DANCING TO CONNECT, German Edition, Volume IV

Dateline: Dessau -- Our team of 12 has arrived in the former East German city of Dessau which is actually now the joined city of Dessau-Rosslau. The day after a 20-hour journey from New York, Barry Steele, our intrepid production designer and I went to the nearby Wolfen-Bitterfeld (yup, another joined city) where we reconnoitered with the technical crew at the Stadtisches Kulturhaus. Gabi Schuckelt, the wonder woman from the US Consulate Leipzig who coordinated all the details of our project here served as our chauffeur, translator and hospitality manager all rolled into one. As usual, Barry wasted no time in building team-spirit with the tech guys and promising them a full light plot by noon tomorrow. Meanwhile, the dancers were locating the local fitness center, and then were given a walking tour of Dessau by two delightful high school students who had practiced their English and carried out the role of tour guides with aplomb. We all ended up meeting with teachers and principals from all the schools that will participate in Dancing to Connect this week (I think there are at least 8 schools in all, representing 4 different cities). The meeting itself was a delight: Hosted graciously by US Consul General Katherine Brucker and Public Affairs Officer Jim Seward, we dined at the local Brasserie L'Appart and the delicious food and wines made a warm environment in which the orientation process could occur.

Thank you to the Gods of Weather

All the good energy paid off: Saturday's program was delivered in full with no pauses for rain!
The beautiful colors of dancers' costumes against the verdant green London Plane Trees of Battery Park was a sight to behold. Come and join us tomorrow for another day of wonderful dance.

Never mind that rain, we're going on as planned!

Despite the weather report, we're in Battery Park right now setting up the stage for today's Downtown Dance Festival! We hear things are going to clear up after 1pm today, so we may start a bit late. Bring an umbrella and join us for free dance underneath the trees. Today's performers include Eglevsky Ballet, Buglisi Dance Theater, New Chamber Ballet, Carmen Nicole, Naomi Goldberg Haas/Dances For a Variable Population, Figures in Flight, C-3 Tap Co-operative and Vissi Dance Theater.

Changes to the Program

If you're planning on coming to the Festival this Thursday August 20th or Saturday August 22nd, please note that we will be making some last-minute changes to the program!

Unfortunately, due to some unexpected visa issues, Kolkha, the folk ensemble from the Republic of Georgia, will not be participating in this year's Festival.

We'll be announcing the programs for Thursday and Saturday as soon as possible--stay tuned here or follow us on Twitter: www.twitter.com/batterydance

See you Monday!

Festival Schedule Is Here!

The Downtown Dance Festival is only two weeks away! Take a look at our full schedule below.

Monday, August 17th - Friday, August 21st, 12pm – 2pm
Location: Chase Plaza, Nassau Street between Liberty and Pine

Monday August 17
Janaki Rangarajan
Battery Dance Company
Dance China NY

Tuesday August 18
Stefanie Nelson Dance Group
Vissi Dance Theater
Rebecca Kelly Ballet
The Chase Brock Experience

Wednesday August 19
Curated by the Indo-American Arts Council as part of the Erasing Borders Festival of Indian Dance

Thursday August 20
Kolkha

Friday August 21
Jamal Jackson Dance Company
isadoraNOW
C3 Tap Cooperative
Stefanie Nelson Dance Group
Naomi Goldberg Haas/Dances For a Variable Population

Saturday, August 22nd - Sunday, August 23rd 1pm – 4pm
Location: The Lawn at Battery Park, adjacent to State Street at Pearl Street

Saturday August 22
Kolkha
C3 Tap Cooperative
Figures in Flight
Naomi Goldberg Haas/Dances For a Variable Population
Vissi Dance Theater

Sunday August 23
isadoraNOW
Dance China NY
Rebecca Kelly Ballet
Figures in Flight
The Chase Brock Experience
Battery Dance Company
Jamal Jackson Dance Company

Spotlight On: Dance China NY

In the days leading up to the festival, we'll be doing featured posts on each of the 13 participating dance companies, so you can learn more about our talented roster of artists!

Today's featured company is Dance China NY.

As the traditional Chinese dance company in residence at the New York Chinese Cultural Center, Dance China NY's dancers and musicians include "internationally renowned artists from performance stages and academies throughout mainland China, Taiwan and the United States. DCNY's repertoire of traditional and contemporary folk and classical dances weaves a vibrant vision of China's ancient indigenous folk cultures across varied terrains of time and region - legend and reality."

Led by Artistic Director Qi Jiang, this year DCNY will be performing three pieces: Hubei Fan Dance, a traditional Chinese folk dance re-staged by DCNY; Power and Strength, originally performed by Shenyang and re-staged by DCNY; and Of the Dragon, an original piece choreographed by Jiang Qi.

This year marks DCNY's sixth appearance in the Downtown Dance Festival!
Performances are currently scheduled for Monday, August 17th at Chase Plaza and Sunday, August 23rd at Battery Park. After DCNY's performance at Chase Plaza, the company will be leading "Everybody Dance NOW!", our audience participation segment, so if you've ever wanted to try out some traditional Chinese dance, don't miss it!

Important Scheduling Change!

A little bit of unfortunate news on this otherwise lovely Wednesday--due to some unforeseen issues we've been forced to cancel the first weekend of our festival, at Governors Island.

Fear not, though: we're still on for our five weekday performances at Chase Plaza as well as two longer shows underneath the trees in Battery Park.

In other Festival news, we've added Stefanie Nelson Dance Group, isadoraNOW, and Kolkha, a folk group from the Republic of Georgia, to our roster! Kolkha will be flying 28 dancers and staff in from Georgia for two performances, on Thursday August 20th and Saturday August 22nd. They'll be performing a wide array of traditional Georgian folk dances, so don't miss it.

On Wednesday, August 19th we will once again be partnering with the Indo-American Arts Council to host a day of Indian dance as part of their Erasing Borders Festival. Stay tuned here for the list of companies performing that day.

We hope to see you there!