The Dance Gallery Festival will return for their 11th annual New York performance showcase, Friday, November 3 at Gelsey Kirkland Arts Center, 29 Jay St. in Brooklyn, and on November 4-5 at the Ailey Citigroup Theater, 405 W 55th Street, NYC with twenty-five artists in a weekend of groundbreaking work performed in three distinct and separate programs.

The Dance Gallery Festival was established in 2007 to mentor upcoming national and international choreographic talent with performance opportunities and residencies. The 2017 NYC Festival weekend, which will include choreography by Alvin Ailey dancer Sean Aaron Carmon, Rohan Bhargava/Rovaco Dance (NYC) and Nicole von Arx/NVA & Guests (New York, Switzerland), will push the boundaries of modern and contemporary dance, cultivate artistry and create a performance vehicle to help support the growth of dance companies. *Full lineup below.

Under the guidance of Astrid von Ussar, Festival Artistic Director and co-founder, The Dance Gallery Festival serves to mentor hundreds of artists seeking to establish a foothold in a business with few resources and much competition. Over 300 emerging and established choreographers have participated in the Dance Gallery Festival since its founding in 2007, with more than twenty-five works commissioned. Many Festival alumni have gone on to perform at Jacob’s Pillow, the Joyce Theater, international venues and national television Video.

“This year the Festival is expanding,” said Ms. von Ussar. “Level UP artists are now receiving artist fees in support of the creation of new work. Additional residencies are in process via our new, expanded university partnerships.

“In addition, for the first time this year, dancers participated in a residency program (Sept., 2017) with workshops and performances, in coordination with the Catskills Arts Society in Livingston Manor, New York. It’s so wonderful to see further opportunities arise for Dance Gallery participating artists as the Festival continues to grow,” she said.

In 2009, The Dance Gallery partnered with Sam Houston State University in Huntsville, Texas, offering paid guest artist residencies to select participating companies. The University’s one-week residencies include the opportunity to choreograph new work on Sam Houston’s upper-level students, as well as teach classes in technique and choreography. A juried panel comprised of Sam Houston faculty and area artists select the resident artists. The Texas portion of The Dance Gallery Program this year will take place October 27 and 28 at Sam Houston University Performing Arts Center (7:30pm).

The Dance Gallery Festival NYC
November 3-5
Gelsey Kirkland Arts Center AND Ailey Citigroup Theater
Tickets $20-$25 – http://www.dancegalleryfestival.com/tickets