The 42nd Annual Battery Dance Festival Releases Full Line-Up
Reaching both local and international audiences, the Festival promotes Battery Dance's mission of connecting the world through dance.
Battery Dance will celebrates the 42nd Anniversary of its free summer festival from August 12-18, 2023, in partnership with Battery Park City Authority. The 42nd Annual Battery Dance Festival will feature in-person and live-streamed performances staged each night at Rockefeller Park, Battery Park City, New York City at 7PM ET, with a rain date on 8/19. Reaching both local and international audiences, the Festival promotes Battery Dance's mission of connecting the world through dance.
For more information, visit batterydance.org/battery-dance-festival/
Battery Dance Festival, New York City's longest-running free public dance festival, was established by Battery Dance as the Downtown Dance Festival in 1982. Pre-pandemic, it drew audiences of approximately 2,000 people each night in its iconic setting at Robert F. Wagner, Jr. Park.
The Festival went virtual in 2020, attracting 30,000 viewers across 206 countries. In 2021, it ran as a hybrid model with over 10,000 in-person and over 21,000 virtual audience members. This year, the Festival welcomes in-person and live-streamed audiences from a new location at Rockefeller Park.
"When Super Storm Sandy flooded lower Manhattan, Battery Park City Authority reached out a helping hand, providing a beautiful site for the Battery Dance Festival which we've all enjoyed every summer since 2013. With the prospect of rising seas in future, BPCA is enacting a pro-active resiliency plan, lifting Wagner Park up to 12 feet, making it inaccessible this summer. But fear not! BPCA has invited us to move to Rockefeller Park this summer where we'll benefit from the large lawn and river-front views, as we bask in the glow of performances by local and international companies." - Jonathan Hollander, Founder and Artistic Director of Battery Dance.
August 15, 2023 at Rockefeller Park
India Independence Day
Rudrakshya Foundation (India), Kali Krishna, NYC debut
Rudrakshya Foundation, an all-male professional troupe and school founded in 2000 by choreographer Guru Sri Bichitrananda Swain, hails from Bhubaneswar, capital of the eastern coastal Indian State of Odisha. The ancient classical dance form of Odissi to which Rudrakshya is dedicated, is depicted in the carvings of ancient Hindu temple friezes in Puri, Bhubaneswar, Konark and Cuttack. Guru Bichitrananda received training from the pre-eminent guru of Odissi, Padma Vibhushan Kelucharan Mohapatra and his leading disciple Sujata Panigrahi.and passes on his learnings and his choreographic creations to young men in the traditional form of teacher and students living and learning together. Rudrakshya has been presented in festivals and theaters throughout India and on tour in Europe, Asia and North America. This is the troupe's first appearance in New York City and celebrates Indian Independence Day, with sponsorship from the Consulate General of India in New York and State Bank of India - New York.
SUPPORT FOR THE 2023 BATTERY DANCE FESTIVAL
Battery Park City Authority is Battery Dance's partner in presenting the annual Battery Dance Festival. Public Funds have been contributed by New York City Department of Cultural Affairs in partnership with the New York City Council; New York State Council on the Arts with the support of Governor Kathy Hochul and the New York State Legislature; and New York City Council member Christopher Marte's Office. Generous support has been provided by The Consulate General of Canada in New York, Dutch Culture USA at the Consulate General of the Kingdom of the Netherlands in New York and Fonds Podiumkunsten / Performing Arts Fund NL, National Institute of Music and Dance as part of the "PolandDances / Tournée" program, Ministry of Culture and National Heritage Poland, State Bank of India, The Consulate General of India in New York, The Royal Norwegian Consulate General, Romanian Cultural Institute, UNATC, unteatru Theatre, The Harkness Foundation for Dance, Weill Cornell Medicine, and many individual donors.
Jul. 24, 2023
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