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Meet our October Choreographers!

Gabriella Carmichael is a Brooklyn-based artist originally from Western Massachusetts. She has most recently presented an evening work “Where Is Home” in the Spring 2016 Sans Limites Split-Bill Series, and has also presented work at Dixon Place, Mark Morris Dance Center, Triskelion Arts Center, Spoke The Hub, and Greenspace. Gabriella is a certified yoga instructor and teaches children in hopes of instilling self confidence and bodily awareness. Gabriella attended the University of Massachusetts Amherst where she studied dance and social anthropology. She uses dance as a tool for empowerment, community creation, and finding space where we can feel like we belong. 

Luz Guillen is originally from Albuquerque, New Mexico and is now a New York City based dancer and artist. She received her BA in Dance from the University of New Mexico and has been free-lance dancing in various genres of dance. She is excited to now grow and share her choreography. 

Guest Speaker: author Lindsey Johnson

Lindsey Johnson is a Brooklyn-based writer whose short stories have been featured in Fugue and recognized by Glimmer Train. She was born and raised among the tall pines and tobacco of Lumberton, NC and has continued to pay homage to its landscape through her work. She holds an MFA in Fiction from George Mason University and is currently a marketing manager at Scholastic. Upcoming screen play for "Pretty Is" directed by Alan Scott Neal debuting 2017.

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Fall Fest at The Tank!

It's fall, it's time to hunker down and create something new! CHOREOGRAPHERS: Do you accept the xyz challenge of creating a dance in a week with brand new dancers through a fun choreographic challenge? DANCERS: Are you ready to work with a brand new choreographer in a fast paced, exciting rehearsal process with concluding in a live performance?If so, then The Tank and xyz are here to provide you with FREE rehearsal space, a FREE performance plus a rehearsal schedule tailored to your availability! Simply fill out this form for xyz nyc Fall Fest Dance Challenge we'll see you onstage at The Tank!

xyz dance series is an opportunity for choreographers to meet new dancers, create a piece in a week and get instant feedback from experts on a theme!

One week before the performance, choreographers and dancers are paired together at random. Each xyz has a theme and a challenge surrounding that theme. The brand new dances are shared in a public performance at The Tank with a guest speaker. The guest speaker is a specialist or expert in the field relating to the theme. Their feedback is designed not only to help the choreographer hear directlyabout their piece but also to allow the audience into the creative process.

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MEET THE CHOREOGRAPHERS & Guest Speakers of xyz,nyc: The Darkfest Edition!

Muliebris Dance Theatre - Holly Heidt and Samantha Bergman

Muliebris Dance Theatre, a newly formed company created by Samantha Bergman and Holly Heidt, uses physical strength, everyday gestures, and theatricality to investigate the world around us. Through collaboration with artists of different mediums, the company pulls together elements of sound, costume, props, and movement to tell their stories. Check out this clip of their work here! https://vimeo.com/170878595

Jen Roit, Armada Dance Company

Proud of her West Coast origins, Jen Roit received a BFA at NYU Tisch, working with Karole Armitage, Bill Young, and Dwight Rhoden. She continued a diverse career with Jennifer Archibald, Nathan Trice, Daniel Holt, Mark Dendy, Randy James, Transcendance Group, and the Park Avenue Armory. She received mentorship from Camille Brown and Jennifer Edwards through the Breaking Glass Project and Stephen Petronio through NYU’s Alumni Choreographic Workshop. With her company, Armada, she has produced work for BalaSole Dance Company, MaD Circle Dance, Moving Beauty Series, Amalgamate Artist Series, Equilibrium Danceworks, WAXworks, and has been presented at HATCH, Spoke the Hub, RAW Artists, Dixon place, The Actor's Fund, Ailey Citigroup Theater, Triskelion, and Ticino in Danza (Switzerland). She currently serves on the Artist Committee for NACHMO and the Dance/NYC Junior Committee. She has choreographed for short films and music videos, including "You and I and You" presented at the Outlet Dance Project's International Film Festival, Dance Film Day in Portland, OR, and for Triskelion's Dance Film Festival. Find Jen online here! jenroit.com, https://www.facebook.com/ArmadaDanceCompany, @jenroit, https://www.patreon.com/jenroit

Nicole Colbert Dance

Nicole Colbert is an English teacher & choreographer. She trained in modern, Simonson jazz, hip hop and ballet in New York City, London, & New Orleans, LA. She holds an MA in Dance History & Choreography from the Laban Centre in London, UK and has taught and presented her work in New York, New Orleans, London, and Russia. She is a recipient of The Classical Arts Award granted by the New Orleans Council on the Arts. Her most recent work "Russian Ballerina" was first presented in April 2016 at the Infringe Fest in New Orleans & in June 2016 in Copenhagen, DK. 

Lani Fu

Lani is the co-director of Superhero Clubhouse: a New York-based collective of artists and scientists working at the intersection of environmentalism and theater. We create fictional performances rooted in complex environmental questions, practice ecological production, and collaborate across disciplines and communities to enact a thriving society. We believe theater is an essential tool for evolving our consciousness in the face of global environmental crises. Learn more about Lani and Superhero Clubhouse here!  www.superheroclubhouse.org

Maya Kite

Maya Kite is the founder and director of Maya Kite and Dancers, a NYC modern dance company in its 5th season. Over the past five years, Maya has developed a long standing collaboration with photographer and scientist Larry Pratt, who experiments with unique lighting in dance photography. Many of the lighting techniques used in tonights performance are a result of that collaboration. Maya's works have been performed at the Alvin Ailey Citigroup Theater, Tribeca Performing Arts Center, and the Baryshnikov Arts Center in NYC, as well as in Boston, Cape Cod, Illinois, Connecticut, and Michigan. In addition to choreographing, Maya also has had the honor of dancing with Sokolow Theater Dance Ensemble under the direction of Jim May. Learn more about Maya Kite and Dancers here! www.mayakiteanddancers.com

XYC,NYC: THE DARKFEST EDITION IS THIS THURSDAY, 7/28,  AT THE TANK NYC ON 46TH STREET! 

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xyz-nyc DarkFest at The Tank

xyz, nyc is always an exciting challenge for dancers and choreographers to be paired up one week and perform a brand new piece the next week! Dark Fest edition pushes choreographers creativity even further to create a piece without using conventional lights! Sign up to dance and or choreograph in this one of a kind performance opportunity happening on Thursday July 28th.

How? SO EASY! Read the FAQ’s, fill out the form, show up and be a part of xyz Dark Fest edition! Looking forward to dancing with you!

For more info feel free to email Annalisa at xyznyc@thetanknyc.org

https://docs.google.com/forms/d/e/1FAIpQLScOmbh8ra3XMzt7hTMUpWpEVLCz2EJHqvVcZvpVwWpXHxtl7Q/viewform

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Congrats to Brandon Powers!

Brandon’s piece static/sensation won our show March 24th, and Brandon moves on to the Championship Round April 21st. Congratulations to ALL of the choreographers and dancers for a great show!

Barbara Montero and Gregory Kollarus performing static/sensation by Brandon Powers. Photo by Patrick T. Rousseau.

Want to dance for Brandon or one of our other choreographers in April, Erin Carlisle Norton or Vanessa Long? SIGN-UP HERE before April 6th!

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Sign-Ups now LIVE!

Announcing our next show- March 24th! The wonderful Anabella Lenzu will return as our guest judge.

Want to participate as a choreographer or dancer? Accepting sign-ups now until March 9th!

http://goo.gl/forms/2AGJ2KWrTe

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Choreographer Spotlight: Caitlin Cullen

Caitlin Cullen is a New York based poet of movement and performance, originally from Boise, Idaho.  She received BFA in Dance from the University of Oklahoma where she worked with choreographers such as Austin Hartel, Jesse Zaritt, Vanessa Voskuil and Ming Yang.  Most recently, Caitlin participated as a dancer and dance maker in Doug Varone’s Devices.  She has performed on film with Jaema Joy Dance and is currently working with Kathleem Helm and Dancers.  Caitlin is an activist for love and works from a perspective of compassion.

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Choreographer Spotlight- Annalisa Ledson

Annalisa is a performer, choreographer and teaching artist based in Brooklyn, a theatrical choreographer with traditional modern roots, a lover of research and in constant search of the silliness. She has created and performed in new works in NYC including; BAM Fischer Hall, HERE, Dixon Place, The 14th Street Y, The WorkShop Theatre, Joe’s Pub, Brooklyn Arts Exchange, The Chain Theatre, The Tank, Under St. Marks, Mark Morris, The Actors Fund Arts Center and Triskelion. She has also performed and choreographed at regional venues in Maine, Massachusetts and New Jersey.  As a theatre choreographer she has worked with extensively with Superhero Club House, THEATRE 4the PEOPLE, and Strange Dog Theater. A producer and artistic committee member with National Choreography Month, an annual choreographic ‘kick in the pants’ for dancers and choreographers across the country. Recipient of Acting & Choreography Awards from Drew University. Annalisa is an artistic core member of Current Harbor. So happy to return to xyz, thank you to The Tank’s awesome staff! www.annalisaledson.com

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xyz nyc is excited to be bringing back guest judge: Michael Burke for our show on October 29th!

MICHAEL BURKE is an award-winning NYC-based performance artist. He has been a member of Trinity College’s Theater & Dance Department since 2001. A recipient of All Out Arts & New Village Productions’ “Best Performance Artist of 2003” Award, Burke juxtaposes spoken text, dance, visual imagery, video, music and sound score. His solo performance works have been presented nationally and throughout NYC at venues including Dixon Place, HOT! The NYC Celebration of Queer Culture, HERE Arts Center, New Dance Alliance’s Performance Mix Series/The Joyce Soho, Highways Performance Space (Los Angeles, CA), Bronx Academy of Arts and Dance, The Nuyorican Poets Cafe, The Single File Series (Chicago, IL), The Lit Lite Series, The Philadelphia Fringe Festival, The National Gay & Lesbian Theatre Festival (Columbus, OH), Chashama, The Howl Festival,  The SEEN+HEARD Festival (Atlanta, GA), The Fresh Fruit Festival, The Meeting House Theater (Philadelphia, PA), SVCS Theater (Hailey, Idaho), Ragged Blade Productions (St. Louis, MO), Brooklyn Arts Exchange among others. In 1999, Burke performed in the New York premiere of “NEA 4” performance artist Holly Hughes, in her show “Preaching to the Perverted.” Other performance credits include the legendary Penny Arcade Spiegelworld production and“Off Stage: The East Village Fragments” by the OBIE Award-winning Peculiar Works Project, among others.

Burke is a member of New Dance Alliance’s Artist Advisory Panel, a resident artist at Dixon Place, and recipient of a 2003 Harkness Choreographer’s Grant at SUNY Purchase. He is the curator of the Moving Men series at Dixon Place. Burke has been a guest artist at New York University’s Tisch School of the Arts and taught performance workshops while touring his shows across the U.S.

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Meet the Guest Artists: Lisa Fagan Dance Problems

Lisa Fagan Dance Problems, a fancy fresh performance-generating algorithm typically operated by choreographer/performer Lisa Fagan, embarks on a new collaborative work alongside playwright/performer Milo Cramer and actor/performer Hannah Mitchell. The work, in its early stages, is called POTATO CHIP BAG/PLEASE EAT YOURSELF and it examines inanimate objects and their animate personalities, enacting the future, toys with prerecorded responses, and winning awards. Fagan/Cramer/Mitchell are working with clear, decisive narrative that is filled in with radical expressive action. The three met and began collaborating at Bard College. 

Lisa Fagan is a Brooklyn-based choreographer and dancer who wears many hats. Dance-based but undeniably acts of theater, her work plays within the modalities of dance, theater, improvisation, and radical physical nonsense. Originally from Philadelphia, Fagan’s work has been presented in New York City at HERE Arts Center, Brooklyn Arts Exchange, The 92nd St Y, Triskelion Arts, and The Theater at St Pauls. While living on the west coast, Fagan's work was produced in the San Francisco Bay Area at ODC/San Francisco, The Garage SF and Kunst-Stoff Arts. As a dancer she has performed the work of Jo Kreiter's Flyaway Productions, Jodi Melnick, Bandaloop, Rachael Lincoln, Christy Funsch, Maria Simpson, Peggy Florin, and many other artists across disciplines. She has also worked in film, dancing in music videos for artists such as Jim James (ATO Records) and Johanna Warren (Team Love Records), and will appear in an upcoming science fiction short film by Encyclopedia Pictura's Daren Rabinovitch called "Smartware." She is also the creator and director of CAMP: Collaborative Arts Mobility Project, an experimental artist residency program for working artists across disciplines. Fagan gradated from Bard College in 2011.

Lisafagandanceproblems.com

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Choreographer Spotlight:  Jimmy Nataraj Burgio

Jimmy Nataraj Burgio has been creating dance nearly all of his life. He an award winning choreographer and is the current Artistic Director of Mitra Dance Collective, a New York City based contemporary dance company. He has had two sold-out shows off Broadway ("Happenstance" and "8 Million Protagonists"),  a faculty member of the Stella Adler Conservatory of Acting where he taught yoga and movement for actors, and has been an artist in residence at Dixon Place in the LES. He continues to create and develop work with his long time creative partner Caitlin Gallo (writer/director).www.jimmynataraj.com

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Choreographer Spotlight:  Erin Carlisle Norton

Erin Carlisle Norton is Artistic Director of The Moving Architects (TMA), a nonprofit dance organization founded in Chicago in 2007 and relocated to NJ/NYC in 2013.  Erin and TMA have toured and taught nationally and internationally through the US Department of State to Tajikistan and Kyrgyzstan; Guatemala City; and throughout Morocco with the Action 5 Danse Festival and the US Embassy. Erin’s evening-length works have been performed at Chicago venues including Links Hall, The Music Institute of Chicago, and Fasseas White Box Theater; at unconventional Chicago venues such as Welles Park Tennis Courts, Church of the Epiphany, and Hyde Park Art Center; and nationally at Chez Bushwick (NYC), Wellspring Theater (MI), Columbus Dance Theater (OH), Beloit College (WI), Wilson College (PA), and Triskelion Arts (NYC) with shorter works featured at dance festivals, showings, and showcases specifically in the NYC area at UnderExposed (Dixon Place), Performance Mix Festival (HERE), South Orange Performing Arts Center, Movement Research Open Performance, Triskelion Arts, Peridance, Chez Bushwick, Making Moves Festival (Jamaica Center for the Performing Arts), and Green Space’s Take Root.  TMA is a member of Pentacle’s Gallery, an artist representation organization, with whom they have showcased at Ailey Citigroup Theater and Boston’s Green Street Studios.  Norton received a 2014 Choreographic Fellowship from the New Jersey State Council on the Arts, and the company currently produces a semi-monthly dance interview podcast series “Movers & Shapers: A Dance Podcast.”  TMA's current partnership with Shana Simmons Dance (Pittsburgh) looks at the idea of editing in dance through the project "Objective I", with performances this fall at Gibney Dance and Kelly Strayhorn Theater (Pittsburgh).  For more info: themovingarchitects.org

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xyz is back!

Sign-ups are LIVE for our fall show, Oct 29th! Our favorite October guest judge, Michael Burke, returns! 

http://xyz-nyc.tumblr.com/signup2

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Choreographer Spotlight: Macy Sullivan

Macy Sullivan (Camas, WA) is a NYC-based dancer, collaborator, and teaching artist. Her recent creations include an interactive, multimedia collaboration through The Center for Innovation in the Arts, as well as choreography for Tyne Rafaeli's A Midsummer Night's Dream at Classic Stage Company. Sullivan's work has been performed at Judson Memorial Church, The Juilliard School, The 92nd Street Y, and Jennifer Muller/The Works' HATCH. As a teaching artist, she has worked with the NYC Department of Education, Lincoln Center Education, Cayman Arts Festival, and ASTEP. Sullivan currently dances for Dance Heginbotham and The Chase Brock Experience and holds a BFA in Dance from The Juilliard School (Martha Hill Prize, John Erskine Prize, Choreographic Honors).

Macy’s Dancers: Alexandra Beaty and Stephanie Sutherland

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Choreographer Spotlight: Aimee Plauche

Aimee Plauche has been making dance/theater works in Brooklyn since 2010. She has shown work at Movement Research Open Performance, WAXworks, Spoke the Hub's Winter Follies and Local Produce Festival, with NACHMO, at the Comedy in Dance Festival at Triskelion Arts and Westfest: All Over Westbeth. In January 2015, she produced her first evening-length work, Trains and Hurricanes, which was subsequently accepted into the New Work Series at Emerging Artist Theater in Summer 2015. Aimee holds a BFA in Dance from Florida State University, teaches GYROKINESIS® and hopes to be brave one day.

Aimee’s Dancers: Martha Lavery, Barbara Montero, Mindy Toro

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Choreographer Spotlight: Vanessa Long

Vanessa Long began her journey into the arts when she was just five years old in a small town in Pennsylvania. When she was sixteen she received an opportunity to begin teaching dance at a local studio. Through teaching, she was able to start her choreography career, and she began choreographing pieces for national competitions and winning awards for her choreography. After high school she joined the Lenharts Dance Company and the UDC Dance Company where she both danced and choreographed. She also attended West Chester University where she received her BA in Theatre and Dance. After graduating from college she moved to NYC to pursue her career in choreography and directing. While in NYC she was given the opportunity to choreograph several Off Broadway Shows, Off Off Broadway Shows, Music Videos, Films and she is the Artistic Director of the Vanessa Long Dance Company LLC.

Vanessa’s Dancers: Yeujia Low, Victoria Shadle, and Miranda Wilkins

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xyz nyc is a new approach to dance-making in New York City. A cross between a choreographic laboratory and a reality tv game show, every month dancers and choreographers are randomly grouped together, and within ten days create new dances that are performed before an audience. A guest judge gives feedback to each of the choreographers, and the audience votes on their favorite dance. A winner is crowned at the end of the show, winning fame and glory and the chance of developing their new dance into a 2 night run at The Tank.

This show is part of The Tank's Dark Festival, where we turn out the lights and artists have to come up with their own power sources for lights and sound. Come see how they deal with the challenge, and help us crown a new xyz nyc winner at the same time!

This show is part of The Tank's 2015 Dark Fest! For more information, please click HERE!

This month’s lineup:

Vanessa Long, choreographer, with dancers Yeujia Low, Victoria Shadle, and Miranda Wilkins

Aimee Plauche, choreographer, with dancers Martha Lavery, Barbara Montero, and Mindy Toro

Macy Sullivan, choreographer, with dancers Alexandra Beaty and Stephanie Sutherland

Guest Judge, Mike Esperanza, will be facilitating the choreographer Q&A as well as presenting choreography.

Don’t miss this incredible dance show in the dark!