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A Postcard from the Directors of A-Y/dancers

As They Prepare for Their Inaugural Season at the Howland Cultural Center in Beacon, NY

A-Y/dancers' Inaugural Season at the Howland Cultural Center in Beacon, NY

October 13-14, 2018; 8PM

Tickets: https://aydancers.brownpapertickets.com/

Hello, from the studio! As the directors of A-Y/dancers, Sienna Blaw, Claire Deane, and Erin Landers, we’d like share a sneak peek of our first evening-length concert at the Howland Cultural Center in Beacon, NY on October 13-14. It’s a program that includes three repertory works: MinEvent by Merce Cunningham, Of The Earth Far Below by Doug Varone, and a new work by Hannah Garner’s 2nd Best Dance Company.

A-Y/dancers aims to share professional modern and contemporary dance through performances and public educational programs around the Hudson Valley for audiences from Albany to Yonkers (A-Y) and beyond. With this first program we wanted to share the work of three of our favorite choreographers who represent distinct generations of modern dance. This unique program gives the audience, one who may not be familiar with the art form, a chance to understand the legacy and continuity of concert dance.

Umi Akiyoshi Photography

We also founded this company to create opportunities for versatile, highly-trained dancers. We are interested in the repertory company model, because it affords us and our guest dancers to explore a range of approaches and styles of movement. We’ve been lucky to invite fantastic dancers on as guest artists for our inaugural season. They include Jacqueline Calle, Piper Dye, Emily Kessler, Paulina Meneses, Madeline Robertson, and Lauren Twomley. It’s been a privilege working alongside them.

Umi Akiyoshi Photography

A highlight this season was working with Jean Freebury of the Merce Cunningham Trust and Hollis Bartlett of Doug Varone and Dancers. They both have such a wealth of knowledge to share. Since we’re performing three pieces from distinct time periods, it was invaluable to spend time with them, two stagers who understand their respective repertoire and style with such depth.

Umi Akiyoshi Photography

We’ve felt so supported by our dance colleagues, mentors, and the community in Beacon as we embark on solidifying our purpose and mission. We are humbled to continue the legacy of artists that have come before us, and the chance to elevate new choreographers whose work we believe in. Above all, we want to share the beauty of dance with audiences of all kinds.

We have this small sentiment that we keep coming back to, that sums up our efforts as a company and what we hope to create:

Dance from then to dance for now. From them to us, from us for you.