NYC’s longest-running FREE public outdoor dance festival, featuring local and international performers and dance styles from ballet to Bollywood begins Sunday, for a week.
More than 30 dance troupes perform at the 37th annual Battery Dance Festival in Battery Park, including members of NYC’s Martha Graham School and from countries including India, Canada, Botswana, Spain and Macedonia.
Performances are outdoors, on a stage overlooking New York Harbor, adding to the magic.
As in recent years, as many as six dance troupes perform in a single evening.
Here’s a recap of last year’s event, to entice you to attend this year:
Battery Dance Festival 2018 is Saturday, August 11 to Saturday, August 18, with the final performance an indoor event nearby. The indoor event requires registration to ensure space.
Closing night features the Skopje Dance Theater from Macedonia and Mophato Dance Theatre from Botswana. In addition, Battery Dance will perform a classic from its repertoire, Secrets of the Paving Stones.
All the performances are family-friendly.
New this year is the screening of a film, Moving Stories, about dancers, the first evening.
The film is at 8pm, dance performances are 7pm to 9pm in Robert F. Wagner Jr. Park in Battery Park. There are no reservations, and seating is first come first serve.
The final night theater performance is 6pm.
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There also are FREE dance workshops during the day with some of the participating dance troupes, at Battery Dance studios, 380 Broadway. Reservations are absolutely required.
The FREE closing event and performance is at 6pm, Saturday, August 19, at the Schimmel Center at Pace University. Reservations also are required for admission.
The festival was established in 1982 as the Downtown Dance Festival, and provides a unique opportunity for outstanding dancers and choreographers to present original works of high artistic merit in a free public forum.
photo of dancers from Martha Graham School courtesy Battery Dance Festival
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