Dance Intersects Activism At Accent Dance NYC Annual LET'S DANCE GALA, ART WITH HEART

Accent Dance NYC, a non-profit dance organization that champions diversity and equity through arts education and professional concert performance, announces Let's Dance! 2022: Art with Heart, a fundraising gala event on November 12th at Manhattan's Ballet Arts Center for Dance. Through an evening of professional and youth performances, the organization seeks to raise funds to expand its educational programming while raising awareness and sparking change around environmental and social justice issues through in-class workshops, lectures with experts in the field, and inspiring new dance works.

The evening invites Accent Dance NYC's students to the stage alongside the company's ensemble of multicultural and multidisciplinary artists to celebrate dance's unique ability to unify, teach, and inspire. With activism as a central focus across the company's 2022/2023 programming, the ensemble will present the world premiere of its most recent modern dance commission, The Waters, choreographed by Christie Coleman. A compelling narrative about the impact of contamination on an indigenous tribe's water sources, The Waters, will be integrated into educational workshops this fall to raise awareness about environmental justice issues, including water scarcity, flooding, and contamination. Along with dinner and an accessible Latin and hip hop dance workshop to close the evening, the company also will present a contemporary ballet work, La Bella Cubana, by Cuban choreographer Pedro Ruìz.

"For our first four seasons, we worked to build strong community relationships as the foundation to bring dance education to all children," reflects Andrea Ziegelman, Accent Dance NYC's Executive and Artistic Director, and founder. "This year we want to support the next generation of thinkers to use dance as activism-a vehicle of change in a world they will inherit," she continues. "Through this important evening of fundraising, we can develop new curriculums rooted in science, discourse, and social justice, sparking change and hope for a brighter tomorrow."

The evening will raise funds for three major initiatives: Accent Dance NYC's signature curriculum-based residency programs in underserved schools, which culminate in a performance or a community art project; educational performances for school-age children; and the purchase of a portable dance floor to reach more communities. The organization seeks to raise $50,000 to be used for these specific initiatives.

To post a comment, you must register and login.