{"id":14803,"date":"2025-08-28T23:08:38","date_gmt":"2025-08-28T23:08:38","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/nationalgunowner.org\/index.php\/2025\/08\/28\/whats-on-at-the-harkness-mainstage-series-2025-26\/"},"modified":"2025-08-28T23:08:39","modified_gmt":"2025-08-28T23:08:39","slug":"whats-on-at-the-harkness-mainstage-series-2025-26","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/nationalgunowner.org\/index.php\/2025\/08\/28\/whats-on-at-the-harkness-mainstage-series-2025-26\/","title":{"rendered":"What\u2019s On at the Harkness Mainstage Series 2025\/26"},"content":{"rendered":"
\n
<\/a>
Dormeshia\u2019s Ladies in the Shoe Tap Conference. Courtesy 92Y<\/span><\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

\u201cThis season is personal for us,\u201d Alison Manning<\/a>, co-executive director of the Harkness Dance Center, tells Observer. \u201cWe as an institution are pointing to the fact that we\u2019re in a cultural moment where women\u2019s rights and bodies and voices seem to be under renewed threat. Dance has always been a space for storytelling and truth-telling, and we believe that who tells the story matters. By centering women and female-identifying artists, we\u2019re looking to amplify those voices that have been historically sidelined and create a season that is as much a statement as it is an artistic offering.\u201d<\/p>\n

\n<\/section>\n

Indeed, women have long been sidelined in the dance field, and while progress has been made in the past few decades, there is still more work to be done. According to the Dance Data Project<\/a>\u2019s most recent reports (of the 2023-2024 season), gender inequity is alive and well. Of the 2,221 ballet, contemporary, and modern dance works presented at 116 performing arts centers in the U.S., only 31.4 percent were choreographed by women. Women choreographed 30.2 percent of full-length works and 32.3 percent of mixed-bill works. Theaters with the largest seating capacity programmed the smallest number of women-made works (22.2 percent). Of the 217 artistic directors leading classically based dance companies in the U.S. and internationally, only 65 (30.0 percent) are women. And of the 202 choreographers currently holding resident positions in companies, 90 are women (44.6 percent) and 110 are men (54.5 percent). Remember that the dance field is majority female\u2014CareerExplorer<\/a> data shows that 87 percent of working dancers are female and 13 percent are male.<\/p>\n

But enough about numbers. When Manning and her team chose the title \u201cWomen Move the World\u201d for this history-making season, the word \u201cmove\u201d initially referred to physical movement, but over time, the word started resonating for them in new ways. Movement can also imply progress and momentum. \u201cFor centuries, women have been moving this art form forward, but often without equal visibility,\u201d Manning said. \u201cAnd so move in this context also means, for us, to inspire, to create change, to claim space.\u201d<\/p>\n

But enough about words. On to dance! \u201cWomen Move the World,\u201d which runs from September through May at 92NY, will feature performances from big-name choreographers and beloved hometown companies, as well as emerging voices and international artists. There will be an immersive opening celebration, six genre-spanning programs and three diverse festivals.<\/p>\n

\"An\"An<\/a>
The French-Canadian company H\u00e9l\u00e8ne Simoneau Danse will perform the world premiere of Late Bloomer<\/em> in November. Photography by Rita Taylor<\/span><\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

What to expect on opening night<\/h3>\n

The season will open on September 13 with Swing Out Loud: Women Move the World<\/i><\/a>\u2014part Authentic Jazz\/Lindy Hop dance lesson, part swing dance party, part performance\u2014led by Bessie Award winner LaTasha Barnes<\/a> and accompanied by One BadA** Swing Band.<\/p>\n

Even though the season\u2019s mission is serious and carries significant weight, Manning wanted to open it with a party. She said, \u201cI am also trying to drive us\u2014\u2019us\u2019 meaning 92NY and the artists on this program, and also the wider dance community in New York-towards this idea that in the face of all of this, we must have joy. We must have celebration, and we must uplift one another.\u201d<\/p>\n

As for who should lead the opening celebration, Manning immediately thought of Barnes, who embodies so many qualities this season strives for\u2014joy, resistance, representation, legacy\u2014and had been part of 92NY\u2019s inaugural Uptown Rhythm Dance Festival last season.<\/p>\n

Barnes comes from a long line of \u201cmovers and shakers and innovators\u201d and is an internationally recognized tradition-bearer of Black American Social Dance. When asked how she felt about opening the season, she said, \u201cThe word that\u2019s coming to mind, honestly, is \u2018magnanimous,\u2019 but that may be a little too flowery for what\u2019s actually happening. It\u2019s really quite humbling, and it\u2019s really inspiring for me.\u201d<\/p>\n

The night will begin with Barnes\u2019 \u201cvery exciting and fun hybrid dance lesson,\u201d starting with Authentic Jazz for those who want to dance alone, followed by Lindy Hop for those who want to be partnered. Then the floor will open for the swing dance party, interspersed with live performances, \u201coffering some perspective into how badass the women in New York swing are and how badass their collective artistry is and can be.\u201d Performers range from young prot\u00e9g\u00e9s like Reyna N\u00fa\u00f1ez to seasoned veterans \u201cwho just swing their faces off like Gaby Cook<\/a>, and some of our most esteemed elders and \u2018keepers of the flame,\u2019 as we call them, but I\u2019m calling them the \u2018keepers of the beat.\u2019\u201d<\/p>\n

92NY\u2019s social dance nights are often packed and intergenerational, drawing families with young children up to people in their 90s, dancing the night away. \u201cI hope everyone will come out to celebrate,\u201d Barnes said. \u201cIt is \u2018Women Move the World,\u2019 but we want everyone in the space to be able to dance with us.\u201d<\/p>\n

The movers and shakers of the season<\/h3>\n

92NY\u2019s dance history is rooted in American modern dance. Harkness Dance Center was founded in 1935 by Doris Humphrey<\/a> and attracted other modern dance pioneers like Martha Graham<\/a>, Katherine Dunham<\/a>, Pearl Primus<\/a>, Jos\u00e9 Lim\u00f3n, Paul Taylor<\/a>, Merce Cunningham<\/a> and Alvin Ailey<\/a>. So it is no surprise that most of the programs in the season feature modern and contemporary dance.<\/p>\n

\"An\"An<\/a>
Sara Mearns and Jodi Melnick in CARVALHO\u2019s summer performance series. Photo: Heidi Lee<\/span><\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

Some choreographers, like Yue Yin<\/a> (whose company YY Dance Company will present the world premiere of Elsewhere<\/i><\/a> on October 17 and 18), Heidi Latsky<\/a> (presenting the talk\/performance Who Am I Now?<\/i><\/a> on January 10 and 11), and Aszure Barton<\/a> have longstanding relationships with 92NY. Although Andrea Miller<\/a> has taught at Harkness Dance Center, her critically acclaimed company GALLIM will perform BLUSH<\/i><\/a> for the first time on their stage on April 30 and May 1. The French-Canadian H\u00e9l\u00e8ne Simoneau Danse will perform the world premiere of Late Bloomer<\/i><\/a> on November 14 and 15, and Jodi Melnick<\/a> and New York City Ballet principal Sara Mearns<\/a> will broaden the landscape with the crossover ballet-contemporary world premiere of Superbloom (Dancing into Choreographic Forms)<\/i><\/a> on March 27 and 28.<\/p>\n

Barton, who will be closing out the season with An Evening with Aszure Barton<\/i><\/a> on May 21, explains that, \u201c92NY has been home to generations of incredible humans breaking new ground, and being part of this ongoing evolution of dance is deeply meaningful.\u201d The one-night-only performance will showcase the breadth of her style while bringing together \u201csome of the most exquisite dancers\u201d she\u2019s had the privilege to work with over the years, from Hubbard Street Dance Chicago, Gauthier Dance\/\/Dance Company Theaterhaus Stuttgart, and elsewhere.<\/p>\n

Then there are the festivals<\/h3>\n

The Uptown Rhythm Dance Festival<\/a> (\u201cWhich I am,\u201d Manning says, \u201cno pun intended, super jazzed for!\u201d) returns for the second year on March 2-8. The programs at 92NY are co-curated by Manning and tap sensation Michelle Dorrance<\/a> and co-presented with Works & Process at the Guggenheim and Dormeshia<\/a>\u2019s Ladies in the Shoe Tap Conference.<\/p>\n

The week-long festival will include performances, discussions and classes \u201cthat celebrate the power, artistry and cultural impact of women in rhythmic dance.\u201d This year\u2019s roster of all female and female-identifying artists will perform tap, hip hop, flamenco, Kathak, street dance, Irish step, Appalachian flatfooting and more.<\/p>\n

The Future Dance Festival<\/a> returns for its fifth year on April 17-18 (the Online Dance Film Festival will be streaming on April 16-23), uplifting emerging choreographers and filmmakers as always, but this year the applicants, panelists and curators will all be women and female-identifying.<\/p>\n

And, according to Manning, for the first time, the season will include a \u201cwildly exciting and hard to pull off\u201d day-long festival on February 21 dedicated to Indian classical dance and music: What Flows Beneath Us: A Festival of India\u2019s Classical Arts in Cross-Cultural Dialogue<\/a>, curated by renowned Kathak artist Rachna Nivas<\/a>. The daytime program will include performances by musicians and dancers from the North Indian and South Indian lineages, traditional food and \u201cspace for gathering across generations.\u201d<\/p>\n

\"An\"An<\/a>
SPEAK features Rachna Nivas, Rukhmani Mehta, Michelle Dorrance, Dormeshia and others. Courtesy 92Y<\/span><\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

Nivas says that while women have had a complicated history with Indian classical dance over its 2000-year existence, they are currently well represented and respected in the field. The imbalance is more obvious in Indian classical music, so she is thrilled to highlight female lead musicians alongside a few male accompanists. \u201cIt\u2019s really pretty extraordinary to have a festival like that for us, because we don\u2019t\u2026,\u201d here she pauses and laughs knowingly, \u201c\u2026that\u2019s totally not the case, usually.\u201d<\/p>\n

Nivas is grateful to have been surrounded by so many incredible women, her \u2018dance sisters,\u2019 who were also training with her guru, Pandit Chitresh Das<\/a>. \u201cHe would constantly tell us, and tell the audience when there was one, that women were more powerful and stronger than men, and that men needed to understand that. Which was really radical.\u201d<\/p>\n

The festival will culminate in an evening performance of SPEAK<\/i>, a collaboration between Nivas, Rukhmani Mehta<\/a>, Michelle Dorrance and Dormeshia, accompanied by an all-female Indian classical and jazz ensemble. This conversation between Kathak and American tap picks up where another one left off. Nivas\u2019 teacher, Das, collaborated with Dorrance\u2019s, Jason Samuels Smith<\/a>, in an all-male show called India Jazz Suites<\/i> (2005). Because of that relationship, Nivas and Dorrance have known each other for years. \u201cAt some point,\u201d Nivas says, \u201cI thought it was time for us to write a new chapter of this conversation between Kathak and tap, and have the ladies give it a go.\u201d SPEAK<\/i> premiered in California in 2017 and even toured to India, but this New York premiere is not to be missed.<\/p>\n

\u201cI\u2019m so grateful for this bold, courageous thing that Alison and the rest of the team at Harkness Dance Center are making,\u201d Nivas said. \u201cIt\u2019s just another testament to when women come together, the sky\u2019s the limit for what can be accomplished.\u201d<\/p>\n

All performances for \u201cWomen Move the World\u201d will be held in the historic Kaufmann Concert Hall and in Buttenwieser Hall at the Arnhold Center at 92NY. Tickets are available <\/b>here<\/b><\/a>.<\/b><\/p>\n

More in performing arts<\/h3>\n

\t\t\t\t\"The<\/p><\/div>\n