Happy World Kindness Day!
We hope you will find and give kindness today and all week. There’s so much to be celebrated and so many opportunities to engage with dance in our community. Take a moment to find some happy news as well as dance events that spark your interest below.
Remember to check your membership status and renew or join BDA today. Your support is essential to our work, which includes keeping the dance community collected and promoted!
Warmly,
Carmen S. Rizzo, Membership and Operations Associate
The Cambridge non-profit Arrow Street Arts, Inc. announces the official opening of its new venue in Harvard Square with a week-long Launch Festival in March 2024. Produced by Liars and Believers (LaB), its executive producer Georgia Lyman and its artistic director Jason Slavick, the festival will offer a wide variety of performances, events, and community gatherings. In addition to a full year of planned programming, ASA’s street-front studio will be activated as a rehearsal, class, and small presentation space later this fall.
ASA and Liars and Believers host an open call to performing artists later this month (click the link to find updated information). Artists will be selected by a jury panel. If selected, artists will receive a compensation package to produce their works. Selected artists will be notified in January 2024; details about the Festival programming will be announced shortly thereafter.
BDA Member Events This Week
A book release, a klezmer dance, and a birthday party all at once? It must be the season opener at the Boston Festival of New Jewish Music! Join Rachel Linsky at the Boston Synagogue for a celebration of new Jewish culture. Listen to BFNJM Artistic Director Nat Seelen’s music from his upcoming book, New Klezmer Dances: Volume 1, and join Rachel in dancing. Wednesday, November 15, 7-9 PM, at 55 Martha Rd, Boston. Tickets range from free to $54.
FREE! Dance away your cares as Dance Caliente presents fun and lively lessons for dancers of all ages and levels. This week features Night Club-2 step on Wednesday, November 15, 7:00-8:30 PM at Medford’s Charlotte and William Bloomberg Public Library (2nd Floor in the Bonsignore Hall),11 High Street, Medford.
FREE! FirstWorks and Brown University co-host Dance Floor Dialogues with Rennie Harris Puremovement American Street Dance Theater. Chip Douglas facilitates that talk among invited guest artists who specialize in hip-hop, freestyle, ballet, breaking and Afrobeat. Music provided by DJ Franchise. Friday, November 17, 6-8 PM at the William Riley Hall at The Lindemann Performing Arts Center, 144 Angell Street, Providence, RI.
FREE! Whether you are new to partnered social dance or a ballroom expert, Holly & Michael invite you to experience their gender-expansive take on ballroom dance! They will teach an intro lesson to American Foxtrot, followed by an open social dance with a variety of dance styles. Friday, November 17, 6:30-8:30 PM at the Dance Complex.
FREE! BalletRox hosts their Harvest Party at Vine Street. The event will include crafts, face painting, seasonal treats and a lively dance party. All ages welcome. Saturday, November 18, 1-3 PM at 339 Dudley St., Roxbury.
Deborah Mason Performing Arts Center presents a visit by Ryan Casey as its Boston Tap Party’s Guest Artist Series continues. Saturday, November 18. Teen Intermediate class is 2:00-3:00 PM, Intermediate/Advanced is 3:15-4:30 PM at 624 Somerville Avenue, Somerville. Registration: $25-$50.
The Click presents Angelina Benitez’s “my guide to feeling it all.” This contemporary work challenges societal norms that encourage us to suppress or compartmentalize our feelings, instead celebrating the beauty of authenticity and an embrace of identities and emotions without fear or judgment. The performance will be followed by a short Q&A with the artists. Saturday, November 18, 7:30 – 9:00 PM at Movement Arts Gloucester MA, 11 Pleasant Street #Suite 64, Gloucester. Tickets range from free to $30.
FirstWorks presents Rennie Harris’ breakout masterpiece Rome & Jewels. A story of love, fear, violence and triumph, Rome & Jewels challenges preconceived notions of Shakespeare with a hip-hop journey through the streets of Philadelphia. Saturday, November 18, 8 PM at The VETS, 1 Ave of the Arts, Providence. Tickets $24-$69.
Co-directed by Fernadina Chan and Adriane Brayton of Continuum Dance Project, Not Eye, Us is an immersive dance-theatre work exploring the intersection of gaze and power with a multi-layered connection to Michael Alfano’s sculpture ‘Cubed.’ Through manipulation of the sculpture’s nine moveable pieces, each pigmented with a different skin tone, Not Eye, Us examines individual diversity within a united community by propelling the audience and performers into an interactive journey. Saturday, November 18, 8 PM & Sunday, November 19, 7 PM at the Dance Complex. Tickets: $20-$35.
FREE – Passage (2023) by Patricia Nguyễn and Fiona Ngô, a work of experimental sound and movement reflecting on beauty and creativity in the aftermath of war. Tuesday, November 14, 6-7 PM at Media Art Gallery, 25 Avery St., Boston.
FREE – Join Mitchell Rose at Tufts for a dance films screening on Thursday, November 16, 7 PM.
Earthdance hosts Mask Workshop: Archetypes and the Metamorphosis Masquerade, with Akil Apollo Davis. Thursday, November 16-Sunday, November 19.
Tufts University Fall Dance Concert takes place Friday, November 17 & Saturday, November 18 at 7 PM.
Global Arts Live presents BODYTRAFFIC at the Institute of Contemporary Art. Friday, November 17 & Saturday, November 18, 8 PM.
Salem State University hosts the Massachusetts High School Dance Festival with learning and performing opportunities. Saturday, November 18, 9:45 AM-3:30 PM.
FREE – BODYTRAFFIC Workshop at the Harvard Dance Center with artistic director Tina Finkelman Berkett, followed by Q&A. Saturday, November 18, 1:30-3:15 PM.
Join Salsa y Control Dance Company for a night filled with exhilarating performances and non-stop dancing. Saturday, November 18, 7 PM-2 AM at the Westin Hotel Waltham, 75 Third Ave, Waltham.
ON DISPLAY HARVARD 2023 in commemoration of International Day of Persons with Disabilities at Harvard. In collaboration with ON DISPLAY GLOBAL, the worldwide movement installation and social justice initiative created by physically-integrated dance company Heidi Latsky Dance, this opportunity is open to persons with or without disabilities (visible or invisible) to participate as performers. Prioritization for Harvard students and affiliates. No previous dance or performance experience needed. Performers will learn the work in a session with artistic coordinator Ava Untermyer on November 28, 6:00-7:30 PM. Participation entails performing on Sunday, December 3 at 11 AM (location TBA), in a performance live-streamed around the world as part of the ON DISPLAY GLOBAL‘s 24-hour Zoom event. Virtual options for learning the work live and via the recording will be available. Apply today.
Nozama Dance Collective seeks 2-3 guest artists for its show on Saturday, December 2, at BU Dance Theater. Any dance style and group size welcome. Must be available for tech rehearsal Friday, December 1, 6-10 PM, as well as dress rehearsal and performance on Saturday, December 2, 3-10 PM. Piece may be up to 5 minutes and artist will be compensated with 50% of any ticket sales attributed to them. Must be 18+. Application closes Wednesday, November 15.
Culture House Union Square seeks artists, creatives, non-profit organizations, and businesses in and around Union Square to bring the pop-up to life between January – June 2024! All partners will be compensated. Apply today.
Please nominate BDA! Cambridge Savings Bank will grant up to $200,000 to several nonprofit organizations. Customers can vote for up to five non-profits that serve the community. Help us maintain our free services to the regional dance community. The nomination period is open through Wednesday, November 15, 11:59 PM.