The Long Island City-based KINEMATIK Dance Theater presents the first INSITU SiteSpecific Dance Festival, that will transform the Western Queens waterfront into one big, multi-faceted stage over the weekend of July 8-9, from noon to 7 pm on both days.
Organized by KINEMATIK Executive Director Svea Schneider with the support of NYC Parks, NYS Parks and Socrates Sculpture Park, the outdoor extravaganza is free and open to the public, offering audiences, residents and dance lovers a fresh and exciting way to experience dance in public spaces.
The diverse lineup features 24 NYC-based acclaimed and emerging contemporary and urban companies that will twirl around benches, swing through playgrounds, bounce on sidewalks and breakdance in tight spaces. Other sites include a ferry landing, piers, shorelines, railways, picnic tables, walkways, promenades and more. Performances range from solos, duos and quartets to group works with casts as large as 35 dancers. Area residents who participated in a three-month community dance workshop, cohosted by Jacob A. Riis Neighborhood Settlement at Queensbridge Housing Community, will also perform in the festival.
The performances will take place at various sites in Hunters Point South Park, Gantry Plaza State Park, Queensbridge Park and Socrates Sculpture Park. Audiences will be led through continuous dance performances several times throughout the day, setting up a chain of dynamic and immersive performances throughout the four parks. At times, the audiences will become part of the action.
There are three performance rounds per park, with the first ones kicking off at 12 PM at Hunters Point Park, Gantry Plaza State Park and Socrates Park, followed by Queensbridge Park at 2 PM. Audiences will be able to walk, bike, kayak and take advantage of a special LYFT discount to travel from venues. A festival map, with exact performance times and locations, will be available at each park as well as online at insitudancefestival.com.