Brooklyn Studios for Dance (BkSD) is a studio and social platform with dance at its core. BkSD engages with its immediate community by building local partnerships, with a global dance community by programming diverse social intersection, and grows in response to the needs of both communities. Creative and wellness-based movement practices exist cross-culturally and by transmitting them we construct cultural bonds.
It is the mission of BkSD to provide instruction and workspace for the cultivation of movement practices and it is our goal that these practices strengthen civic integrity and promote global purpose.
2017 Season: https://goo.gl/COu2VP
NY Times: https://goo.gl/CLONjv
CultureBot: https://goo.gl/U1UyR3
-History-
BkSD launched in April 2015 through a volunteer-based renovation effort lead by Fajans inside the historic Cadman Memorial Congregational Church in Clinton Hill, Brooklyn. Inspired by a shared reverence for gathering space, the church congregation and the dance community entered a partnership to share a facility. The mission of BkSD is to serve the professional art community while at the same time building a culture of local engagement. BkSD entered into a 5-year agreement with Cadman Church to occupy a portion of the building and partner in a capital campaign to support the aging facility. In 2016 the church was awarded a Landmarks Commission Sacred Sites grant, siting BkSD’s numbers served as a major factor in the award.
Since officially opening its doors, BkSD has offered a wide variety of classes, workshops, presentations and performances, creating a platform for hundreds of artists and continuing to serves thousands of participants annually.
-Operating Philosophy-
Brooklyn Studios for Dance was uniquely built by its members who continue to share the space and its value, and model our mission of wellness and self-reliance. Weekly classes and workshops bring together professional and novice dancers in an open and diverse environment. A rich variety of dance and movement modalities include classic dance techniques, partnered social dance, and fitness classes. BkSD also provides residencies to performing artists that culminate in public showings. All revenue is shared between the teachers/artists and BkSD. We do not rent our studio for private use and instead dedicate the space to regular public activities that rotate seasonally. Many of the activities offered at BkSD are available nowhere else in Brooklyn and our homemade sprung floor is of exceptional quality.
We have become a home for cultural practices in need of space and support. By remaining open to programming suggestions from our neighbors, members and audience we are able to serve as a connector, continuously working with new communities. We encourage members and audience to participate beyond our events as volunteers and as organizers, both at BkSD and with one another. We recognize the value of our platform and use it as tool for empowerment and expression by individuals and collective voices.
-Low-cost Activities-
Participants are welcome to drop-in for activities and are encouraged to attend regularly. Participation fees range from free - $30. Monthly membership includes unlimited class attendance for $90. No one is turned down for their inability to pay. BkSD offers work-study opportunities in exchange for low and no-cost participation.
-Future Plans-
BkSD will continue to develop a model for community enrichment, facilitating a productive and creative relationship between the arts and civic engagement. It is our goal to increase our reach by way of affordability and accessibility. It is our hope to expand our organization to include additional studios in Brooklyn and partners around the world, and inspire others to create community services through symbiotic exchange. Having relationships with many communities and arts spaces causes connections across great distances and cultural differences through the common language of dance.
Why Dance, Why Brooklyn?
New York is a historic center for dance pedagogy. Current economic and development trends have made the costs of maintaining large gathering spaces prohibitive. Funding sources have become scarce, lessening their dependability as revenue streams. Dance companies have become institutional to meet the financial demands or folded, and dancers are competing for a shrinking number of jobs. In order to remain viable it has become incumbent on dance communities to organize new studio spaces using cooperative models. Most studios for dance remain in Manhattan while many of the participants reside in Brooklyn. The services provided by BkSD and its central-Brooklyn location are rare and much needed in the current economic climate. Across cultures and generations people are seeking more opportunities to be locally and civically engaged in the fabric of the city, and are demonstrating greater concern for the health of the individual and the society.
BkSD responds to and engages with cultural changes taking place in the 35th district of Brooklyn as well as raised concerns for cultural preservation in community board 2. It is the purpose of BkSD to reflect and grow within the existing communities and join those groups with new energy and interests.
Program Highlights and Local Engagement
Cadman Congregational Church – Landmarks Commission Awards $13,000 Sacred Sites Grant to Cadman siting BkSD’s work contribution and number of members as significant factor.
Pratt Institute – Interior design department makes BkSD the subject of a semester-long course.
Dance Caribbean Collective – Two seasons at BkSD of activities in conjunction with local Caribbean population.
Hustle Partnered Dance – Multi-generational partnered dance classes and monthly social dance.
Kids Classes – Technique and choreography classes for ages 7 – 12
Bittersweet Café & Thirst Merchants – Local business sponsors, making in-kind contributions to BkSD events.
Major Accomplishments
2014
- Brooklyn Studios for Dance becomes member of the Lawyers Alliance for New York, pro bono legal placement service
- Completes feasibility study with Cadman Church Trustees identifying church as site to establish BkSD
2015
- Brooklyn Studios for Dance incorporates as a not-for-profit in NY state and becomes fiscally sponsored by Fractured Atlas
- BkSD organizes and funds an 8-week renovation of the gymnasium at Cadman Church, performed by volunteer labor; the effort includes 80 gallons of painting, the manufacture and installation of a sprung dance floor, and the reconditioning of ceilings, hallways, and common areas
- Opens April 2015 with a 5-week Free & Low-cost dance series, subsidized by BkSD, involving 40 teaching and performing artists, enrolling 250 new members and serving over 500 people
- Featured in the New York Times, CultureBot, The Culture Trip, and the Brooklyn Rail
2016
- Entered into a 5-year Partnership and Occupancy Agreement with Cadman Church through 2021
- Initiated Artist in Residency program, providing workspace, performance platforms, and community support to 10 artists
- Cadman Church receives a Landmarks Commission Sacred Sites Grant, siting BkSD’s numbers of people served as contributing factor in the award
- BkSD hires Remi Harris as Co-Director
Learn More: http://www.bksd.org