Make Yourself Uncomfortable

Make Yourself Uncomfortable

Important Terminology

Important Terminology

The Truth of the Body

The Truth of the Body

Rangoon, Burma: Creating a stage on a basketball court

Rangoon, Burma: Creating a stage on a basketball court
A dozen workmen, teak wood, rubber cushioning, linoleum flooring can combine to make a professional-quality stage on an outdoor basketball court!

Pre-tour Planning

Pre-tour Planning
Going through the day-to-day with Aviva Geismar and the teaching artists from Drastic Action and Battery Dance Company

Burma - working with FSN's

Burma - working with FSN's
Nyi Nyi was one of the terrific Foreign Service Nationals at US Embassies overseas who have made our projects go. Here he is shepherding us at the airport in Rangoon.

Luggage

Luggage
I recommend Fibrecases -- these were purchased a dozen years ago, and yes, they look like it, but they've held up and they don't attract pilfering because they look so distressed!

380 Broadway, 2003

380 Broadway, 2003
Tomek Wygoda, whom we met through the Silesian Dance Theatre in Poland, came to New York to work on a solo with Jonathan. This piece was ultimately performance in Krakow at the European Conference on Tolerance with live accompaniment by the Cracow Klezmer Band.

Phnom Penh, Cambodia, 2006

Phnom Penh, Cambodia, 2006
Working with wonderful dancers from the Amrita Performing Arts, we tried out our newly minted Dancing to Connect project. Fred Frumberg and Kang Rithsal (seen in the yellow shirt) trusted us and facilitated our visit. Who knew that the King would return from Paris especially to see the performance??

Opera House, U.B., Mongolia 2008

Opera House, U.B., Mongolia 2008
Carmen and Mayuna outside the opera house. From the outside, the treacherous conditions are not visible (this is the place with the guttered stage floor.)

Waldorf & Waldkirch Schools, Freiburg, Germany, 2008

Waldorf & Waldkirch Schools, Freiburg, Germany, 2008
Carmen is working with visually disabled students in a Dancing to Connect workshop that brought them together with students from a Waldorf School.

Theater Freiburg, Germany, 2008

Theater Freiburg, Germany, 2008
No one could quite believe that students from 3 different schools could merge into a functioning team so fast as these kids did in their Dancing to Connect workshop with Sean and Mayuna

Beijing, 2008

Beijing, 2008
Master Class at the Chinese University of Nationalities, there's nothing like a little bit of humor to warm up the situation (Tadej is probably indicating that the dancers should get their weight forward, or else....)

Mongolia - 2008

Mongolia - 2008
Blazing Saddles? No - just our one day off in Mongolia with Tadej, Bafana, Carmen & Mayuna

380 Broadway - where it all begins and ends

380 Broadway - where it all begins and ends
From L to R: Carmen Nicole, Tadej Brdnik, Bafana Matea, Sean Scantlebury, Jonathan Hollander, Robin Cantrell, Mayuna Shimizu - this was the composition of our team as we prepared for the 2008 Asia Tour. Our new dancer Mira Cook and our production designers Barry Steele, David Bengali and G. Ben Swope are not pictured here.

Lucknow, India - 1997

Lucknow, India - 1997
This is a much more elegant version of the iron that was proffered by the humble gentleman backstage in Lucknow, but you get the idea!

Freiburg, Germany - 2006

Freiburg, Germany - 2006
DtC is hard work but fun too, bridging generations, backgrounds and transcending language barriers.

Nishinomiya, Japan - 2006

Nishinomiya, Japan - 2006
For its performance at Hyogo Performing Arts Center, BDC teamed up with Japanese duo-pianists and a choir, making the performance truly international and guaranteeing a full house

Taipei, Taiwan - 2006

Taipei, Taiwan - 2006
As part of its 2006 tour of Taiwan, which was anchored by a performance at the Taipei Arts Festival, Jonathan lectured to a group of corporate executives on Corporate Social Responsibility as it pertains to support of the arts. Adding an element such as this within an arts tour broadened the company's outreach and helped implant new ideas of corporate volunteerism, the importance of in-kind contributions and other aspects of corporate support utilizing BDC as a model.

Taipei, Taiwan - 2006

Taipei, Taiwan - 2006
Running a choreography workshop for the teaching staff of Cloud Gate Dance School cemented a relationship with Taiwan's leading contemporary dance company, adding content and depth to BDC's program in Taipei. The Company was invited to visit a rehearsal of Lin Hwai Min's new choreography and enjoyed a reunion with Bula Pagarlava and Nai-Yu Kuo, two dancers who had performed with BDC and who had moved up the ladder with Cloud Gate. ,

Freiburg, Germany - Dancing to Connect 2007

Freiburg, Germany - Dancing to Connect 2007
Tapping into the well-springs of students' creativity, we have learned over the past 6 years and across many countries that high school students, boys and girls, can find joy, build teams, open up new channels of communication and expression through dance. Most of these students had never set foot in a modern dance class, and yet their imaginations and explorations were unbounded.

Cleaning Costumes in Ulaanbaatar, 2008

Cleaning Costumes in Ulaanbaatar, 2008
Dealing with sweaty costumes on a long, multi-country tour is a huge challenge. Bringing a case of woolite and lots of plastic hangers is one way to deal with it. But sometimes the weather and conditions (and timing) are such that there is no opportunity to wash and dry before it is time to pack and go. And, if you are foolish enough to have some costumes that require dry cleaning (I am), then the problem is further compounded. And dry cleaning at a 5-star hotel is not advised unless you have a pocket full of cash that you don't mind spending. I was delighted to find a superb dry cleaner in Ulaanbaatar, Mongolia. We couldn't understand how there could be enough business in this very poor country to sustain such a thriving operation, but we certainly kept them busy for a day or so!

New York City - Downtown Dance Festival, August, 2006

New York City - Downtown Dance Festival, August, 2006
International Cultural Engagement is not a one-way endeavor. The fact that BDC produces New York City's longest-running outdoor dance festival gives us a wonderful public platform for presenting dance from around the world. Ocean of Light was the brainchild of Sanjay Doddamani, bringing together dancers from New Orleans with those from South Asia, in a cross-cultural production that recognized the anniversary of Katrina and the Asian Tsunami.

Poznan, Poland; Malta Festival, 2002

Poznan, Poland; Malta Festival, 2002
Just as friends lead one to other friends, and a network builds, international cultural engagement often thrives on individual partnerships, relationships, mutual respect. Such is the case with Battery Dance Company and Silesian Dance Theater of Poland. Jonathan met Jacek Luminski, Artistic Director of SDT in 2004, introduced by a mutual friend, Fulbright Senior Scholar and theater professor Juliusz Tyszka of the Adam Mickiewicz University in Poznan. The fruits of these relationships includes performances by SDT in New York, hosted by BDC; performances by BDC in Poland, hosted by SDT and the Malta Festival in Poznan which was launched by students of Juliusz', and on and on.

Saturday, February 6, 2010

Battery Dance Company Across the River (Hudson, that is!)

Last week, a new relationship was forged between BDC and MCCC - Mercer County Community College in New Jersey.  BDC Teaching Artists Bafana Matea and Mayuna Shimizu led a combined group of college and performing arts high school students in an abridged 3-day Dancing to Connect workshop.  What resulted was anything but abridged:  an 8 minute original dance piece that highlighted the skills, talents and creativity of the students themselves.  Follow this link for a full report:  http://www.mccc.edu/~humphrew/whatsnew/BDCperformance.htm
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Friday, February 5, 2010

Follow Robin and Sean as they Dance to Connect in Ghana

Update to date from Robin Cantrell:
Today was our first full day of teaching.
The students are absolutely amazing. We packed almost a weeks worth of material into one day since we only have 2 1/2 days to work with them.There are over 30 students....mostly in their late teens and early twenties. Lots of guys.They're extremely focused and well behaved....and they LOVE TO DANCE. After a 4-hour morning in 90 degree weather, most of them danced through their lunch break.
The professors are all very supportive and kind, and Ellen is helpful and lovely.
We had a meeting with the teachers, and discovered that the're expecting a dance performance with new material from all 4 groups.....but don't mind if it's extremely informal.
Sean and I have decided to do uber-mini dancing to connects at 3 other locations next week, and let the students present what they come up with in one day.
If they work as well as the kids we had today, then it could be quite a bit.
I tried to transfer some pics from my camera to this computer in the business center, but it's too old to deal with it, so I'll try on Sean's later tonight.
It's very very hot and humid....everyone (especially Sean) was sweaty and filthy by the end of the day.
but the atmosphere is so positive.
We're having a great time so far.
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Ghana meets Battery Dance Company

BDC Teaching Artists Robin Cantrell and Sean Scantlebury touched down in Accra yesterday and from Ellen Irvine, Cultural Affairs Officer at the U.S. Embassy in Ghana, we received this report: Their flight arrived on time this morning.  We went directly to their hotel, dropped them to rest, then back at 2:00 p.m. to go to the University, where the faculty and members of the Ghana Dance Ensemble and senior students (40-or so) were assembled to meet them.  Following introductions, there was a high-energy welcome performance (Sean and Robin were pulled in at the end and did well despite fatigue from not having slept during the flight).  Following that, we moved to the Department Head’s office to meet the Director of the School of Performing Arts and to review the program plan with faculty members.   Robin and Sean were back at the hotel by 4:30.   Everyone very satisfied and happy and ready to begin tomorrow morning.
Stay tuned for more!  
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Tuesday, February 2, 2010

DTC Sneak Preview!

Washington Irving and Gramercy Arts High School students performed two stunning pieces on Friday, January 29, the culmination of their week-long Dancing to Connect workshop, generously sponsored by Con Edison.  They'll be performing their work for fellow students and members of the community on three separate occasions this month.  Tues.  Feb 9th  -Spring Semester Celebration at 1:00pm   and 1:55pm;  Thurs. Feb 25th (Black History Month Celebration)  1:00pm and 1:55pm and  Friday, Feb 26th  (Gramercy Arts Dance Concert)  6:00pm.  All of the performances take place in the Washington Irving HS auditorium, Irving Place between 16th & 17th Streets (enter through the left-most red door in front of the building).  Identify yourself with Battery Dance Company.  Admission is free!

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Tuesday, December 29, 2009

Happy New Year from Battery Dance!



Dancing to Connect performance by students from Millennium High School (NYC) and Ernst-Reuter-Oberschule (Berlin) at the Winter Garden in lower Manhattan, October, 2009



Photo by Barbara Tennstedt

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Tuesday, December 1, 2009

Upcoming Events

Battery Dance Company is honored to perform on Thursday, December 3, at the fabled Waldorf-Astoria Hotel for Business Council for International Understanding's 25th Annual Gala. Special tributes have been created by the Company and Frank Carlberg Quintet to honor the Dwight D. Eisenhower Global Award recipients Roger Agnelli, President & CEO of Vale S.A. and Charles E. Phillips, Jr., President of Oracle Corporation.
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A Wonderful Postlude to the Dancing to Connect 2009 Program

Upon their return from New York City, the Dancing to Connect students from Ernst-Reuter-Oberschule were invited to perform for Ambassador Murphy and a group of returnees from Embassy-sponsored visits to the U.S. This experience undoubtedly added an indelible memory for all.
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