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Robert Mark Dance presents "Dawning"

Company:
Robert Mark Dance

Robert Mark Dance Inaugural New York Season

Dawning

Friday October 28, 2022

Saturday, October 29, 2022

7:30pm

Culture Lab, LIC

5-25 46th Avenue, Long Island City, New York, NY 11101

For Accessibility information, please visit https://www.culturelablic.org/accessibility

Robert Mark Dance presents  its inaugural New York season, Dawning, featuring the premier of Dawned, a new work in collaboration with composer Eric Dietz, underwritten in part by a major grant from  the O’Donnell Green Music and Dance Foundation.

By definition,”dawning is the beginning or first appearance of something; coming into existence,” and for the first time ever, RMD comes together as a company to present an entire evening of work on Oct. 28 & 29, 2022. Produced in partnership with Culture Lab, LIC, Dawning is an evening of dance consisting of Short Stuff, a series of short dances created over the last 5 years and the premier of Dawned.

Dawned  is a multidisciplinary work that investigates the shared experience of how isolation and grief build communities empowered to find new hope. Inspired by the photography of Gregory Crewdson, choreographer Robert Mark Burke and composer Eric Dietz have built a world that focuses on communal bonding through desolation and confinement.   

 

About the Artists:

Choreographer and performer Robert Mark Burke (he/him) has worked with 10 Hairy Legs, Megan Williams Dance Projects, Carolyn Dorfman Dance Company, Matthew Westerby Dance Company, and has toured the historic legacy work of Lucinda Childs internationally, including the 2021 revival of “Dance” at the Joyce Theater. Burke has been a guest choreographer and instructor at Rutgers University, Montclair State University and Rider University. He has taught professional and collegiate workshops both nationally and internationally, including in South Africa and the Cayman Islands. 

 

Robert Mark Dance:

Founded in 2015, Robert Mark Dance is an Astoria- based contemporary dance company that focuses on creating “no nonsense” accessible works that draw on groovy athleticism and human connections to bring narratives to life. Under the direction of Robert Mark Burke, the company  has been presented across the US, including New Jersey Performing Arts Center, Paramount Theater (Boston), South Orange Performing Arts Center, the wild project, Dixon Place, Gibney Dance, Hofstra University, Rutgers University, Rider University, Jersey City Theater Center and Dance New Amsterdam.

Burke’s choreographic accolades include the New Jersey State Council of the Arts Individual Artist Fellowship in Choreography (2020), which has allowed him to continue working with his dancers virtually during the pandemic, theEryc Taylor Emerging Choreography Grant (2017) the Dance on the Lawn Emerging Choreographer Award (under the direction of Charmaine Warren) (2017), the New Jersey Performing Arts Center Jersey (New) Moves Fellowship (2015 and 2017), the 2016 CoLab Arts Space Grant.In 2022, Robert Mark Dance will be presenting its first ever New York Season at Culture Lab in Long Island City. @RobertMarkDance www.RobertMarkDance.org

Robert Mark Dance is a sponsored project of Fractured Atlas, a non-profit arts service organization. Contributions for the charitable purposes of Robert Mark Dance must be made payable to Fractured Atlas only and are tax-deductible to the extent permitted by law.

 

Eric Dietz (Composer) is a composer, lyricist, and writer working in dance theater, musical theater and film. He wrote the scenario and score for The Girl with the Alkaline Eyes, an original science fiction dance-theater thriller (directed and choreographed by Chase Brock, developed at NYU's Center for Ballet and the Arts, with a score commissioned by the O’Donnell-Green Music and Dance Foundation) as well as music and lyrics for Dancing in My Head (a virtual commission by Works & Process at the Guggenheim), both presented by The Chase Brock Experience.

He’s written the book, music, and lyrics for stage musicals Luna & the Gold River Docks, Delirious Berlin, and an adaptation of Aron Ralston’s memoir 127 Hours: Between a Rock and a Hard Place. He’s currently the creative consultant for Edie Brickell’s new musical 38 Minutes.

Upcoming: he’ll make his feature film debut with the original screenplay, Starlite.

 

Dancers:

Derek Crescenti is a performing artist and educator whose performance credits include work with Donald Byrd’s Spectrum Dance Theater, Keigwin + Company, 10 Hairy Legs, The Bang Group, Megan Williams Dance Projects, Daniel Gwirtzman Dance Company, Robert Mark Dance, The Chase Brock Experience, and Mark Morris Dance Group in The Hard Nut. He continues to work with Donald Byrd as a rehearsal assistant and stager most recently during a commission for Alvin Ailey American Dance Theater, and has also staged the work of Larry Keigwin on Ormao Dance Company in Colorado Springs, CO. Derek's own choreography has been presented by the Lehigh Valley Dance Exchange and the Seattle International Dance Festival. He holds a BFA from the University of Michigan and is currently on faculty at The Taylor School in New York City and a Visiting Instructor with the Dance Department at DeSales University.

Monica Gonzalez is a performer who currently resides in Philadelphia, PA. She has worked with Robert Mark Dance since 2016 and has also danced with 10HL Projects, Michael Mao Dance, Lustig Dance Theatre, and more. As a choreographer, she was commissioned in 2015 to create a new work based on Jae Ko’s installation for the Outlet Dance Project’s 11th Annual Festival of Women Choreographers at Grounds for Sculpture. She attended Rutgers University (BFA in Dance, minor in Art History) with a presidential full-academic scholarship and received the Margery Turner Choreography Prize in her senior year. Monica is also a software engineer.

Sarah Hillmon was born and raised in Rochester, NY. There she trained with Garth Fagan, Timothy M. Draper, and was a member of the Rochester City Ballet. She graduated with a BFA in Dance from NYU's Tisch School of the Arts, where she had the privilege of performing works by artists including Sidra Bell, Lucinda Childs, Gus Solomons Jr, and Charles Weidman. While in NYC, Sarah has also performed with Solange Knowles, as well as with a number of dance companies including Lucinda Childs Dance Company, Daniel Gwirtzman Dance Company, DanceBoissiere, Suzanne Beahrs Dance, BodyStories: Teresa Fellion Dance, AMS Project, MATYCHAK and Robert Mark Dance.

Sarah Housepian is from Southern California, she graduated with a BA in Dance from California State University of Fullerton. She was the Distinguished Keynote Speaker on behalf of The Performing Arts Department upon graduation. On the West Coast, she worked with Fuse Modern Dance, BARE Dance Company(CA), and Vision’s Dance Theater; she performed works by Colin Conner and José Limón. In New York, she has worked and continues to work with Battery Dance Company, Mike Esperanza's BARE Dance Company, Yin Yue Dance Company, Erica Essner Performance Co-Op, Indelible Dance, 10 Hairy Legs Projects, NOW Dance Project, Shawn Bible Dance Company, Gabrielle Lamb, and Spark Movement Collective. She has toured domestically as well as internationally in over 10 different countries.

Jared McAboy is from Kent, Washington, where he trained in a variety of styles. He holds a BFA in dance from New York University’s Tisch School of the Arts. Since moving to New York in 2013, he has worked professionally as a dancer for 10 Hairy Legs and performed works of José Limón, Larry Keigwin, Adam Barruch, Yin Yue, and Chase Brock. Along with dancing for Robert Mark Dance, he teaches dance classes within the Tri-State Area.

Allegra Persico, originally from North Carolina, received her BFA in Dance Performance and Choreography from East Carolina University where she received the “Mavis Ray Award for Achievement in Dance Arts” in 2021. During her time there she performed in works choreographed by Merce Cunningham, Andrea Guajardo, John Dixon, David Ingram, Eimile Davis, and Mackenzie Simons. She also completed Trinity Laban Dance Summer School’s Hofesh Shechter repertory workshop (London, UK) and STRUT Dance’s Crystal Pite Master Workshop (Perth, AU) in 2019.

Andy Santana is a Dominican American dance artist from New Jersey. He received his BFA from Rutgers University, completing his studies abroad at The Jerusalem Academy of Music and Dance/Hebrew University. As a freelance artist he has worked for White Wave Dance, The Merce Cunningham Trust, Sally Silvers, Abarukas and Shen Wei Dance Arts. Currently, Santana is involved with Swiss duo Chris Leuenberger/Marcel Schwald on an evening-length performance documentary ‘Touch Isolation’ touring throughout Swiss cantons. Andy teaches barre fitness at Physique57.

Sara Seger, originally from New Jersey, began her dance training at North Jersey School of Dance Arts. Ms. Seger graduated high school from UNCSA, where she performed works by Mark Morris, José Limón, Larry Keigwin and more. In 2011, Ms. Seger joined RIOULT Dance NY and toured nationally and internationally throughout her 10 year tenure. Additionally Sara has danced for Battery Dance Company and has worked as a swing and supplemental dancer for the Mark Morris Dance Group. Other Freelance Credits include: Lincoln Center Institute, Verlezza Dance, Andrew Harper Choreography, and Trainor Dance. Ms. Seger graduated from St. Mary’s College: The LEAP Program in 2020. Sara is thrilled to be performing with Robert Mark Dance and owes everything to her family for supporting her dream.

 

Culture Lab, LIC:

Culture Lab LIC is a 501(c)(3) formed to bring accessible high quality art of all genres to our community, and to support local artists by providing rehearsal, performance, exhibition space, as well as a robust residency program. Culture Lab LIC is dedicated to upholding, equity, diversity and inclusion across all our platforms.

Operating out of a 12,000 square foot art center, Culture Lab LIC hosts two fine art galleries, a 90 seat theatre, classroom space, and an 18,000 square foot outdoor venue, made possible by the generous donation of space from Plaxall Inc. Culture LabLIC is honored to host more arts and cultural programming than any other organization in New York City. Culture Lab LICis more than a venue, it is the heart of Long Island City. Learn more at www.culturelablic.org.