Four/Four Announces New Virtual Performances Featuring Xin Ying, Princess Lockerooo and More

four/four presents, a recently founded platform for dance and music performances in response to the Covid-19 pandemic, has been producing virtual performances since May 2020 and is picking up steam this fall, presenting dance and music commissions from SummerStage, 92Y Tribeca, and Brooklyn music venue Public Records, featuring dancers from Alvin Ailey, New York City Ballet, Martha Graham Dance Company, Parsons Dance, Dance Theater of Harlem, Moulin Rouge! on Broadway, voguers, ballroom couples, breakers, and more, with musicians Lake Street Dive, Mary Lattimore, Kassa Overall, OHMME, Arthur Moon, and others.

Founded by choreographer Loni Landon and music presenter Rachael Pazdan, four/four came together during the Covid-19 pandemic to provide opportunities for dancers and musicians to collaborate and create work virtually while they are unable to perform live and tour. The initiative was also created as a way to build community and bridge the gap between dance and music audiences.

In May 2020, four/four began working with Brooklyn music venue Public Records to present a digital music and dance series on its broadcast channel Public Access (publicrecords.tv), which the venue pivoted to when live performances were canceled. four/four's collaborative music and dance series TETHERED brings together musicians and dancers from all over the world to collaborate on 15-minute dance films for the channel. This content examines how the limitations of isolation inform the ways artists connect and make work, empowering them with a performance platform and widening their reach to international audiences. Since the show premiered in May, TETHERED artists have included Stephen Colbert's Late Show bandleader Jon Batiste, Madison McFerrin, Charlotte Dos Santos, L'Rain, Xenia Rubinos, Samora Pinderhughes, and Rafiq Bhatia and Ian Chang (of Son Lux), and dancers Rena Butler, Kayla Farrish, Lloyd Knight, Beatrice Larrivee, Chalvar Monteiro, Nicole Von Arx, and Maleek Washington among others.

This fall four/four will continue to present TETHERED on the third Wednesday of each month (September 16, October 21, November 18, and December 16) on publicrecords.tv, looping on the hour from 4-10pm EDT. These digital performances will coincide with a dinner screening of the show in The Garden at Public Records (RSVP on Resy to reserve a table to attend at publicrecords.nyc). The one-hour free programs also include archived dance works from choreographers.

The TETHERED VII event on September 16 will feature a digital premiere by the band Arthur Moon with Martha Graham principal dancer Xin Ying, Montreal-based dancer Axelle "Ebony" Munezero, Stefanie Noll (Ballet BC and others), and multifaceted performer Princess Lockerooo. The TETHERED premiere on October 21 will feature jazz musician Kassa Overall with voguer Omari Wiles, multidisciplinary duo slowdanger, and Los Angeles-based dancers Mike Tyus and Joy Isabella Brown. Upcoming episodes will also feature musicians Mary Lattimore and OHMME with the full lineup of dance artists to be announced this fall.

four/four has also co-curated a program for Capital One City Parks Foundation SummerStage Anywhere to take place on Saturday, September 19, as part of SummerStage's National Dance Day celebration. TETHERED VIII, a Love Letter to New York will feature Rachael Price and Akie Bermiss from acclaimed pop-soul band Lake Street Dive performing Rodgers and Hart's "Manhattan" and an Ella Fitzgerald/Louis Armstrong-inspired rendition of the iconic "Autumn in New York," with performances by renowned dancers Sara Mearns, Matthew Rushing, Gus Solomons jr, Sonya Tayeh, Brandon Gray, Daphne Lee, Kester "Flexx" Estephane, Rokafella, Zoey Anderson, Omari Wiles, ballroom couple Denys Drozdyuk and Antonina Skobina, and flex dancer King Havoc. four/four will also re-air its Jon Batiste TETHERED episode during this program. The free TETHERED performance takes place at 8pm EDT on SummerStage's social media channels: https://cityparksfoundation.org/summerstage/.

In October, four/four will produce a collaborative residency program between a musician and choreographer to create a TETHERED video. The residency, in partnership with the 92Y Tribeca, will be premiered by the 92Y on Wednesday, October 28, followed by a Q&A with the artists.

four/four is a presenting entity, emerging from the Covid-19 pandemic as a platform to connect dance and music artists around the world for collaborations, additionally allowing for opportunities to showcase pre-existing work. four/four hopes to bridge the gap between dance- and music-going audiences and create a new network to align dance and music artists. Since four/four's founding in May 2020, 40 dancers and musicians have contributed to the TETHERED series plus over 25 choreographers' work has been presented in the archived sections of these digital videos, presented as part of its programming with Public Records. https://www.fourfourpresents.com

 

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