Kaatsbaan Cultural Park presents the 2025 Annual Festival in Tivoli, NY, from August 30 to September 27, 2025. The 2025 Annual Festival runs each weekend from Labor Day throughout September and includes thoughtful offerings and original performances by artists innovating in dance, music, film, archiving, storytelling, and more, featuring Bill T. Jones/Arnie Zane Company, Nichole Canuso, Deborah Hay, Ayodele Casel, Kayla Farrish, Lori Goldston, among others! Festival tickets are available at https://kaatsbaan.org/performances-festivals.
Managing Director Naomi Miller says “Kaatsbaan looks forward to presenting a stellar lineup of artists whose works distinctly ground us in the present moment, pose questions, and encourage and ignite our imaginations. This year’s festival has come together from organic conversations with artists and the illuminating work of our Guest Curator, Michèle Steinwald.”
Guest Curator Michèle Steinwald shares, “It is an honor to be in conversation with Hudson Valley arts communities and support Kaatsbaan’s programming while anticipating our gathering this fall. Together, we’ll experience new works by artists who create authentically, and show up with great care and humanity.”
Steinwald continues, “For my first festival, I brought together artists and art forms closest to my heart. From tap dance (my first love) to the wide-ranging influence of choreographer Deborah Hay (the artist who most profoundly impacted my career), these events have been lovingly considered for audiences to settle in and be transported alongside the performers themselves.
I have long admired tap dancer and creator Ayodele Casel from a distance, so to be able to welcome her—and for her to develop new work specifically for Kaatsbaan—is a true honor. Artists such as Nichole Canuso and Lori Goldston—who I have long histories with—are gathering their collaborator dream teams for this festival, effectively raising the vibrations of how we offer artistic experiences with greater resonance and spiritual well-being.
I have had the privilege to previously work with BodyCartography Project, and Bridget Fiske and Joseph Lau of Project Auske, the artistic contributors to the festival’s Performance Lending Library. These free and accessible, self-guided audio experiences invite audience members and groups to explore the stunning natural landscape at Kaatsbaan in new ways, and consider engaging in movement at their own pace and on their own time.
Last year, I was fortunate to be introduced to Kayla Farrish’s work (audiences at Kaatsbaan already know the power of her choreography). While watching Farrish, the immediacy and voracity of her dancing lit me up and brought my being back into focus. The festival’s pairing of Farrish and Casel’s performances (September 19–21), and the deliberate placement of these incredible and necessary artists together is intentional and not to be missed.”
Kaatsbaan Cultural Park’s 2025 Annual Festival presents a captivating lineup of dance performances that highlight the innovative artistry of Deborah Hay, Ayodele Casel, and Kayla Farrish, showcasing their groundbreaking contributions to contemporary dance. On September 13 at 7pm in the Studio Complex, audiences can immerse themselves in Turn Everywhere: Deborah Hay on film/in person ($25 general admission, $15 students), an evening of meditative documentaries exploring the experimental choreographer’s creative process. Featuring Alignment is everywhere by Peter Humble and David Young, filmed on a 16mm hand-cranked camera, and *Turn Your F^king Head by Becky Edmunds, capturing Hay’s Solo Performance Commissioning Project, the event concludes with a discussion led by Hay, offering insights into her unlearning and learning approach to dance.
On September 19 at 7pm and September 20 at 4pm, Ayodele Casel, hailed by the New York Times as a “force of wit and wonder,” presents Freedom… In Progress and a new work in the Studio Complex ($25 general admission, $15 students, $40 for both Casel and Farrish performances). Building on her critically acclaimed piece, Casel blends jazz legends Max Roach and Cecil Taylor’s 1979 improvisations with rhythmic love and liberation, followed by a post-show talk led by Kayla Farrish on September 19.
Kayla Farrish, a Bessie Award-winning choreographer, takes the stage on September 20 at 7pm and September 21 at 2pm with two new works, DOCILE and A Beast ($25 general admission, $15 students, $40 for both Casel and Farrish). DOCILE draws on James Baldwin’s Notes of a Native Son, exploring a Black woman’s journey toward freedom and truth, while A Beast offers an intimate, eruptive dialogue between two individuals uncovering personal power through physical risk. A post-show talk led by Casel follows the September 20 performance.
The mission of Kaatsbaan Cultural Park is to provide an extraordinary environment for cultural innovation and excellence by providing artists at any stage of their careers with creative residencies at state-of-the-art facilities, and presenting audiences and communities with annual festivals, educational programs, and seasonal events. As both an incubator for creativity and presenter for world-class artists in dance, theater, music, film, spoken and written word, and culinary and visual arts, Kaatsbaan provides artists with dance studios, accommodations, an indoor theater, and outdoor stages.
For additional information, please visit kaatsbaan.org
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