Ballaro Dance

A New York City based modern dance company performing the choreography of Marisa f. Ballaro.

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Ballaro Dance: Building Community Since 2014!

Join us on the Journey as we Continue to Build Community in 2023!

NEW YORK, NY, US

$14,866 raised of $15,000 goal
25 donations
-1044036 minutes left

Fiscally Sponsored by Fractured Atlas

This time last year, Ballaro Dance pledged to enter 2022 with a "spirit renewed." For our community, renewal means to revive or to become new, fresh, or strong again. That's exactly how we approached every opportunity to SEE, MOVE, & SHARE together, in community, throughout the past year.

In 2020 + 2021 when most organizations were paused - or truly paralyzed by the ongoing pandemic, Ballaro Dance found unique approaches to redefine, reinvent, and renew our art-making and community building approaches. We grew our community during that period of time and 2022 became a time to focus on building three-dimensional community, even when we're in two-dimensional spaces. Now, we're sprinting toward 2023 with our eyes continually on community.

Who are the amazing people in this passionate, hybrid Ballaro Dance community, you ask? We'd love to introduce you to a few:

Mandalaa (Shahzad Mashayekhi), located in Tehran, Iran

We met Shahzad in August of 2022; she connected with us on Instagram and joined a MOVE: Masterclass with the Company virtually in Saratoga Springs, NY, Zooming-in at 2am - her local time - while it was 6pm EST! At the same class, a local Saratoga Springs, NY woman named Kiera danced in-person and another NYC-based dancer, Catherine, Zoomed-in while dancing at a park in NYC. Now, three months later, all three are participating in our MOVE: Forced Departure Project. This FREE community project invited MOVERS to join the Company onstage in December in NYC -- this time Catherine is live in NYC, and Kiera and Shahzad will Zoom-in to perform via onstage projection while in Brockport, NY and Tehran, Iran! How cool is that?!

Angela Kim, living and working in both Edwardsville, IL & Boston, MA

Ballaro Dance & 48 St. Stephen, one of Angela's performance projects, were presented at Ramapo College of New Jersey's Healing Hands Festival in February. Performing on opposite days without the chance to meet in-person, Marisa emailed an invitation to meet-up on Zoom for cocktails and conversation with a few of the artists. Angela agreed, and the rest is history. She's joined Ballaro Dance for monthly Yappy Hours and shares a love of finding unique, creative approaches to cross-disciplinary work. Now, we're planning to commission a new collaboration with Angela in 2023!

Hannah Dillenbeck, located in New York, NY by way of Rochester, NY then Norman, OK

Hannah has been performing with Ballaro Dance since October of 2020 when she began attending MOVE: Community Class virtually during the pandemic while a student at Oklahoma University. She continued to work with Ballaro Dance after graduation as an Apprentice, relocated to NYC, and is now Rehearsal Assistant for Ballaro Dance. Hannah's first performance was a virtual community showcase of Forced Departure - the same piece Shahzad, Kiera, and Catherine are performing together...see what we're getting at here??

Our community is spreading across the miles, time zones, cultures, and generations; we are grateful for this local & global exchange and its rich impact on everyone in the (in-person and Zoom) room. In 2023 we look to engage even more deeply: finding new partners for our Embedded Memories & MOVE: Community Imprints projects (see where we toured this year below!); with our monthly SHARE: Yappy Hour For Artists & Collaborators and cross-disciplinary collaborations; or with monthly MOVE: Community Classes and opportunities for our community to perform alongside us.

This year we are asking for specific support for our specific need to work with, through, and alongside our community: we want to continue to host classes, workshops, conversations, events, and performances, indoors, outdoors, online, and a little of everything. We are passionate about people and we believe dance can facilitate people getting to know people more deeply, and more meaningfully. We're glad YOU are part of our community; we are grateful for your commitment to our work to strengthen community through dance.

Ballaro Dance: 2022 at a Glance...

Embedded Memories performances & the tandem project, MOVE: Community Imprints, which engages community (both dancers and non-dancers) in FREE workshops leading to performance opportunities:

Ramapo College of New Jersey (Mahwah, NJ in February)
Blue Gallery (New York, NY in March)
Universal Preservation Hall (Saratoga Springs, NY in August)
Aquila's Nest Vineyards (Newtown, CT in August)

Also in 2022:

Ballaro Dance hosted our first week-long dance residency in partnership with local Saratoga Springs, NY company, Nacre Dance, working with local students and members of the local community in August
In June we performed (live) at QNZdanz(+): QUEENS OUTDOOR DANCE FESTIVAL and (virtually) at the prestigious White Wave Dumbo Dance Festival
We hosted FREE monthly MOVE: Community Classes in NYC, virtually, and while on tour
We continued the conversation at our FREE meet-up for creatives each month at SHARE: Yappy Hour For Artists & Collaborators, hosted our first Creative Speed Dating event, and more...

Interested in getting involved? Want to make an impact? Curious to learn how to help build three-dimensional community even when we're in two-dimensional spaces? Check out the side bar on the right to SEE what MOVES you, and SHARE what you can. We are truly grateful.