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Fall for Dance Festival makes a digital return

Fall for Dance Festival.

The 17th annual Fall for Dance Festival is offering its first-ever digital dance celebration this October, with the performances being filmed live on the New York City Center stage and streamed into the homes of the viewers. 

Alicia Graf Mack and David Hallberg will host two programs showcasing the resiliency of New York City artists coming together in a safe return to the stage. In keeping with the festival’s long history of accessible tickets, digital access is $15 per program. Digital access will be free for City Center Education and Community Engagement partners including participating schools (students and teachers) and Fall for Dance Lab professional development participants; and $5 per program for Take 5 Ticket buyers and City Center On the Move partners at NYC Parks recreational centers. 

“The fall has always signaled the beginning of a new season of performing arts across the city,” said New York City Center President and CEO Arlene Shuler. “In that tradition, we are turning the lights back on and presenting the festival live from our stage as the first steps toward City Center’s reopening to the public. We are steadfast in our commitment to support artists at this crucial time, and, with rigorous health and safety protocols in place, we are thrilled to have them back in our building where they belong. We have deep, longstanding relationships with many of the artists and companies in this year’s festival, and we are all eager to get them back on the stage. While we may not be able to welcome audiences into the theater yet, I’m delighted that we are able to capture the energy of live performance on our stage and bring these artists directly to our audience – across the city, country and around the world.” 

Program 1 features two world premiere City Center commissions, including a solo piece from Alvin Ailey American Dance Theater’s first Resident Choreographer Jamar Roberts that explores his identity as a Black man, and a duet for Christopher Wheeldon for New York City Ballet (NYCB) Principal Sara Mearns and incoming Artistic Director of The Australian Ballet David Hallberg in their first-ever performance together. The program also includes Ballet Hispánico in a New York premiere of excerpts from 18+1, an electric, mambo-driven piece celebrating Gustavo Ramírez Sansano’s 19 years as a choreographer. In addition, Martha Graham Dance Company’s Natasha M. Diamond-Walker will perform Lamentation, one of the company’s quintessential solos, presenting a timeless message about the essence of grief.

In Program 2, acclaimed tap artists Dormeshia and Camille A. Brown will join forces for a world premiere City Center commission that honors the legacy of Black women in dance, accompanied by musicians Noah Garabedian, Winard Harper and Gabriel Roxbury. Calvin Royal III, principal dancer with American Ballet Theatre, will dance a world premiere commission solo from choreographer Kyle Abraham. Lar Lubovitch Dance Company will feature guests Joseph Gordon and Adrian Danchig-Waring performing the iconic male duet from Concerto Six Twenty-Two. And NYCB’s Ashley Bouder, Tiler Peck and Brittany Pollack will perform excerpts from George Balanchine’s Who Cares?, an exuberant response to George Gershwin’s classic tunes. 

New York City Center states that safety for its artists, staff and crew is its first priority. All rehearsals and performances will be executed in strict adherence to rigorous health and safety protocols under guidance from medical consultants and and in accordance with all government and union guidelines.

Program 1 premieres October 21, at 7:30pm ET, and Program 2 premieres October 26, at 7:30pm ET. Both programs will be available on demand through November 1. 

For tickets and more information, visit www.nycitycenter.org/pdps/FallforDance.

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