The New York Baroque Dance Co.

On August 13th, 12-1:30 pm Pacific Time, the first virtual event of our workshop, Historical Dance at Play: Dance Through Time, will honor first generation teachers in early dance in the United States. Wendy Hilton, Shirley Wynne, Julia Sutton, Ingrid Brainard, Angene Feves, Sandra Noll Hammond and Richard Powers will be celebrated by today’s teachers in the field who were introduced to historical dance by these groundbreaking scholars.

Although Wendy Hilton is actually a 3rd generation teacher from England, she was a pioneer in early dance once she moved to the United States in the 1960’s. Linda Tomko will talk about her work with Wendy including the Stanford summer workshop, Pendragon Press and more. Shirley Wynne studied the sources directly in the 1960’s (she choreographed Rameau’s Pygmalion in 1969). Avoiding being mentored by others, she wished to develop a unique perspective. 

Catherine Turocy will speak about her work with Shirley in the 1970’s as a student at The Ohio State University and then as a member of her Baroque Dance Ensemble, the first professional Baroque dance company in the US. 

Sandra Noll Hammond was inspired by the work of these first generation teachers and she, herself, became a pioneer in the research and reconstruction of early 19th century ballet technique and performance. The early dance scene was a small group when it started and there was a lot of interplay between the teachers. Additional speakers for this event are Talitha MacKenzie on Julia Sutton, Debra Sowell on Ingrid Brainard and Carol Teten on Angene Feves and Richard Powers.

We hope to see you at this virtual event! Registration Here

We are busy preparing for our first Hybrid workshop which will be hosted by Marin Ballet in San Rafael, California. It opens with a virtual Zoom conversation where leaders in our field reminisce about the 1960’s-1980’s beginnings of the early dance movement in the United States. Hear about Shirley Wynne, Wendy Hilton, Ingrid Brainard and others. This will be on August 13th.

On Saturday and Sunday we will be teaching 15 in-person students in the courtyard of Marin Ballet on a special canopied platform where we will all be able to breathe fresh air and dance together. At the same time these classes will be broadcast live via zoom for those who are not able to join us this summer.

We are looking forward to this new design for a summer workshop. How will this format move into the future. I do not know…but your involvement this year could give us valuable feedback for planning.

I hope you will join us! Read more at https://nybaroquedance.org/historical-dance-at-play-crossing-borders/

When the lockdown came for Covid-19 we knew we had to do something to keep our community together and to offer a respite from the daily forecasts of doom. It was Caroline Copeland, an Associate Director with the NYBDC who stepped up to the plate. She offered a free weekly zoom class on Baroque Basics which would be of interest to the beginner as well as the advanced students. Her compassion and love of historical dance was a balm to all who joined the New York Baroque Dance Zoom Class. On this, the day of the 60th class, Caroline has created this video to say thank you for joining us. In turn, we wish to thank Caroline for her steady presence in our lives.

Donations through this class are going to the Dancer Fund to help the NYBDC dancers who have been left with no work because of cancelations due to Covid. https://www.paypal.com/donate/?cmd=_s-xclick&hosted_button_id=AXNPMX4KZXFJJ&source=url&fbclid=IwAR1C7lT1_WNBA98fUWW4hZo4pP5ajmxujnpSyVyzwGhzalEn6Q9vutiV_YE

Please keep watch on our calendar as work begins to come in for 2022.

https://conta.cc/3lcOyjS

From our Artistic Director, Catherine Turocy

I invite you to see us live in person or live on the internet. Matthew Ting, Carly Fox , Marques Furr, Sierra Noelle Jones and I will be dancing March 20th with the Dallas Bach Society in Dallas at Zion Lutheran Church on Lovers Lane and Skillman. Covid inspired me to put together a concert of masked character solos, thus the name of the concert: Les Caractères de la Danse.

As Pierrot, I will be performing Les Caractères de la Danse with music by Jean Fery Rebel.. Other characters include Apollo, a Bacchante, an Ostrich, a man with 3 legs, Harlequin and Columbine, a Blindfolded Juggler and a village woman carrying someone on her back in a basket.

Click here for more information and tickets: http://www.ticketdfw.com/presenters/dallas-bach-society/

Catch us at The Flurry Festival this weekend!
Travels of the Contradanse: the French Connection

Saturday on Zoom 7:15pm EST

Join four of North America’s leading experts for a presentation outlining a fascinating journey through the evolution of the French contra dance, from the court dances of Baroque France, to the French Canadian and Haitian square dances, and then to NYC where queer and gender neutral approaches are becoming common place. This is an interactive session with square sequences and patterns through the Baroque, Quebecois, Haitian, and gender neutral forms with footwork, body movement, and music specific to each culture.  NYBDC teachers Catherine Turocy and Sarah Edgar will be joined by Marcea Daiter and Jane Peck.
This is a huge contradance festival

!Info on our presentation
Event Schedule
Tickets

Study Materials for the French Contredanse, Greensleeves section, from Catherine Turocy
Questions? Contact me by email : cturocy@gmail.com

For the Beginner:
For the furthur improvement of dancing : a treatise of choreography or ye art of dancing country dances
after a new character, in which the figures, steps & manner of performing are describ’d, & ye rules
demonstrated in an easie method adapted to the meanest capacity. Translated from the French of
Monsr. Feuillet, and improv’d with many additions, all fairly engrav’d on copper plates, and a new
collection of country dances describ’d in ye same character by Iohn Essex, dancing master. London, 1710
(very basic look at steps and notation, plus beautifully geometrical contredanses)
https://www.loc.gov/resource/muspre1800.100095/?st=gallery

Simple notation style of minuets for various numbers of people:
An essay for the further improvement of dancing, being a collection of figure dances, of several numbers,
compos’d by the most eminent masters; describ’d in characters after the newest manner of Monsieur
Feuillet, London 1711
https://www.loc.gov/resource/musdi.134.0/?st=gallery

Dance notation for Les Manches Vertes, 1706:
https://www.loc.gov/resource/musdi.070.0/?sp=48

Les Manches Vertes video with walking and skipping steps
(1) Les Manches Vertes – YouTube

Wednesdays:  New York Baroque Dance Company Zoom Class at 12 Noon EST, Open Levels Baroque Dance Practice Class, Drop-ins are welcome. Taught by Caroline Copeland to benefit the Dancers Fund. Class is free but donations are appreciated. Join our Face Book Group: https://www.facebook.com/groups/NYBDCZoomClass/?source_id=79845890269

Baroque Beauty Workout on Wednesdays at 1:30pm EST is an exercise class to Baroque music which focuses on muscle tone for correct posture, balance and a graceful carriage of the body. Burn calories while shaping your body, finding correct posture, and learning how to move with your own grace and confidence.

https://cturocy.wordpress.com/classes/

Saturdays: Dance of the Month directed by Catherine Turocy from 2:30-4 Central Time… A new Dance begins every first Saturday of the month with an option to continue to learn the entire dance. More Information and Registration

Lecture: The CanCan, a social dance on August 8, 2020

Celebrating the 100th anniversary of the Women’s Vote in the US, it is a perfect time to look across the ocean to Paris and discover the Parisian social dance CanCan (not the later stage one by chorines). This wild and crazy story of the outdoor dance gardens of Paris, Carnival time rule-breaking, and emerging women’s emancipation passes by quickly as one admires the sleuthing of Richard Powers and his dynamic lectures!

It is not too late to sign up for this zoom lecture by Richard. Join us at Historical Dance at Play: Welcome Home, produced by The New York Baroque Dance Company. Tuition for the full workshop is only $25.

Click the link and scroll down to Paypal. Once you have paid you will be registered and Jennifer Meller will be in contact with the link and more details.

https://nybaroquedance.org/historical-dance-at-play-welcome-home/

Hope to see you on Saturday!

Join us this weekend on Sunday, August 9th and experience Haitian, Cuban, French,Spanish and English culture fused into one dance form, the contredanse of the late 18th century in the French colonies. Marcea Daiter and I have been working since we first met in the late 1990’s, producing workshops and performances inspired by colonial artists in the Caribbean including Joseph Boulogne also known as the Chevalier de Saint Georges. We are delighted to have her again at our workshop on zoom.

Class Description:

Haitian/Cuban Baroque Dance Class 

When Africans were brought to Haiti and Cuba as slaves, they carried their rituals and cultural traditions. Songs and dances from many parts of Africa mixed and fused, creating new expressions as they began to incorporate French and Spanish colonial culture. Daiter is one of the few dancer/scholars working with this historical material which she will share with students through her dance class.

This class will be followed by a lecture from Joan Walton whom we are delighted to have as a teacher at our workshop for the first time!

Lecture: Fusion dances, when two cultures collide.

African dance/Colonial dance and its evolution in the New World. Both North and South America participated in the transportation and enslavement of Africans in the Americas. The resulting fusion dance forms evolved into dramatically different forms from North to South America. Trace the history of the Samba, the Lindy Hop, and other fusion forms as they evolve from the complicated combinations of African and European dances.

Tuition for the workshop is only $25. For more details and to register click here: https://nybaroquedance.org/historical-dance-at-play-welcome-home/

The NYBDC hopes to continue its work in this area: https://nybaroquedance.org/gallery-and-videos/soiree-baroque-en-haiti/