The American Dance Guild Festival Honors Modern Dance Innovators With 33 Choreographers Over Four Days

The American Dance Guild Festival 2019, Shaping the Now: Dance in Uncertain Times, will honor dance educator and advocate Jody Gottfried Arnhold and choreographic luminaries Gus Solomons jr and Abdel R. Salaam, co-founder and director of Forces of Nature Dance Theater. There will be four days of performances by thirty-three contemporary choreographers from across the United States. The Festival will take place October 3 through October 6 at the Ailey Citigroup Theater, 405 West 55th Street, in New York City. The 2019 American Dance Guild Festival is dedicated to past ADG President Muriel Manings. *Full lineup below.

This year the Guild pays tribute to our American dance heritage. Jody Gottfried Arnhold, whose film PS Dance! offers a glimpse of her groundbreaking Dance Education Laboratory (DEL) which has brought modern dance into the public school system for the past 25 years. Jody is also recognized for her generous philanthropy to dance. The indomitable Gus Solomons jr, dancer, choreographer, teacher, writer - going strong for 6 decades! - brings a new work to the stage titled PS1 Redone. Abdel R. Salaam will present a medley of works to the Festival, including a solo dedicated to his mother, titled E.R., and A Question of Modesty with his company Forces of Nature Dance Theater who have been integrating modern and African aesthetics since 1981.

The Festival's 33 participating artists represent a wide variety of aesthetic and cultural voices reflecting the broad spectrum of American dance life and the diverse character of dance today. This year's theme was chosen in response to what many agree is a stressful time in our national political life. The programs feature works by mature as well as emerging artists.

Highlights include Amy Marshall Dance Company on opening night, Oct. 3; the work of Elizabeth Keen and a tango piece by Rebecca Nettl-Fiol, danced superbly by two men on Fri., Oct. 4; choreography by Dawn Marie Bazemore reflecting violence against black men, and Marie Baker Lee's refined sensuous dancing of Nancy Zendora's choreography on Saturday, Oct. 5. The program on Sunday, October 6 will include a brilliant dance film by Ara Fitzgerald and a work by Margie Gillis, winner of ADG Award of Distinction in Choreography in 2004.
Lifetime Achievement Awards will be presented to the three Festival honorees on opening night, October 3. Jacob's Pillow will also be acknowledged for their ongoing collaboration with the Guild in providing a scholarship for young dancers each summer. The Thursday October 3 opening night performance will be followed by a gala reception.

"The American Dance Guild holds a unique position as both a promoter of the new and preserver of the living history of modern dance as an art form," said Gloria McLean, President of the American Dance Guild. "Each year, the Festival honors at least two master choreographers with performances of their work alongside emerging and mid-career choreographers ranging from modern to post-modern to performance art to cultural hybrids," she said. "This year's festival includes contemporary dance artists of diverse backgrounds, ages and aesthetics throughout the United States. ADG is dedicated to presenting the range and diversity of expression in current dance art practice and to remembering our historical modern dance roots."
THE AMERICAN DANCE GUILD 2019 PERFORMANCE FESTIVAL
Shaping the Now: Dance in Uncertain Times
Dedicated to past ADG President: Muriel Manings

THURSDAY THROUGH SUNDAY, OCTOBER 3-6
Thursday, Oct. 3 at 7:30pm; Friday, Oct. 4 and Saturday Oct. 5 at 8pm; Sunday, October 6 at 7pm.
THE AILEY CITIGROUP THEATER
The Joan Weill Center for Dance
405 W. 55th Street at 9th Avenue
New York, NY 10019

TICKETS: https://www.brownpapertickets.com/event/4320791 or by phone 1-800-838-3006 ext.#1. Prices range from $10 to $25. Festival Pass $75. Discounts are available for students, seniors, ADG members, and groups. Tickets will also be available at the box office one hour prior to curtain.

*FESTIVAL LINEUP (not in performance order and subject to change)

THURSDAY October 3 at 7:30pm:
2019 Achievement Award Presentation and Gala Reception to Follow Performance
Film Tribute to Muriel Manings, Joy-Marie Thompson, Cecelia Stockli, Boram Yi, Amy Marshall, Jody Gottfried Arnhold, Gus Solomons jr, ABDEL R. SALAAM/Forces of Nature.

FRIDAY, October 4 at 8pm:
Rebecca Nettl-Fiol, Kaoru Ikeda, Enzo Celli, Elizabeth Keen, Anna Hooper, Amanda Selwyn, Christina Eltvedt, Alison Cook-Beatty, Jeanette Stoner, Sarah Botero, Jody Gottfried Arnhold.

SATURDAY, OCTOBER 5 at 8pm:
Leo Hishikawa, Gloria McLean, Dawn Marie Bazemore, Josh Pacheco, Nijawwon Matthews, Li Chiao-Ping, Zendora/Baker Lee, Janaki Patrik, Sue Bernhard, Gus Solomons jr

SUNDAY October 6 at 7pm:
Meagan Ahern, Jeff Kaplan, Margie Gillis, Hee Ra Yoo, Janis Brenner, Winston Dynamite Brown & Latra Ann Wilson, Ara Fitzgerald, Gregg Hurley, Susan Cherniak, Ashley Elizabeth Daigle, ABDEL R. SALAAM/Forces of Nature

The 2019 American Dance Guild Performance Festival thanks The Harkness Foundation for Dance, The Arnhold Foundation, and Janis and Alan Menken Charity Fund for their generous support.