The Joyce Theater’s eighth American Dance Platform runs from tomorrow through January 14. If you’re thinking, ‘Wow, there’s a lot going on that week!’ you’re correct, and I’ll tell you why: the premiere global performing arts conference, APAP/NYC, is happening at the same time.
This means professionals in the presenting, booking and touring industries from around the world will descend on Midtown Manhattan in search of camaraderie and fresh talent. It’s an important time to see and be seen, and The Joyce knows it. Their annual showcase shines a light on one guest curator who is given free rein to gather a group of dance artists from across the country and give them a, well, platform.
This year’s guest curator is Melanie George, a woman of many hats and a queen of many terpsichorean crowns. An educator, dramaturg, choreographer, scholar and the Associate Curator at Jacob’s Pillow, she specializes in jazz dance—both its history and the neo-jazz aesthetic—so it is no surprise that her program for The Joyce is jazz-heavy.
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“If we’re talking about American dance,” George told Observer, “jazz is our most indigenous postcolonial dance form. Jazz could only have happened in the United States… And it forms the foundation of what we know not only about social dancing in our country but also theatrical dancing. It informs all of it, and if I’m going to curate a program around American dance, jazz is absolutely going to be at the center.”
When George put together the program, she wasn’t focused on a central theme, but a question: ‘What do I want represented on this stage?’ She decided she wanted to both highlight a legacy company (Dallas Black Dance Theatre) and an emerging company (Soles of Duende) and produce a showcase of diverse jazz dancers from across the U.S.
The result is an eclectic, women-led lineup where legacy and contemporary practice meld in various, wonderful ways.
The 2024 American Dance Platform will open with two performances (January 9 and 10) of Jazz at The Joyce featuring Dormeshia Tap Collective, Michelle N. Gibson and Josette Wiggan Presents. This “platform within the platform”, as George calls it, is one of the most exciting aspects of her curation. In an episode of The Joyce’s Still Spinning podcast, George said, “It’s an honor to have these three tradition-bearers, icons, electrifying stars of dance on this one program together. It just feels very special and unique.”
Indeed, so many things feel special and unique about this show. Not only will it be the first time a showcase format has been included in an American Dance Platform program, but it is also the first time the program will feature percussive dance and live music. On top of that, all the dancers on the bill are Black women.
“To be in an all-female, all-Black show,” Josette Wiggan remarked in the same podcast, “I don’t think I’ve ever experienced this before… It’s a rarity. And I hope that the audience understands that what they’re seeing is something that’s very special.”
Gibson added, “Listen—It’s pretty revolutionary. Alright, let’s just be real… We don’t know when we’ll ever see this again.”
Jazz at The Joyce will begin with the world premiere of Wiggan’s solo work Threshing Floor: A Place of Meditation and Melody—a piece that explores the many layers of one’s perceived self and what happens once those layers are stripped away. Wiggan is an internationally acclaimed vernacular jazz and tap dance performing artist and choreographer who recently tapped her way through the White House and into our social media feeds.
Gibson, a preacher’s daughter from New Orleans/choreographer/professor/Second Line Grand Marshal will perform an excerpt from her one-woman show Takin’ it To The Roots which examines the seemingly separate but deeply connected sacred and secular parts of her life. “I realized as I got older,” she explained, “it all meant the same thing. I couldn’t separate my God from my ancestors, I couldn’t separate my ancestors from the club, and I couldn’t separate the club from the streets and the streets from the church.” And so—Gibson’s inimitable style.
Closing the first program is the world-renowned tap dancer/choreographer/Broadway performer/Michael Jackson’s former tap instructor Dormeshia’s Unsung Sheroes of the 20th Century (2022), performed by Brinae Ali, Star Dixon, Josette Wiggan, Quynn Johnson, and Dormeisha. The work pays homage to legendary—but under-appreciated—black female tap dancers Cora LaRedd, Mable Lee, Harriet “Quicksand” Browne, and Juanita Pitts.
Next up (January 11 and 14) is the NYC-based all-female percussive dance trio Soles of Duende. The multicultural group blends the rhythms of tap (Amanda Castro), flamenco (Arielle Rosales) and Kathak (Brinda Guha).
Castro is a Bessie Award-winning Puerto Rican-American multidisciplinary artist, former principal dancer with Urban Bush Women and Broadway star. Rosales is a Bessie-nominated Mexican Puerto-Rican Jewish performing artist and band member and conductor with Batalá New York who has been featured performer on The Today Show (NBC) and Good Morning America (ABC). Guha is a Bessie-nominated South-Asian American Kathak, Manipuri, and contemporary fusion dancer; celebrated international performer; and film and stage actress.
The recently formed company will make its Joyce debut with an evening-length work Can We Dance Here? (2022). The piece—which is sure to be unlike anything you’ve ever seen before unless you happened to see it at Gibney when it premiered—is an investigation of permission, trust, freedom and existence.
Dallas Black Dance Theatre
The third program features two performances (January 12 and 13) by the internationally recognized contemporary modern dance company Dallas Black Dance Theatre. DBDT was founded in 1976 by Ann Williams and is the oldest professional dance company in Dallas as well as the fourth largest Black dance company in America. Their classically trained dancers are versed in modern, jazz, ballet and ethnic dance styles, which is necessary to perform the company’s diverse repertory of works by nationally and internationally known choreographers.
Their performances will feature three New York premieres. Kameron N. Saunders’ Black in Time (2022), set to an original score by composer Brandon Finklea, is inspired by afro-futurism and attempts to answer the question “What does the future of black people look like?” Norbert De La Cruz III’s Critical Mass (2023), set to music by Ben Waters, is inspired by the art of wabi-sabi. Chanel DaSilva’s Tabernacle (2023), set to several Tobe Nwigwe songs, was created in response to the Black Lives Matter movement and, according to DBDT’s Artistic Director Melissa M. Young, “really showcases, amplifies, magnifies, and celebrates Blackness.”
“I feel like there’s a little something for everyone,” George told me, and I agree.
As Gibbons said in her interview with George: “No matter who’s in the space, no matter the race, the ethnicity, the sex, none of that matters. What matters is that we understand that we all have a heartbeat. And it beats on a rhythm.”
American Dance Platform runs from January 9 through January 14 at The Joyce in Chelsea.
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