For dance company co-founder André M. Zachery ’14, finding affordable rehearsal space in New York City proved to be a frustrating endeavor. “It takes so much energy away from planning and creating,” he says. That’s why the graduate of the Performance Interactive Media Arts program is so grateful for the opportunity to have a rehearsal space at the Brooklyn Center for the Performing Arts at Brooklyn College (BCBC). Zachery, co-founder of Renegade Performance Group, and Brooklyn resident Maria Bauman, founder of MBDance, scored residencies at the college this fall, thanks to the CUNY Dance Initiative, a new program that provides rehearsal and performance space to New York City choreographers and dance companies. “Artists are like scientists in a lab,” says Bauman, noting that she’s excited about the possibility of cross-pollinating with other groups at the college. “We experiment and add to the ecosystem and vibrancy of the campus.” With funding from the New York Community Trust and the Mertz Gilmore Foundation, the program assists with artist fees, rehearsal expenses and production, marketing, and administrative costs. In exchange, the dance companies agree to host master classes, lectures, open rehearsals, and other public events. Zachery’s group, which will host two open rehearsals and an artist forum, is working on The Inscription Project, which explores how graffiti and other street art inform African-American culture in a technologically enhanced future. “The work looks at how graffiti has and continues to respond to circumstances in the past and present, and how we will imagine its uses in the future,” he says. Bauman’s group is working on a project called Attend Me, which will interpret through dance work by feminist writer Audre Lorde. BCBC Director Jon Yanofsky says that the college received more than 100 applicants for the residencies and he’s happy to be able to foster a community of artists. “It’s a great opportunity for people interested in dance to access the resources these dance companies bring to campus and to be able to share in their process.” MBDance will hold an interactive workshop on October 9 at 6:30 p.m. in the Student Center, and an open dance rehearsal and lecture/demonstration on October 10, starting at noon in the West Quad Center, Room 205. Renegade Performance Group will host open rehearsals and dance technique demonstrations on November 14 and December 19 from 10 a.m. to 4 p.m. in the West Quad Center, Room 205. They will also hold an artist forum on December 11 at 6:30 p.m. in Woody Tanger Auditorium. Founded in 1954, BCBC is a non-profit organization dedicated to presenting outstanding performing arts and arts education programs that cater to and are reflective of the borough’s widely diverse communities. More than 55,000 people visit BCBC each season, filling the 2,400-seat Walt Whitman Theatre and serving 38,000 schoolchildren from over 300 schools annually with its SchoolTime series.
