Young Dance Collective

We are the Young Dance Collective: a socially conscious modern dance group formed by seven teen dancers and choreographers. We are dedicated to dance as an art form, and our mission is to create and perform works that express who we are, and where we are in our lives.

While we’ve collaborated with a number of great choreographers—including Brian Brooks, Larry Keigwin, Noemie Lafrance and more—what we love most is to perform our own collaboratively developed works.

Together, we are able to create something very powerful.  Our movement expresses our thoughts about communication (or the loss and absence of it); about love, and how love manifests itself in friends, relationships, and the world around us; about loss—individually, and as a society; peer pressure; death; loneliness; self definition… our discussions transform into our art, and in the end, we use our shared experience and expression as a catalyst for our growth as individuals—and to provoke thought in our audiences.

Through our collaborations, we continually react to, and interact with the world around us—all while supporting one other, existing in the moment, sharing a common identity and purpose, and diving into the core of the struggles and pressures we face and the joys we share.

We’ve grown from performing in one-room spaces—altering our movements so we don’t run into the audience—to performing at the Citigroup Theater Joan Weill Center for Dance.  As an independent, nonprofit company, we work diligently to produce our work and no creative endeavor has ever been compromised.

We believe this retrospective performance will be a powerful forum for sharing our message with other teens—teens who may be inspired to deal with their own struggles in a more productive way as a result, and possibly to choose a path that allows for their own expression and healing. We will be drawing from the pieces we’ve performed in the last decade, through to our final body of work.

Save the Dates: April 20-22 2012

Seven kids, four schools – and one story that brings them together.

It’s 2001, and you are one of thousands of seven year-olds watching the Towers fall  – in fact, your school has been turned into a triage center.

New York City students are relocated to public schools all over the city – and soon you’re either a terrified transplant, or a startled host to a group of new faces. Practically overnight, your entire world is turned upside down.

But somehow, in the midst of all the chaos, you’re connected with a small group of kids with similar interests to your own — and those bonds deepen further when you turn to movement as way to cope with this frightening new world.

Death, fear, love, hate and loneliness all find a voice in your first body of work together as The Young Dance Collective: “Be There for Me.” Together, you begin an intimate journey that will span the next nine years  — nine years of collaboratively (unheard of in the dance community) choreographing your shared stories. Your art is part social commentary, part raw emotion… all expressed through passionate movement.

This is a powerful representation of what New York teens have to say, and what’s important to them. Sometimes it’s dark, sometimes it’s challenging – it’s always beautiful. All we ask is that you open your eyes and take in our truth. Watch. And Listen.

Showtimes
Saturday November 20th at 8pm
Sunday November 21st at 6pm

Location
Ailey Citigroup Theater
The Joan Weill Center for Dance
405 West 55th Street at 9th Ave
New York, NY 10019

Tickets
$25 Adults
$10 Students
$125 LPRS
Limited Premium Reserved Seating (includes $100 tax deductible donation and a special gift)

Buy Tickets Online Now!

or Call 866-811-4111

The Company
Hannah Cullen
Sophia Orlow
Lev Ratnofsky
Isa Reisner
Cosmo Scharf
Kassandra Thatcher
Kalei Tooman
Kim Cullen, Artistic Director

What people are saying about The Young Dance Collective

“A rigorous, thought-provoking and beautifully inventive movement from these insightful New York City kids- they are our leaders in this new century. Do NOT miss it, you will leave with tears in your eyes and quite a few ‘aha’ moments lodged in your heart and brain.” —Elizabeth Streb

“There is a time when the imagination is so rich and fear is so far away. These teens create fearless beauty and it’s such a joy to watch.” —Larry Keigwin

When you see their work, because they are not only professional dancers but also choreographers, you see their minds at work. They have a deep intention to communicate ideas through movement and their work is speaking to you. It will make you feel like the future is wide and large full of unexpected potential. —Noemie LaFrance

“I thought I would be mentoring these kids and they ended up mentoring me.” Brian Brooks

YoungDanceCollective from CuttingMoves on Vimeo.

In YDC rehearsals we’ve started to work with a few rotary dial phones for our evening long work about communication we’ve been calling “Telephone” and Kim put together a phrase for Isa using the phone.  Take a look at the video for a hint of what’s to come in October.

View the Rehearsal Footage

Hannah and I are going to be performing a duet from the upcoming YDC show “Telephone” on Sunday April, 18th at 3pm. We’re showing this excerpt along side the works from artists like the Sean Curran Company, Dancewave Company, and the Limon Professional Studies Program in the PeriChild Ensemble Fundraiser. Come check out the show at The Peridance Capezio Center (126 E 13th Street). Tickets are $20 for Adults and $12 for High School Students.

www.PeridanceYouthEnsemble.Org

Map

Join in online and if you feel like supporting the kids Make a donation to help them grow the program.
Stream starts just before the showtime at 8:00PM EDT