Oct. 4, 2016 By Hannah Wulkan
Almost 30 local dance groups will be boogying in to Long Island City later this month.
The Queensboro Dance Festival is returning for its third year, gathering only Queens-based dance groups together for a week of performances.
The festival, which will run from October 18 to 23 at the Secret Theatre (44-02 23rd Street), was founded by LIC-based choreographer Karesia Batan three years ago, aiming to bring together performers from all over the borough.
“The mission is to strengthen the dance identity in Queens and to bring the local community together to garner a stronger appreciation for Queens-based dance,” Batan said.
She added that the performances will represent both cultural and classical dance styles, ranging from traditional ballet, jazz, tap, and modern type dances to culturally influenced dances including Latin, Indian, Chinese, and many more.
Batan has lived in LIC for nearly 10 years, and always found it difficult to find other Queens-based choreographers. She would travel to Manhattan or Brooklyn to find that community.
“I found that it was really hard to find my local community in borough, so I decided to create a platform where I could find other choreographers, share ideas, and see what other Queens-based artists were creating,” she said.
The festival will bring together 28 dance troupes, with each performing between one and three times throughout the week, depending on availability. Each group was chosen through an application process that Batan said primarily focused on three things: being a Queens based group, high production quality, and representing a wide range of dance types in order to “give an accurate slice of what Queens dance is looking like.”
Batan said that a big focus for the future will be promoting the festival and dance throughout the borough, and that this year various dance groups will be doing outdoor performances around town leading up to the festival to engage the public.
The festival will also be hosting meet-and-greets, events at Queens businesses and arts institutions, and free dance classes leading up to the festival.
To purchase tickets and learn more about the festival, visit the website at www.queensborodancefestival.com.
The full list of participating companies is:
- Barbara Mahler
- Jessica Feng Performance Company
- Q&A Productions
- Ezra Goh
- #taplife
- Cole Collective
- Ella Rosewood Dance
- LVCID
- NSquared Dance
- Nicolosi and Dancers
- Brandon Welch Creative Projects
- Rastro
- Coopdanza Inc
- KINEMATIK Dance Theater
- Micca
- MEGUS
- Megan Stricker
- SUNPROJECT
- SIA Academy
- The Solettes
- L E M I collective
- Awaken Dance Theater
- Collaborart SIN
- Dance Into Light
- Xiang Xu Dance Theatre
- Dugal Dance Projects
- The Rogue Dancers