Riverside Dance Festival Welcomes Pigeonwing Dance for Free Performance

Now its thirteenth year, the Riverside Dance Festival, a partnership between Ballet Vero Beach and Riverside Theatre, is an intensive, two-week dance program that offers students the opportunity to work and learn from some of the best current American modern dance companies. The culmination of the two weeks of classes and workshops results in a FREE public performance on Saturday, August 3, 2024 at 2pm.

Started in 2012 under the direction of Adam Schnell, Artistic Director of Ballet Vero Beach and Director of Dance Education at Riverside Theatre, accepted students from the local area and around the country will partake in daily instruction from dancers of Pigeonwing Dance. The thirteeth Riverside Dance Festival runs July 22nd through August 3rd with an accepted and limited number of dedicated young dancers from ages 10 and up. 

“Continuing the pursuit to bring the best of dance to our own backyard, Ballet Vero Beach is thrilled to present Pigeonwing Dance to be part of this year's Dance Festival,” said Mr. Schnell. “It is a very unique experience and I cannot wait to see what the students and professionals present at the end of the Festival.” 

Pigeonwing Dance, named for its blend of airiness and New York City grit, was founded in 2016 by Princess Grace Award-winning choreographer Gabrielle Lamb. The company pushes ballet and contemporary dance forms beyond what is currently believed possible. 

Through collaboration and contemporary storytelling, Pigeonwing Dance seeks and coordinates where beauty turns to awkwardness and tension dissolves into ease. Whirlwinds, accidents, and chance encounters are caught, preserved, and folded into dance. This improvisatory abandon is counterbalanced by meticulous calculation, revealing intricate architectures where fleeting moments of resolution open into new wonderings. 

Previous renown dance companies that have participated in the Riverside Dance Festival include: Terminus Modern Ballet, Dimensions Dance Theatre of Miami, Prometheus Dance, Ballet Nebraska, Wylliams/Henry Contemporary Dance, CORE Dance, konverjdans and Ariel Rivka Dance Company.  

The Riverside Dance Festival performance will be held on Saturday, August 3 at 2pm. This performance is FREE and no tickets are required! 

Pigeonwing Dance will also perform as part of the 2024-25 season of Ballet Vero Beach. The Ballet Vero Beach performances are Friday, August 2 and Saturday, August 3 at 7pm. Tickets to the Ballet Vero Beach performances are $10-$75. 

For more information on the Riverside Dance Festival or Pigeonwing Dance performances, call the Riverside Theatre Box Office at 772-231-6990 or online at www.riversidetheatre.com or www.balletverobeach.org.

Riverside Theatre is located at 3250 Riverside Park Drive, Vero Beach. Riverside Theatre programs are sponsored in part by the State of Florida, Department of State, Division of Cultural Affairs and the Florida Arts Council, and the National Endowment for the Arts. Riverside Theatre is a member of the Cultural Council of Indian River County, the Indian River Chamber of Commerce, and the Sebastian River Area Chamber of Commerce. 

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