The Showcase will display the talents of both emerging artist as well as some of the more established dancers who have a long affiliation with Clark Center. It is a tribute to and a combination of the Concerts and New Choreographers presentations that began at Clark Center in 1960 (For a list  see: http://clarkcenternyc.org/571228/history-and-mission). The program is curated and rooted in the spirit of the Clark Center's history of providing opportunities for dancers of color, identifying and developing new choreographic talent and encouraging emerging companies. The showcase intentionally combines seasoned dancers with younger performers to further underscore the Center's continuing impact on multiple generations of dance artists.

 

The program shines a much deserved spotlight on works by master choreographers and long time Clark Center faculty members such as Eleo Pomare with his "Tabernacle" performed by Alpha Omega Theatrical Dance Company; and Charles Moore's "Slaves Night Out" performed by Charles Moore Dance Theatre and a section from Geoffrey Holder's "Dance Creole" performed by BHdos.  The inclusion of the junior company of Ballet Hispanico serves as a  wonderful acknowledgement to the fact that the Clark Center first presented Ballet Hispanico as early as 1972, 73 and 79. In addition will be Ballet Hispanico founding member Sandra Rivera's "Para Anna," dedicated to the late Anna Sokolow, who also taught at Clark Center. The Center's legacy and continuing impact on contemporary dance is made evident with performances by dancer choreographer Makeda Thomas in a section of her "Light Fantastical" performed with Dyane Harvey, Danion Lewis in an original solo, a group work by Cory Villegas and a solo entitled “Phenomenal Woman” excerpted from “In Search of Our Mother’s Gardens” choreographed by Leyland Simmons and performed by Harlem School of the Arts trained dancer Isio-Maya Nuwere, now attending NYU.

About Clark Center About Clark Center for the Performing Arts
In 1959, Alvin Ailey was one of the gifted young artists who emerged in the late 1950’s and early 1960’s. This upsurge of talented, mostly Black dancers and choreographers, eager to have their work seen on the concert stage, had little or no access to rehearsal space to create their work. According to Mr. Ailey, who referred to Clark Center as his ‘ritual home,’ “Dance grew like Topsy there. Clark Center was the only reason we were able to continue.” Because Clark Center opened its doors to Mr. Ailey, he in turn provided others who followed with free rehearsal space and performing opportunities.  Sadly, the center became the victim of gentrification and was forced to officially close its doors in 1989. Clark Center NYC, now a 501c3 nonprofit, was created in 2013 by a handful of dancers to preserve the history and legacy of their beloved Center. For more info: www.clarkcenternyc.org.

 

Clark Center NYC's 2nd Annual Showcase is made possible with support from the Harkness Foundation and the Lower Manhattan Cultural Council.

 

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Geoffrey Lamont Holder was a Trinidadian-American actor, voice actor, dancer, choreographer, singer, director and painter. As a choreographer, Holder created dance pieces for many companies, including the Alvin Ailey American Dance Theater, for which he provided choreography, music, and costumes for Prodigal Prince (1967),^[13] and the Dance Theatre of Harlem, for which he provided choreography, music, and costumes for Dougla (1974), and designed costumes for Firebird(1982). In 1978, Holder directed and choreographed the Broadway musical Timbuktu!^[14][15][16] Holder's 1957 piece "Bele" is also part of the Dance Theater of Harlem repertory.

 

Charles Moore was a dancer, choreographer, teacher and founder of The Charles Moore Dance Theatre in Brooklyn, New York. In 1959, Moore began teaching Katherine Dunham's technique in New York City at the Clark Center, the New Dance Group Studio, and for Harlem Youth Activities, Hunter College, Medgar Evers College, City College, and the Hanson Place Methodist Church in Brooklyn. In 1974 Moore founded the Charles Moore Center for Ethnic Studies and Dances and Drums of Africa. Moore reconstructed many traditional African dances such as "Bundao", "Spear Dance", "Sacred Forest", and "African Congo."Moore was featured in many dance companies apart from Dunham's such as the companies of Geoffrey Holder, Donald McKayle, Pearl Primus, Talley Beatty, Jean Leon Destiné and Alvin Ailey. At the time of his death, Moore was working on "Traces: An American Suite", which was later completed by his wife Ella, with added choreography by Eleanor Harris and Pepsi Bethel. After his death, Louis Johnson created "Spirit, A Dance For Charles," to celebrate the life, work and devotion of Moore's to African and Caribbean music.

 

Eleo Pomare  was a Colombian-American choreographer and contemporary dance trailblazer. Eleo Pomare established his first company in New York in 1958,  and later left for Europe in 1962 to study with German Expressionist choreographer Kurt Jooss on a John Hay Whitney Opportunity Fellowship. Prompted by the civil rights movement, from which he drew inspiration for numerous provocative dance works for the Eleo Pomare Dance Company, he returned to the United States permanently in 1964. His choreography was largely distinguished by its strong sociopolitical themes, and his performances were celebrated for their power and truth.

 

Alpha Omega Theatrical Dance Company was founded in 1972 by Ronn Pratt, Dolores Vanison-Blakley, and Miriam Greaves to provide a platform for minority dancers and choreographers. A creative venue for artists and a safe haven for inner city youth it has served thousands for over four decades. Under the artistic direction of Enrique Cruz DeJesus, Alpha Omega Theatrical Dance Company continues to build audiences through delivering performances that are energetic, uplifting, and passionate cultural experiences.

Alpha Omega’s performance history includes local, national and international engagements at venues such as Lincoln Center’s Out of Doors Series and Alice Tully Hall, Kennedy Center’s Millennium Stage, the Smithsonian Institute, Jacob’s Pillow Inside/Out, Queens Theater on the Park, CityParks SummerStage, Harlem Stage, Brooklyn Academy of Music, 92^nd Street Y, Schomburg Center for Research in Black Culture, Here Arts Center, WOW Café, Lehman College, SUNY Sullivan, Florida A&M University, Art and Culture Center for Hollywood Florida, King Arts Complex in Columbus Ohio, and a tour of southern Italy under the auspice of dance mobile.

 

BHdos In 2012,Ballet Hispanico Artistic Director & CEO Eduardo Vilaro launched the BHdos company, a new vehicle for connecting talented pre-professional students to the professional dance world and for nurturing new links between artists and local communities. BHdos serves the ever-growing diverse communities in our city and is a catalyst for cultural dialogue. They perform in public schools, universities, and in community organizations, many with significant immigrant populations. Its performances, workshops, and lecture/demonstrations significantly amplify Ballet Hispánico’s mission and vision. With its engaging and interactive 50-minute performance, BHdos leads audiences through exciting explorations of dance and cultural diversity influenced by the Latino diaspora.

 

Dyane Harvey's life and career path has been touched by the most provocative, innovative artists of the Black Arts Movement.  Eleo Pomare, Shawneequa Baker-Scott, All Perryman, Chuck Davis, Ronn Pratt, Loretta Abbott, Fred Benjamin, Joan Miller and Astor Johnson. She has danced with other living notable familiar to the Clark Center family including George Faison, Otis Sallid, Dianne McIntyre, John Parks and Jelon Vieira.  She is a 2017 BESSIE awardee for performance in Dance Africa's Outstanding Production, and a 2019 nominee for Outstanding Revival of Pomare' s 'HEX'.  Hofstra Universities and a founding member/assistant to the Director of Forces of Nature Dance Theatre, Abdel R. Salaam, she is forever grateful to continue sharing her thread in the tapestry of Black Dance.

 

Danion Lewis is a Brooklyn native and first generation American by way of a Jamaican mother. He started his formal training at the age of 11 at Philippa Schuyler Middle under the amazing guidance of Carol Lonnie. He then went on to John Dewey High School where he studied under the late Michael Goring and long time Clark Center faculty member Eleo Pomare. While in high school he had the unique opportunit of performing the critically acclaimed "The Alba" choreographed by Mr. Pomare, which garnered him his first New York Times review. He is a multiple scholarship recipient which enabled his to study at Dance Theater of Harlem, Ballet Hispanico, The Graham School, and the Ailey school. He has danced professionally working with Jamel Gaines, in Dance Africa, and has appeared at at Rockefeller Center, City Center, Central Park Summer Stage, and internationally in Mexico, and the Bahamas.

 

The Charles Moore Dance Theatre (CMDT) is one of the oldest not-for-profit Blacks Arts Organizations in Brooklyn. Founded in 1974 by Charles and Ella Thompson Moore to demonstrate the beauty and great variety of African, Caribbean and African-American culture, the company also proves that multiculturalism and traditional black American arts are inseparable. The Charles Moore Dance Theatre and Centre for the Ethic Studies, located at 397 Bridge Street in Brooklyn offer a variety of classes in African, Dunham Technique, Ballet, Modern Jazz, Percussion

 

The CMDT repertory included work by outstanding choreographers from Africa, the West Indies, Brasil, the U.S. and the traditional African and Caribbean. Works of Charles Moore, Asadata Dafora, Katherine Dunham, Odukwe G. Sakeyfio, Madu Niasse, Mercedes Baptista and others continue to be presented in “Dances and Drums of Africa” and taught at the school. The company is especially noted for its reconstructions of Africa dances thought to be lost forever. The company has been lauded in Dance Magazine, The Village Voice, The New York Times, Attitude Magazine, and the Daily News among others, and is represented in most books on the Black dance movement in the United States. The company has been seen at Lincoln Center, the Brooklyn Academy of Music, Central Park with Channel 13, and on both Public Television’s “Great Performances” in Dance Black America, and on Puerto Rico’s public television.

 

Isio-Maya Nuwere began her  training at The Alvin Ailey American Dance Theater and The Harlem School of the Arts in 2015. Knowing that she can positively impact someone with the art of movement is very special. “I dance because I love to inspire others. I believe that God gave me the talent and passion to dance; to thank Him for this gift, I will share it with the world.” Isio-Maya takes part in volunteer work to give back to different communities.  She is a production assistant to Aubrey Lynch at Harlem Children’s Zone, dance class assistant at the Harlem School of the Arts, and travels to different locations to teach dance to students. In 2018 Isio-Maya was selected to be a National Ambassador for the non-profit organization, Brown Girls Do Ballet. As a national ambassador, she serves as a role model and mentor to younger Brown Ballerinas to be comfortable in their own skin. In the fall of 2019, Isio-Maya  matriculated to New York University Tisch School of the Arts to pursue dance and business to continue my career in the performing arts at a high level, as she wants to be in “The Lion King” on Broadway, The Ailey Company, and provide opportunities to teach dance to underserved communities.

 

Sandra Rivera has had an extensive career as a dancer, choreographer and educator.  She began her training with Tina Ramirez and Ballet Hispanico, where, as a founding member, she performed as a principal dancer creating a number of roles in the company’s repertory. Since 1990 she has choreographed and performed contemporary dances that incorporate diverse Latino dance forms that include folkloric, social and flamenco dance. She was an artist-in-residence at the Cathedral of St. John the Divine with the Omega Dance Co. where she directed dances for the Cathedral’s annual St. Francis Day, Blessing of the Animals, as well as producing a series of dance concerts that included Flamenco Dance Meditations.  In 2008 she was commissioned by the Cathedral to create an adaptation of Los Seises, a 13th century Spanish liturgical dance. Her solo dance portraits and community-based work have been presented by El Museo del Barrio, the Caramor International Music Festival, The Naumburg Orchestral Concerts, The Abrons Art Center and the 92nd Street Y. Drawing on her Puerto Rican heritage, she has created and produced work for the Julia de Burgos Cultural Center in East Harlem, including the autobiographical, Barrio Girl: A Life Through Dance and The Path of the Artist, a program celebrating the life of the poet Julia de Burgos. She has been on the faculty of the Ballet Hispanico School of Dance providing foundational content for their educational program, Primeros Pasos.  She has been a teaching artist for various institutions including El Museo del Barrio and The Abrons Art Center. She is a student in the CUNY Baccalaureate for Unique and Interdisciplinary Studies program with an area of concentration in Dance in the Latino Diaspora.

 

Leyland Simmons is the resident choreographer of the Harlem School of the Arts since fall 2016. His choreography has been presented at the Apollo Theater, the Kennedy Center’s Millennium Stage in Washington DC, E-moves 18 at the Harlem Stage Gatehouse and Bryant Park. Born and raised in Anchorage, Alaska, Leyland began his formal dance training with Barbara Devereaux of the Royal Academy School of Dance in Anchorage, Alaska and Michelangelo Canale of the Anchorage Classical Ballet Academy. He later studied at Interlochen Arts Academy, Dance Theatre of Harlem, Miami City Ballet, The School of American Ballet, Creative Outlet Dance Theatre of Brooklyn, The Ailey School and Ballet Divertimento in Montreal, Canada.  Leyland is a Graduate of the Professional Performing Arts High School in New York City and holds a Bachelor’s degree in English and a Masters Degree in Dance Education (K-12 concentration) from NYU.

 

As a performer he is a former member of Ailey 2 and Complexions Contemporary Ballet. Mr. Simmons has also performed with the New York City Ballet, Peridance Ensemble, Forces of Nature Dance Company, Nathan Trice’s/Rituals, George Faison and Ballet X. Leyland has also performed at Jacob’s Pillow, the Cincinnati, Moscow and Miami International Ballet Festivals.

 

Makeda Thomas is a dancer, choreographer, artistic director, writer and curator. She has created several works through cross-disciplinary collaboration with artists around the world. She began her study in Brooklyn, New York with Michael Goring and long time Clark Center faculty member Eleo Pomare, continuing on scholarship at the Martha Graham School of Contemporary Dance, The Paul Taylor School and Hofstra University where she earned a B.A. in Dance and English. She holds an MFA in Dance from Hollins University.

 

Her choreography has been presented internationally at The Brooklyn Museum of Art, New York Live Arts, HARLEM Stage/Aaron Davis Hall, Brooklyn Academy of Music, and BRIC Arts, Seattle’s Broadway Performance Hall, Maputo’s Teatro Africa, Port of Spain’s Caribbean Contemporary Arts and Queen’s Hall, at The National Gallery and 7 Arts Centre in Zimbabwe, and Teatro de la Ciudad for Performática and Festival Barroquismo in Mexico. As a dancer, Makeda Thomas has performed internationally in the companies of Ronald K. Brown/EVIDENCE, URBAN BUSH WOMEN, and Rennie Harris/ Puremovement. Thomas continues to create and perform internationally, while living in New York City & Port of Spain. She is a recipient of numerous awards including a Performing Arts Award from Creative Capital, Young Maverick Award from COCO Dance Festival, Caribbean Hall of Fame for Excellence in Dance in Jamaica, commissions and grants from 651 ARTS Black Dance: Tradition & Transformation, amongst others.

 

Christopher Rudd is a Jamaican born dance-maker who creates by blending contemporary ballet, modern dance, and at times the aerial artistries. He began dancing at age 9 in Miami, Florida in the Thomas Armour Youth Ballet’s, led by Ruth Wiesen. At 11, Mr. Rudd became the first black child to dance the title role in George Balanchine’s “The Nutcracker”, an accomplishment for which ABC’s Peter Jennings named him Person of the Week in 1991. He attended New World School of the Arts , and Dance Theater of Harlem’s Summer Intensive for four summers on full scholarship.He has performed with Alberta Ballet, Carolina Ballet as a founding member, and Les Grands Ballet Canadiens de Montreal, achieving the rank of soloist. Performances have included the 2010 Vancouver Olympics the Opening Ceremony and guest performances with Pennsylvania Ballet, and The Metropolitan Opera for 3 seasons.

 

Mr. Rudd has choreographed for the Alvin Ailey School Summer Intensive, Earl Mosley’s Institute of the Arts, Duke University, University of North Carolina School of the Arts, Alberta Ballet’s Workshop, Peter London Global Dance Company, Harlem Stage’s E-Moves, Ballet Divertimento in Montreal Canada, and Muiktheater Vorarlberg in Austria. Recently, he was commissioned to create a new work on Dance Now! Miami. His works have been seen in New York, Florida, Connecticut, Texas, North Carolina, Utah, Canada, France, Trinidad & Tobago, and Burkina Faso, Africa.

 

Cory “Nova” Villegas was born and raised in the Hunts Point area of the Bronx and  began dancing at the early age of five training in Salsa On 2 at Starlite Dance Studio, followed by her training at Dancers DreamZzz School of Dance. She continued her dance studies at Lehman High School in the Bronx studying with Penelope Kallo in the areas of ballet, Afro-Caribbean, Bollywood, Contemporary and various styles of Modern dance as a member of the Lehman High School Dance Company.  At Lehman College she studied Dunham technique with  Michael Manswell.  An experienced teaching artist she graduated with her BA/MA in Dance Education from the Arnhold Graduate Dance Education Program at Hunter College and is also a certified Dance Educator for the NYC Department of Education D.O.E and is currently a Dance Specialist for ASPIRA at The St. Helena School.  As a choreographer her works have been presented at the Bronx Borough Arts Dance Festival, The Hispanic Federation’s LGBTQ Fuerza Festival, and most recently the 2019 EstroGenius Festival. She most recently curated, produced and choreographed a show in January of 2019 at Hunter College’s Black Box Theater titled "Calle Soul: Soul Street." Her performing career includes dancing with Forza Malizia Dance Company, as well as performing with Reggaeton sensation Don Omar.