92Y Presents Michelle Dorrance, Dormeshia & Guests
Company:
92Y
The 92nd Street Y Harkness Dance Center’s 2021-22 Mainstage Series continues on Thursday, December 16 with Michelle Dorrance, Dormeshia & Guests. It’s billed as an evening of tap but that understated description is unlikely to adequately cover what’s in store. In addition to solo turns by the headliners, Dormeshia and Michelle will also "pass the mic" to tap dance soloists of the next generation. We can safely predict unparalleled artistry, surprises and a once-in-a-lifetime opportunity to see these visionary dancer-musicians open up improvisationally in a shared evening together. Featuring tap dancers Elizabeth Burke, Christina Carminucci, Leonardo Sandoval and more TBA, the evening will be accompanied by the exceptional artistry of Detroit-based jazz pianist, Michael Jellick. Join us for an evening of live music, rhythmic sophistication at its finest, and a chance to see the tap world’s current superstars sharing the stage with some of the next generation's brightest new voices.
In Person Performance Thursday, December 16, 8 pm ET
$30 General Admission $10 Students
Streaming Friday, December 17, noon ET – Sunday, December 19, midnight ET - $15
Michelle Dorrance is a New York City-based tap dancer, choreographer, director, teacher, musician, and Artistic Director of Dorrance Dance. Mentored by Gene Medler (North Carolina Youth Tap Ensemble), she studied under many of the last hoofers of the jazz era. Career highlights include: STOMP, Derick Grant’s Imagine Tap!, Jason Samuels Smith’s Charlie’s Angels/Chasing the Bird, Ayodele Casel’s Diary of a Tap Dancer, Mable Lee’s Dancing Ladies, and playing the bass with indie-pop sensation Darwin Deez. Company work includes: Savion Glover’s Ti Dii, Manhattan Tap, Barbara Duffy and Co., JazzTap Ensemble, and Rumba Tap. Solo work ranges from The Late Show with Stephen Colbert to commissions for the Martha Graham Dance Company and American Ballet Theatre to her 2021 choreographic Broadway debut with James Lapine's Flying Over Sunset. A 2018 Doris Duke Artist, 2017 Ford Foundation Art of Change Fellow, and 2015 MacArthur Fellow, Michelle has been acknowledged and supported by United States Artists, The Joyce Theater, New York City Center, the Alpert Awards, Jacob’s Pillow, Princess Grace Foundation-USA, The Field, The Yard, American Tap Dance Foundation, Crain's New York, and the Bessie Awards. Dorrance holds a B.A. from New York University, is an Artistic Associate at The Juilliard School, is a Co-Director at the School at Jacob's Pillow's Tap Program with Dormeshia, and is a Capezio Athlete.
Dormeshia is a 2021 Doris Duke Artist, two-time Bessie Award winner (as a performer and choreographer), a Princess Grace Award winner, Jacob’s Pillow Dance Award recipient, and an Astaire Award winner for Best Female Performer in Broadway’s After Midnight. Additional Broadway credits include Black and Blue and Bring In Da’Noise, Bring In Da’Funk. Dormeshia was integral to Noise/Funk’s International Tour (dance captain/principal) and performed as special guest at International Jazz Day featuring the legendary Al Jarreau and Dee Dee Bridgewater. Choreography credits include Michael Jackson’s Rock My World, The Blues Project (co-choreographer/creator), and Jacob’s Pillow debut of And Still You Must Swing (creator/co-choreographer), The New York Times’ “The Best of Dance for 2016,” as well as “Best of Dance for 2019” after its NY debut at The Joyce. As a creator and artistic director, some of her community projects include Tap Family Reunion, “Ladies in the Shoe” Tap Conference, and the Jacob’s Pillow Tap Program. She is also a featured dancer in the Forever Collection of United States Postage Stamps celebrating tap dance. With over 30 years touring the world, she also spent 11 years as Michael Jackson’s tap instructor.
GUESTS:
Elizabeth Burke is a founding member and Dance Captain of Dorrance Dance who spent eleven years under the direction of her mentor, Gene Medler, in the North Carolina Youth Tap Ensemble. She is an alumna of the School at Jacob's Pillow and Marymount Manhattan College. Other performance credits include work with Bessie Award winner Nicholas Van Young's SoundMovement and the American Dance Festival alongside Luke Hickey. She has been described as "sinuous and sizzling" and a "deft and impassioned" dancer. (IndyWeek; The New York Times)
Christina Carminucci, born and raised in NJ, is a NYC based tap dancer. In her youth, she trained locally as a multidisciplinary dancer, but sought out further tap instruction at BDC, TCYE, and STEPS. While earning her BBA in Arts and Entertainment Management at Pace University, Christina was fortunate to study extensively under the mentorship of Derick K Grant. The 2014 Jacob’s Pillow Tap Program alumna has since been performing throughout NYC and around the world. Passionate about sharing her love of the dance, she teaches regularly at STEPS and produces events for the community.
Brazilian tap dancer and choreographer Leonardo Sandoval is renowned for blending America’s great tap tradition with Brazil’s rich rhythmic and musical heritage. A true dancer-musician, he is one of Dance Magazine’s “25 To Watch” for 2021 and the recipient of a 2022 Vilcek Foundation Prize for Creative Promise. In 2015, with composer Gregory Richardson, he founded Music From The Sole, a tap dance and live music company that has appeared at venues like Jacob’s Pillow, Lincoln Center, The Yard, and Works & Process at the Guggenheim. He has been a core member of Dorrance Dance since 2014.
Michael L. Jellick, born in New Delhi, India, and raised in Detroit, MI, has become a mainstay on the Detroit jazz scene and beyond. A well sought-after pianist, he has had the pleasure of playing with such greats as Bobby McFerrin, Common, Christian McBride, Sheila Jordan, Ingrid Jensen, James Carter, as well as a versatile array of other notable artists. He can be heard on the Blue Note Records release Detroit Jazz City and loves being immersed in his equal love of teaching, composing and arranging.
Additional guests TBA.
The Mainstage Series continues:
Harkness Dance Center Artists in Residence
BAYE & ASA and PASSION FRUIT DANCE COMPANY
Amadi "Baye" Washington & Sam "Asa" Pratt; Tatiana Desardouin, Lauriane Ogay, and Mai Lê Hô
In Person – Thu, Feb 24, 8 pm, $30 general admission / $10 student
Streaming – Fri, Feb 25, noon ET – Sun, Feb 27, midnight ET, $15
Artists in Residence, Baye & Asa and Passion Fruit Dance Company present their dynamic choreographic styles in tandem, showcasing celebrated past works.
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
MASKS MUST BE WORN BY EVERYONE over the age of 2, regardless of vaccination status. ADULTS AND CHILDREN AGE 12+ MUST SHOW PROOF OF VACCINATION UPON ARRIVAL AT 92Y. THANK YOU for doing your part in helping to keep everyone in our community safe.
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