New York Notebook

September 26, 2011

 

 

Packed Sardines

DanceNOW’s Dancemopolitan festival, a sprawling, festive, messy performance series, welcomes downtown denizens back to the city every fall. Slews of dance artists, young and old, black and white, classical and quirky, descend on various small venues to show snippets of their work. This year, however, it all takes place in a single spot: Joe’s Pub, renovated but still with its famously tiny (8′ x 11′) stage. Watch ZviDance, Sidra Bell, Claire Porter, Hilary Easton, Ellis Wood, and 35 other artists and groups. For a full list, go to dancenownyc.org. Oct. 19–22. —Wendy Perron

 

 

One Nation, (Indi)Visible

Urban Bush Women’s Jawole Willa Jo Zollar and Zimbabwean-born choreographer Nora Chipaumire embark on a great migration this month with the premiere of their collaboration Visible. The multidisciplinary work tells stories of migration, immigration, and what it means to be American through movement, music, and spoken word. To address these themes, Zollar and Chipaumire brought dancers from Jamaica, Holland, Guadalupe, Japan, Burkina-Faso, Missouri, Romania, and Zimbabwe to work together over the past year. Expect to see myths, dreams, ghosts, and epic journeys come to life as these choreographers bring their storytelling to the Harlem Stage Gatehouse Oct. 10–15. www.harlemstage.org. —Emily Theys

 

 

Bessies Overhauled

Anarchy-loving performer Lucy Sexton has been anything but anarchistic in taking the helm of The Bessies (NY Dance and Performance Awards). She’s been downright methodical in overhauling the 27-year-old awards. This month the annual event, co-sponsored by Dance/NYC, takes place in Harlem’s famed Apollo Theater on Oct. 24. But that’s only one big change. Another is that for the first time, the nominees are announced. So we know that Justin Peck, Camille A. Brown, Rashaun Mitchell, and Lance Gries (above) have all been nominated. See the full list—and other big changes—at www.dancenyc.org/dance-nyc/bessies. —W. P.

 


From top: Ying-Ying Shiau and Aaron Carr in
Zoom. Photo by Steven Schreiber, Courtesy DanceNOW; Marguerite Hemmings, from Jamaica. Photo by Michael Strong, Courtesy Harlem Stage; Lance Gries in his Etudes for an Astronaut. Photo by Bart Grietens, Courtesy Gries.