on Thursday, April 10 and Friday, April 11. Attendance is required at all rehearsals. Please reach out to info@cityballetofboston.org with any questions. Sunday, February 9, 3-5 PM, at the Tony Williams Dance Center, 284 Amory Street, Jamaica Plain.
Thanks to a grant from the City of Boston’s Age Strong Commission, LBFE-Boston is offering another year of Creative Connections, an arts instruction program for older adults living in public/affordable housing. They are looking for community-based instructors to lead 6-to-8-week courses. Classes will be offered in senior housing in several Boston neighborhoods over several program sessions (September to October, October to early December, February/March to May/June). They are eager to engage instructors with demonstrated experience working in multicultural community settings. Experienced instructors in arts (including but not limited to mixed media, painting, dance/movement, and poetry/creative writing) and those who speak languages other than English (esp. Mandarin, Cantonese, Taiwanese, Spanish, Haitian Creole, and Cape Verdean) are particularly encouraged to contact LBFE-Boston. Instructors will receive a fee of $1800 to $2400 per course, depending on the number of classes taught. For additional information, or to submit your CV or resume for consideration, please contact Stephenie Hisman-Hou, Program Director at shou@lbfeboston.org.
National Dance Project Production Grants fund the creation and U.S. touring of 20 new dance projects annually. NDP Production Grants are made to projects led by professional choreographers or companies to support the creation and U.S. touring and/or sharing of a new dance project. Preliminary application deadline is February 28, 11:59 PM.