Festival of New Dance

Festival of New Dance is an annual contemporary dance festival presenting premieres, commissions, and international collaborations in New York City, with satellite events in Brooklyn, Manhattan, and occasional touring to Los Angeles, Chicago, and San Francisco. Founded in 1985 during a period of growth in postmodern dance and contact improvisation, the festival has hosted works connected to institutions such as Judson Church, Martha Graham Center of Contemporary Dance, and Nederlands Dans Theater. It serves as a bridge between experimental platforms like The Kitchen and major houses such as Lincoln Center and Joyce Theater.

History

The festival emerged amid debates involving Merce Cunningham, Trisha Brown, Paul Taylor, Yvonne Rainer, and proponents from Dance Theater Workshop and New York Live Arts. Early seasons featured collaborations influenced by the aesthetics of Graham Technique, Limon Technique, and choreographers affiliated with White Oak Dance Project, Alvin Ailey American Dance Theater, and Batsheva Dance Company. Programming reflected networks including National Endowment for the Arts, Sundance Institute, American Dance Festival, and presenters like Jacob's Pillow Dance Festival and Spoleto Festival USA. Over decades the festival intersected with initiatives by Brooklyn Academy of Music, Museum of Contemporary Art Chicago, Tate Modern, Sadler's Wells, and Sydney Dance Company exchanges.

Programming and Commissions

Seasonal programs commission choreographers associated with Wayne McGregor, William Forsythe, Pina Bausch, Akram Khan, and emerging artists from Martha Graham School, London Contemporary Dance School, and Hochschule für Musik und Tanz Köln. The festival partners with funders such as Andrew W. Mellon Foundation, MacArthur Foundation, Ford Foundation, and residencies at Baryshnikov Arts Center, American Repertory Theater, The Actors Studio, and Brooklyn Conservatory of Music. Curatorial collaborations include curators from MoMA, Guggenheim Museum, Whitney Museum of American Art, and presenters from Performa, PROTOCOL, and Danspace Project. Cross-disciplinary commissions have involved composers from Bang on a Can, visual artists from Robert Rauschenberg Foundation, filmmakers from Sundance Film Festival, and designers linked to Costume Institute and Royal Opera House.

Notable Artists and Performances

Notable participants include companies and individuals such as Merce Cunningham Dance Company, Alvin Ailey American Dance Theater, Paul Taylor Dance Company, Pina Bausch Tanztheater Wuppertal, Batsheva Ensemble, Trisha Brown Company, Martha Graham Dance Company, Wayne McGregor Random Dance, William Forsythe/Frankfurt Ballet, Akram Khan Company, Anna Halprin, Mark Morris Dance Group, Eiko & Koma, Lucinda Childs, Ohad Naharin, Crystal Pite, Sidi Larbi Cherkaoui, Grahamstown Festival affiliates, and emerging choreographers from Experimental Dance Collective and New Dance Alliance. Landmark premieres included reconstructions influenced by Merce Cunningham's Roaratorio, reinterpretations referencing Rite of Spring productions, and multimedia pieces co-created with artists from Meredith Monk, Philip Glass, Steve Reich, John Cage, and Arvo Pärt. Guest collaborators have included designers and composers tied to Vivienne Westwood, Anish Kapoor, David Hockney, Aleksandr Rodchenko, and directors from Robert Wilson and Peter Sellars.

Venues and Touring

Primary venues have included Joyce Theater, St. Ann's Warehouse, New Victory Theater, Apollo Theater, BAM Harvey Theater, New York City Center, Carnegie Hall (Zankel Hall), and experimental spaces such as Danspace Project at St. Mark's Church, The Kitchen, HERE Arts Center, and Judson Memorial Church. International touring brought programs to houses including Sadler's Wells Theatre, Tate Modern, Palais Garnier, Kunstfest Weimar, Festival d'Avignon, Edinburgh International Festival, Montreal's Place des Arts, Tokyo Metropolitan Theatre, National Centre for the Performing Arts (India), and Shanghai Grand Theatre. Partnerships enabled exchanges with festivals like Jacob's Pillow Dance Festival, Helsinki Festival, Vail Dance Festival, Bregenz Festival, and Venice Biennale.

Awards and Recognition

The festival and its artists received support and awards from bodies such as the MacArthur Fellows Program, Pulitzer Prize for Music, Tony Awards, Bessie Awards, Laurence Olivier Awards, National Medal of Arts, and fellowships from Rockefeller Foundation, Guggenheim Fellowship, Dorfman Award, and Princess Grace Foundation. Institutional honors included citations from United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization, designation by New York State Council on the Arts, and partnerships recognized by European Cultural Foundation and Asia-Europe Foundation. Retrospectives and archives are held in collections at New York Public Library for the Performing Arts, Library of Congress, Museum of Modern Art, and Dance Heritage Coalition.

Category:Contemporary dance festivals