(SUMMIT, NJ) -- On July 27, the INKUBATE® dance installation performance series continues with a world premiere by New Jersey Dance Theatre Ensemble (NJDTE) Artistic Director Nancy Turano featuring live music. Sponsored in part by a grant NJDTE received from the Summit Area Public Foundation (SAPF), INKUBATE® is a collaborative endeavor between the Ensemble and Reeves-Reed Arboretum, two Summit-based non-profit organizations.
The initiative provides choreographic residencies at NJDTE’s new 8,800 square foot facility for contemporary dance artists, and culminates in outdoor performances at the Arboretum this summer. During their NJDTE residencies, the curated INKUBATE® dance artists and choreographers investigate movement in a think-tank that enables them to grow their ideas into a body of work. In turn, these artists give back by choreographing and/or performing at one of the site-specific INKUBATE® dance events.
“The vision is to make INKUBATE® a renowned summer dance festival and to establish Summit as a destination for dance and culture in the region.” NJDTE Artistic Director Nancy Turano said.
On July 27, Turano will collaborate with Val Vigoda, an accomplished electric violinist, to present a new work that explores the interplay of live music with the sounds of nature, along with aesthetic sculptural movement. The performance will feature approximately 35 pre-professional dancers ages 13-17 from NJDTE’s Summer Dance Intensive.
For the final performance on August 31, master guest choreographer Elizabeth Roxas, a legendary dancer with Alvin Ailey American Dance Theater, will create an imaginative work inspired by new water sculptures commissioned by the Arboretum, with movement that reflects the flow and power of water. A multigenerational cast of professional and pre-professional dance artists from NJDTE and New York City will collaborate with Roxas for this installation.
The first performance in the series, on June 22, was met with rave reviews from audience members. It featured a series of intimate duets and trios by emerging contemporary choreographers including Patrick Coker of Jessica Lang Dance in New York City; NJDTE alumni and 2016 AiR® Program choreographers-in-residence Samuel Asher Kunzman of Peridance Contemporary Dance Company and Juilliard School graduate Magdalyn Segale; and Kacey Katzenmeyer of the Ailey/Fordham BFA Program.
In 2015, NJDTE & Reeves-Reed Arboretum successfully collaborated to present the first installment of INKUBATE® with “After the Rain,” a one-hour original site-specific dance installation work at the Arboretum. Performed by over 35 NJDTE dancers and Shannon Gillen’s VIM VIGOR dance theater company from New York City, it received a tremendous response from an audience of approximately 150 arts enthusiasts from the New Jersey and Summit area communities.
Turano & Reeves-Reed Arboretum Executive Director Frank Juliano’s vision for 2016 is to develop a comprehensive festival that creates a connection between nature and art as moving human sculptures. Each performance is a participatory event, inviting theattendees tomove within and through the garden locations. The audience thereby becomes a part of the Arboretum’s unique natural landscape, enhancing the open space with three-dimensional human movement.
Photo: Kacey Katzenmeyer & Joey Columbus in Katzenmeyer’s “After the Bloom” at INKUBATE® on June 22. Credit: Narratography by Anthony Johnson
