92Y Presents Harkness Dance Center Artists in Residence Baye & Asa and Passion Fruit Dance Company (LIVE + VIRTUAL)
Company:
92Y
The 92nd Street Y Harkness Dance Center's 2021-22 Mainstage Series continues with an evening of performances this season's Artists in Residence, Baye & Asa and Passion Fruit Dance Company.
In Person Performance
Thursday, February 24, 8 pm ET
$30 General Admission, $10 Students.
Streaming
Friday, February 25, noon ET until Sunday, February 27, midnight ET $15
https://www.92y.org/event/baye-and-asa
Baye & Asa first came to 92Y's attention as finalists at the inaugural Future Dance Festival in 2021 with their work John 4:20, selected by Martha Graham Dance Company artistic director Janet Eilber. They were subsequently named one of Dance Magazine's "25 to Watch" for 2022, which noted that "using African forms and hip hop in an expansive view of 'contemporary' dance theater, the pair's choreography avoids falling into any predictable pattern."
Baye & Asa Program Notes
Commercial images promise status, offer solutions to inadequacy, and breed entitlement. Internalized deficiency has created a culture of resentment. Suck it up: a duet confronting the violent fallout of male insecurity and entitlement. This work was commissioned by The Clarice Smith Performing Arts Center for The BlackLight Summit at the University of Maryland. All movement was generated at the 92nd Street Y during our time as Artists in Residence.
"Hip Hop & African dance languages are the foundation of our technique. The rhythms of these techniques inform the way we energetically confront contemporary dance & theatre," comment Amadi 'Baye' Washington and Sam 'Asa' Pratt. "We were born and raised in New York City, and we've known each other since first grade. Through the personal dynamics of our relationship, we address the larger political landscape of our upbringing, struggling to show a reality of violence while communicating a necessity for empathy."
Passion Fruit Dance Company – Tatiana Desardouin, Lauriane Ogay and Mai Lê Hô – sees its mission as promoting the authenticity of street dance and clubbing styles, hip-hop and house cultures and their Black heritage, and exploring different social problems through their dance pieces and artistic practices. Desardouin, the company's founder, artistic director and choreographer, was selected as one of Dance Magazine's 2020 "25 to Watch" and was awarded the 2022 Vilcek Prize for Creative Promise in Dance.
Passion Fruit Dance Company Program Notes
Dance Within Your Dance – an excerpt from Passion Fruit's 2016 piece inviting audiences to connect with the techniques, rhythms and essence of hip-hop and house dance – asks the question: why is the groove not just a simple esthetic and disposable element but the essence of street/club dance styles and a roadmap to social justice through the physical expression of Black culture?
"In Dance Within Your Dance, I invite audiences to connect with the techniques, rhythms, roots, and essence of Hip-Hop and House dance/ culture," comments Tatiana Desardouin. "This work demonstrates how in these dances we develop, struggle, connect, and create our individual and collective identities. The 'groove' is the center of this piece, yet there are two dimensions to DWYD; a dancer's personal exploration of their own groove as well as the groove itself, within the cultural realm of Hip-Hop/ House. I define the 'groove' as a consistent flow of energy through the body, which allows dancers to communicate through music and movement. To me, the groove is the physical and auditory manifestation of Black people's living experience. I am using DWYD as a means to honor and maintain this culture's essence while catalyzing conversations about race."
For credit information, please visit: https://www.92y.org/event/baye-and-asa.
About the 92Y Harkness Dance Center Artists in Residence Program
92Y's Artists in Residence program provides rehearsal space, a stipend and educational resources to support the creation and performance of new works, giving these artists a place to create, explore and share their vision with the Harkness audience. This year's artists have also been teaching in the 92Y School of Dance, participating in programs for K-12 students through 92Y's Young Leaders initiative and working with dance educators through the Dance Education Lab (DEL).
The Mainstage Series continues:
CALEB TEICHER & CONRAD TAO
In Person – Thu, Mar 3, 8 pm, $30 general admission / $10 student
Streaming – Fri, Mar 4, noon ET – Sun, Mar 6, midnight ET, $15
Caleb Teicher and Conrad Tao present the New York City premiere of their collaborative duet Counterpoint. The duo explore the dichotomy of their different perspectives and artistic practices and how together they can expand their individual expressive capacity through a collective experience. Harmonic, rhythmic, and theatrical counterpoint between the artists seeks to map out constellations linking their disparate traditions, driving an opening of the hearts and imaginations of the audience. The stylistically diverse music of Counterpoint includes the Arias from Bach's Goldberg Variations, Art Tatum's demented stride piano, Arnold Schoenberg's ironic take on the Viennese waltz, a delicate miniature from Tao and Teicher's More Forever, and threading it all together, a work that bridges traditions, approaches, and styles — Gershwin's Rhapsody in Blue. Tao and Teicher's earlier work, More Forever, is a Bessie Award-winning, New York Times critic's pick which was lauded for "constantly extend[ing] the sonic aspects of dance."
WITH CARE — Created by Bobbi Jene Smith in collaboration with Keir GoGwilt
Bobbi Jene Smith (dancer), Or Schraiber (dancer), Keir GoGwilt (violinist), and Miranda Cuckson (violinist)
In Person – Thu, Apr 28, 8 pm, $30 general admission / $10 student
Streaming – Fri, Apr 29, noon ET – Sun, May 1, midnight ET, $15
Join us for the New York City premiere of AMOC's With Care, created by Bobbi Jene Smith in collaboration with Keir GoGwilt.
FUTURE DANCE FESTIVAL
In Person – Thu, May 26, 8 pm, $30 general admission / $10 student
Streaming – Fri, May 27, noon ET – Sun, May 29 midnight ET, $15
The Future Dance Festival builds on 92Y's rich legacy of presenting the work of pioneering dance artists who propel the art form forward.
JONATHAN FREDRICKSON
In Person – Thu, Jun 23, 8 pm, $30 general admission / $10 student
Streaming – Fri, Jun 24, noon ET – Sun, Jun 26, midnight ET, $15
Jonathan Fredrickson, of Tanztheater Wuppertal, presents an evening length world premiere created specifically for the Kaufmann Concert Hall space.
92Y Health & Safety Protocol
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