Multigenerational Dance Company Encourages Healthy Lifestyle Through Choreographed Dance

Dances for a Variable Population (DVP) will present three performances of Revival 2 - an outdoor public dance project that re-imagines the works of celebrated 20th century choreographers, taking place at iconic public spaces in New York City and featuring 50 non-professional senior dancers and seven legendary female dance artists.

In utilizing the founding dance languages of Lester Horton, Alvin Ailey, Martha Graham, Paul Taylor, Helen Tamiris, Daniel Nagrin, Pearl Primus and Katherine Dunham, Revival 2 connects the multi-generational dance company and seven legendary female choreographers - with a lifetime of experience in each technique. Now, as part of DVP's 10th year of free performances in iconic public spaces, the world premiere of Revival 2 will take place along the Western Queens waterfront in Queensbridge Park in Long Island City on Saturday, June 9 at 4pm and at the historical monument Grant's Tomb in Harlem on Saturday, June 16 at 5pm and 7pm.

For Revival 2, Dances For A Variable Population welcomes seven choreographers rooted in American Modern Dance and Broadway; Ellen Graff and Marnie Thomas Wood (Martha Graham Company), Elizabeth Keen (Paul Taylor Dance Company, Helen Tamiris/Daniel Nagrin), Audrey Madison (Charles Moore Dance Theater), Shirley Black Brown Coward (Audelco Award, Black Nativity), Myna Majors (Baba Olatunji Drum and Dancers), and Alice Teirstein (award-winning Young Dancemakers Company). Revival 2 will also feature 50 seniors from DVP's free Movement Speaks programs which take place at over 14 sites across New York City.

In a project of historical and technical exploration, Revival 2 celebrates the past performing careers of these artists and the impact these techniques have had on dance history. Through exploration across dance studios, libraries, senior and recreation centers in Manhattan and Queens, Revival 2 will bring audiences the evolution of the social dance forms of lindy, swing and cha cha, the quirky gestures of Paul Taylor, the relationship between African dance styles and contemporary modern dance, and the emotional nuances of poetry and dance inspired by Martha Graham.

This one-of-a-kind event will be free and open to the public. It will provide diverse audiences an opportunity to see movement distilled from the seminal techniques of legendary geniuses, to see the eloquence of the older brain/older body, and to see older artists create.

Performances will also include a public workshop for adults of all ages and abilities called All Together Dance. Through these workshops, audiences including seniors and differently-abled individuals will dance in ways that are new to them, be stretched physically and intellectually, and gain new experiences of personal mastery.

PROGRAM and VENUE INFORMATION

REVIVAL at Queensbridge Park
Saturday, June 9, 2018
Performance at 4:00 p.m.
ALL TOGETHER DANCE Workshop 5:00 p.m.
Queensbridge Park is located at Queensboro Bridge, 41 Rd., 40 Ave. The event will be held near the multi-purpose courts at the 21st Street entrance at Vernon Blvd, 21st St, Bridge Plaza S. (F train to 21st- Queensbridge & walk three blocks on 41st Ave., Bus: Q102, Q103)

REVIVAL at Grant's Memorial Tomb in Riverside Park - Presented as part of Summer on the Hudson
Saturday, June 16, 2018
Performances at 5:00 p.m. and 7:00 p.m.
ALL TOGETHER DANCE Workshop at 2:00 p.m.
Open Dress Rehearsal Wednesday, June 13, 2018 at 6:30 p.m.
General Grant National Memorial is located in Riverside Park, on the upper west side of Manhattan. The entrance to the mausoleum is between northbound and southbound Riverside Drive, near the intersection of West 122 St. (1 train to 116 St.,Bus: M5, M104 or M4 bus)

ABOUT DANCES FOR A VARIABLE POPULATION
Founded in 2005 by Naomi Goldberg Haas, Dances for a Variable Population (DVP) promotes strong and creative movement among people of all ages and abilities with a focus on seniors. The organization's programming includes: a multigenerational performance company that engages community members as participants and audiences; Movement Speaks and Dances for Seniors, which are free, community-based programs for modest income and culturally underserved older adults, annually serves over 700 seniors; Variable Pop Method Expressive Dance and Fitness classes for adults of all ages, offered year-round; and performance and training opportunities for older professional dancers and choreographers. DVP's site-related performances have been presented in some of New York City's most iconic public spaces, including Times Square, the New York Botanic Garden, Washington Square Park, and the High Line. DVP has also performed at Jacob's Pillow Dance Festival, and internationally in Poland and British Columbia.

The development and performance of Revival 2 has been made possible with support from the Summer On the Hudson and with public funds from the National Endowment for the Arts; the New York State Council on the Arts, a state agency; the New York City Department of Cultural Affairs in partnership with the City Council, and funded in part by Council Members Margaret Chin, Vanessa Gibson, Mark Levine, Bill Perkins, Helen Rosenthal, and Jimmy Van Bramer, Speaker Corey Johnson and the New York City Council; and the New York City Department for the Aging with support from Manhattan Borough President Gale Brewer. Support is also provided by the Alpern Foundation, Jody and John Arnhold, Columbia Community Service, the Mertz Gilmore Foundation, the Fan Fox and Leslie R. Samuels Foundation, Sulica Fund, and the West Harlem Development Corporation.