Prince Theater to Host 6-Month Dance Festival Starting This Fall
Los Angeles dance troupe Bodytraffic | Photo by Tomasz Rossa
Dance Affiliates will present their NextMove 2015/2016 season this October, debuting their new location at The Prince Theater in Center City. After 32 years of hosting dance at The Annenberg Center in University City, Dance Affiliates will proudly showcase eight world-renown companies in 54 different shows at The Prince during a six-month span.
Founded in 1979 by Artistic Director Randy Swartz, Dance Affiliates is a non-profit organization dedicated to advancing the art form of dance. Swartz felt that the move to The Prince Theater would give the company the opportunity to expand their work and reflect a new beginning—much like the theater itself.
“When The Prince became available, we felt that the Center City energy was going to be extremely beneficial,” says Swartz, who started his work presenting dance in 1970 at the Walnut Street Theatre. “The facility here is ideal for dance, and the enthusiasm of the Philadelphia Film Society helped make our move possible.”
Swartz aims to show audiences a diverse mix of dance styles and traditions in his performance series, which will run from October 2015 to May 2016. The NextMove season will bring in acclaimed companies from all over North America.
Complexions Contemporary Ballet
To kick off the season, New York’s Complexions Contemporary Ballet will present new pieces by choreographers Dwight Roden and William Forsythe on October 14-18. Audiences can expect to see a diverse piece like they’ve never seen from Complexions, with music ranging from jazz crooner Jimmy Scott to Metallica.
“We’re super excited to be coming back to Philadelphia and presenting this program that is different from anything we’ve put on in the past,” says Desmond Richardson, legendary dancer, Alvin Ailey protégé and artistic director of Complexions. “We love coming here, because the audiences seem to really gravitate toward our company, and we’re looking forward to exploring and investigating with them.”
Ballets Jazz de Montreal | Photo by Leda St. Jacques
Other notable acts in the series include L.A.’s BodyTraffic, who blew audiences away in a performance at the Annenberg Center two years ago; Les Ballets Jazz de Montreal will present their newest works in January; José Limón Dance Company will celebrate its 70th anniversary with a performance of Limón masterpieces in March; and unique dancer-illusionist company MOMIX will perform Opus Cactus, a multimedia piece based on Southwest deserts, under the direction of famed Artistic Director Moses Pendleton.
Each series of performances will be complemented with talk-backs and Q&A sessions with artists and choreographers, and free classes for the Philly dance community. “We do master classes, workshops, repertory classes, auditions, technique classes and all kinds of activities related to providing access to the local dance scene for artists who visit here,” says Swartz.
To view a complete list of dates and companies performing in the series, visit their website here.
NextMove doesn’t start at the Prince till October 14th, but you can get your fill of dance in Philly before then with a plethora of shows this summer from companies like BalletX and Koresh Dance Company. We round up some of our favorites here.
