Dances For a Variable Population to Present 10027 in West Harlem

Using the power of dance to create community, Dances For a Variable Population (DVP), will present three performances of 10027, a celebratory and immersive project that links the residents of three distinct West Harlem communities who share a single zip code. Set on a cast of 50 dancers, spanning ages 25-85, this world premiere highlights DVP's mission to actualize the power of community and of the older voice. A traveling work, 10027 will take place June 11-12 in three parts; the commencement at Morningside Gardens, migrating to the basketball court at Grant Houses, just east of 1315 Amsterdam Avenue on 125th Street, and lastly, to close at the Community Center Gym at Manhattanville, On June 13 a full performance of selected excerpts can be seen at one location, Old Broadway between 125th and 126th Street. 10027 features choreography by DVP's Founder and Artistic Director Naomi Goldberg Haas, as well as invited guests TONY-award winning choreographer George Faison and Broadway performer Loretta Abbott, Sandra Genter, Bruce Heath, Alice Tierstein and Walter Rutledge, with guest artists Gus Solomons, Jr., Karen Brown and Robin Williams.

"These seniors in West Harlem have a multitude of stories to tell, and with movement, we can begin to connect them," explains Goldberg Haas, the recent recipient of the Unsung Hero award, granted by City Council Member Inez E. Dickens and State Assembly Member Keith L. T. Wright. "How can we take hold of public spaces as dancers? How can dance exist in a neighborhood - can we take a walk and discover different areas and see them in new ways? This work honors those who have lived in these areas for many years and celebrates our similarities and differences through dance with the inspired presence of these legendary guest artists."

West Harlem audiences will have the privilege of spotting notable guest artists- PARADIGM founder Gus Solomons, Jr., 75, who danced with Martha Graham and the Merce Cunningham Dance Company, and Loretta Abbott, a founding member of the Alvin Ailey American Dance Theater and an accomplished Broadway performer. 2012 Bessie recipient Alice Tierstein (Young Dance Makers Company), Robin Williams (Uptown Dance Academy), Sandra Genter (Barnard College Professor Emeritus), Bruce Heath (NAACP Theater Award recipient, and associate choreographer of Broadway's Sophisticated Ladies), Karen Brown (former Principal, Dance Theater of Harlem) and Walter Rutledge (writer and choreographer) will also perform alongside an impressive collection of dancers of all levels and training backgrounds on these various stages. Senior community members in 10027 are drawn from DVP's Movement Speaks program which provides free senior workshop classes held at multiple locations in Harlem.

10027 is a unique collaboration that promotes strong and creative movement among adults of all ages and abilities. Technical movement structure, filtered through a conduit of contemporary modernism, will work to weave stories in this lively and imaginative collective. 10027 will have various movements as it continues to travel from stage to stage, changing the way audiences see their neighborhood and what a community can accomplish.

The musical score to accompany this creation will mimic the diversity of its movers, incorporating works by Zoe Keating, Keith Jarrett, Stevie Wonder and others and samplings of classical, jazz, alternative, R&B and pop music.

Dances For A Variable Population will present three performances of 10027, beginning at the pathways of Morningside Gardens, moving to the basketball court at Grant Houses, just east of 1315 Amsterdam Avenue on 125th Street, and culminating at the Community Center Gym at Manhattanville on June 11 and 12 at 6:00 p.m. Selected sections from all three locations will take place at one location, Old Broadway between 125th and 126th Street, June 13 at 5:00 p.m.

Admission is Free.

The Morningside Gardens are located at 100 La Salle Street, the Grant Houses Basketball Court just north of 1301 Amsterdam, and the Community Center Gym at Manhattanville, 530 West 133rd Street.

To post a comment, you must register and login.