BATTERY DANCE FESTIVAL REVISITS NYC

• By Mabel Pais

BATTERY DANCE celebrates its annual art of dance in its home community of New York City this August, in partnership with Battery Park City Authority (BPCA).

Dance @ The New Wagner Park, Saturday, August 9 at 7pm

On Saturday, August 9, Battery Dance Company celebrates the re-opening of Robert F. Wagner, Jr. Park. A medley of dance companies will present a 1-hour program opened by Indigenous performer Marie Poncé, followed by tap-dancer John Manzari with a live band.  Battery Dance presents ‘Frontiers’ by Turkish-Dutch choreographer Rutkay Özpinar and Limón Dance Company caps off the evening with the classic work ‘A Choreographic Offering’ created by José Limón in 1964.

BATTERY DANCE FESTIVAL

August 12-16 brings the 44th Annual Battery Dance Festival enlivening Rockefeller Park with a rain date on August 17. New York City’s longest-running free public dance festival brings together eight diverse dance companies from around the world coupled with a dynamic roster of eight New York-based companies. The free series of events celebrates the universal language of dance with a mix of performances, workshops, and immersive experiences for audiences of all ages.

The five-night performance line-up features a plethora of premieres and several performances featuring live music.  Crowds of over 12,000 in-person and over 35,000 virtual viewers typically flock to the Festival each summer, with audiences glorying in the opportunity to experience dance against the spectacular water, sky and cityscape backdrop.

“Battery Dance stands committed to providing the enlightenment and transcendence of dance free to the public despite the shattering of precedents we had taken for granted. We prevailed through Superstorm Sandy’s flooding of lower Manhattan, the financial crisis of the 2008/09 recession, and the attacks on the World Trade Center,” said Jonathan Hollander, artistic director of Battery Dance. “Thanks to our partners at Battery Park City Authority, our sponsors and donors, and the dancers and staff and Board of Battery Dance and all the participants who join us in the timeless pursuit of community gathering and beauty, we are prevailing again!”

“For more than a decade our beautiful public spaces have played host to the beauty of the Battery Dance Festival, and we’re honored this year to host events both as part of Wagner Park’s reopening celebration, and in Rockefeller Park for five more fantastic evenings of dance,” said BPCA President & CEO Raju Mann. “A neighborhood favorite and staple of Battery Park City’s summer programming calendar, the Festival provides New Yorkers a front-row seat to world-class talent, and we thank our partners at Battery Dance for this enduring partnership.”

PERFORMANCE SCHEDULE

Dance @ The New Wagner Park, Saturday, August 9 at 7pm

Battery Dance performs in this celebratory night of dance alongside Marie Poncé, The Limón Dance Company, and tap dancer John Manzari & Band in celebrating Wagner Park’s reopening.

Battery Dance Festival:  Tuesday, August 12 – Saturday, August 16 at 7pm

Tuesday, August 12: John Manzari & Band, excerpts of Recenter (USA); Pace University Dancing to Connect conducted by Robin Cantrell (USA); Battery Dance, Sense of Belonging, a world premiere by Faizah Grootens (USA); Faizah Grootens, While You’re Here (Netherlands), Bulareyaung Dance Company, Colors (Taiwan)

Wednesday, August 13: UNARTE, Verso Roto (Spain -World Premiere); Theater Plauen – Zwickau Ballet Ensemble, Eden (South Korea/Germany); Bulareyaung Dance Company, Colors (Taiwan); Faizah Grootens While You’re Here (Netherlands), Platforma 13, Balkan Ballerinas (Romania – U.S. Premiere)

Thursday, August 14: Kar-mel Small, La Manta de Reina (USA); Theater Plauen – Zwickau Ballet Ensemble, Eden (South Korea/Germany); Platforma 13, Balkan Ballerinas (Romania – U.S. Premiere); UNARTE, Verso Roto (Spain -World Premiere); Buglisi Dance Theatre, Sospiri (USA), Battery Dance, Empty Hand by Damani Pompey (USA – World Premiere)

Friday, August 15: India Day – SHAKTI, Divine Energy

India Independence Day – celebrates SHAKTI – Divine Energy

Sutradhar – Rajika Puri

Performers

Bharatanatyam:  Nandanik Dance Troupe (Pittsburgh) ‘Dashamahavidya,’ choreography by Subhajit Khush Das,

Odissi:  Bijayini Satpathy Dance Collective (Bangalore/New York), ‘Lāsya:  Lathika & Mahamaya’ performed by Ariaki Dandawate and Malavika Singh, choreographed by Bijayini Satpathy

Uday Shankar Style:  Subhajit Khush Das (Kolkata), untitled – world premiere

Kuchipudi & Kathakali:  Kalpavruksha Dance Ensemble (Hyderabad/New Jersey) Swathi Gundapuneedi-Atluri, Choreographer

Bharatanatyam:  Sonali Skandan (New York), ‘Durga’ choreographed by Sonali Skandan and Maya Kulkarni

Bharatanatyam:  Malini Srinivasan & Dancers (New York), ‘Being Becoming’

Program subject to change.

Battery Dance Festival

New York City’s longest-running free public dance festival was established by Battery Dance as the Downtown Dance Festival in 1982. Originally envisioned and conducted as an “art in the workplace” series, the festival brought hundreds of free noontime dance performances to lower Manhattan public spaces including South Street Seaport, One Chase Plaza, City Hall and for many years, the World Trade Center Plaza.  When Superstorm Sandy flooded lower Manhattan in 2012, Battery Park City Authority offered Robert F. Wagner Jr. Park as an alternative site and the Festival refashioned itself into a nighttime event beginning in 2013.  With the need to conduct an extensive resiliency plan, Wagner Park was decommissioned in 2023 and the Festival relocated again, this time to the lawn at Rockefeller Park where it continues this year. Learn more at batterydance.org/battery-dance-festival.

Battery Dance

Founded by Jonathan Hollander in 1976 in lower Manhattan, Battery Dance now serves as one of America’s leading cultural ambassadors, connecting the world through dance. With its exceptional team of dancers who also serve as teaching artists and choreographers, the Company pursues artistic excellence and social relevance, creating vibrant new works, performing on the world’s stages, presenting dance in public spaces, serving the field of dance with low-cost studios in its home in Tribeca and teaching people of all ages with special attention to the disadvantaged and areas of conflict.

Battery Dance is committed to enhancing the cultural vibrancy of its home community in New York City, extending programming throughout the U.S., and building bridges worldwide through international cultural exchange with programs in 75 countries to date. Learn more at  batterydance.org

(Mabel Pais writes on The Arts and Entertainment, Social Issues, Spirituality, Education, Business, Health and Wellness, and Cuisine)