Questioning the Dance Form

Attending the CINARS Biennale in Montreal, Canada was an exciting immersion into the Montreal and European dance market.  The Biennale was comprised of exhibitors, presenters, and observers attending a host of panels, discussions, pitches, performances, parties and more, including a trade show floor with hundreds of booths.  The offerings varied from circus, to theater, some music, and mostly dance.  The venues ranged from small studios, to theaters of all sizes, old and new, modern and classical, even skating rinks, circus warehouses and opera houses.  Traversing the city by shuttles, taxi, and foot was an adventure - I am thankful for google maps!

Naturally for me what was most striking was the dance performances, and the extent to which the performative dance form was questioned and pushed.  Repetition, duration, explorations of physicality, exhaustion, nudity, and sexuality were most present.  Multiple themes rolled into one show that kept going and going - not sure what some of them amounted to in the end!  I noticed this trend while attending a conference in Bulgaria last June.  There was definitely not much dancey dance - if any at all!  And it was very different stylistically from dance in NYC and the US in many respects.

Performance by Toronto Dance Theater

Seventeen plus performances were viewed, it was hard to keep track of them all!  It was inspiring to see such varied work, and discuss the performances with colleagues in the field.  The attendees were very friendly and warm, which was a welcomed experience.  I made new friends and contacts, and look forward to continuing conversations and potential collaborations and exchanges in the years to come.

— Valerie

Witnessing The Process Behind the Curtain by Natalia Sanchez

Photo by Dew Rattanas

When I first arrived to New York at 20 years of age I was so eager to find community and learn all things dance related, I aspired to one day put my skills into action. Three years later after my arrival to the US and after graduating from the Certificate Program at Peridance Center I found Green Space. 

I had my first encounter with Green Space by participating in their Fertile Ground Series in October 2023, where I showcased a solo performed by a friend of mine. Later that evening I meet Valerie Green. 

Since then I’ve worked alongside Valerie as Programs Manager at her studio. I got to take on and to learn various roles such as; Box Office, House Manager, facilitated communications amongst artists, Social Media management, Photographer and Videographer. And even a guest dancer in Splash! All of which, have gifted me a new perspective as an artist. 

Helping artists to bring their vision into the stage is a magical act often overlooked by the spectators, with Green Space I was lucky enough to witness the process behind the curtain. 

Valerie has been a mentor and an indispensable figure in my dance career not only as a dancer and choreographer but also as an arts administrator. The knowledge that I’ve received and the artists I’ve exchanged conversations with since working at Green Space is something that I will always carry with me. The willingness that Valerie Green has to help artists to further develop their craft is beyond limits. She is the perfect example of excellence and perseverance that women in the arts hold, especially in New York City. 

As I exit my position as Programs Manager at Green Space I want to thank not only Valerie, but the Valerie Green/ Dance Entropy dancers, the artists at our Take Root and Fertile Ground series for trusting me with your creative vision. 

Thanks to Green Space for opening their doors and for being a home to many in the creative field.

Summer Intensive Immersion!

Intensive Class & Performance Photos

Our 15th Annual VG/DE 2024 Summer Intensive at Green Space has come to a close and we’re currently reflecting on the moments that made a week as special.

Our exciting 7-day program consisted of a variety of classes, from Contemporary Technique, Improvisation and Yoga-Lates, to Valerie Green's Skimming the Surface, to our companies' Repertory/Performance Lab class that culminated in a studio performance where our participants presented an excerpt of our newest piece RITE to an enthusiastic and supportive audience of friends and family.

“I was honored to teach repertory in this year's intensive. The participants worked their butts off. It was very rewarding to see them improve day to day, over the course of the week. By the end, they not only had 21 minutes of choreography that they performed (with vigor!), but gelled as a group of movers and friends." 
- VG/DE Company Member / Repertory Faculty Aidan Feldman

The student’s willingness to try new forms of moving, transformed the room info a safe movement space where curiosity was sparked and the discovery for various pathways of dance ignited.

“Teaching improvisation in VG/DE’s summer intensive put me in my favorite intersection to inhabit - an exploratory space in which I can challenge, question, and deepen my own pedagogical/artistic practice, as well as a space of service and collaboration, specifically with helping the students access more ease in inhabiting the repertory’s improvisatory moments. I felt a clear sense of personal development as much as I felt appropriately integral to the program as a whole, and the students’ receptiveness was a breath of fresh air amid the city summer heat.”  - VG/DE Company Member, Improvisation Faculty Jonathan Matthews-Guzmán 

This long running program is open to the public and in collaboration with local CUNY Schools in offering scholarships to developing dancers in need of support. Each year offers different educational offerings and instructors to keep it fresh! We are delighted to have served so many local students over the years in such a valuable summer program.

“I am feeling thankful that I got to be a part of a wonderful opportunity to become stronger and learning to be more present and aware of my weaknesses, physicality, and emotions. I feel like I have a lot more skills to work with to be the best version of myself.”
- Student Testimonial

Burning In & Burning Out in Bulgaria!

Hello VG/DE Blog Readers as I report on my latest overseas dance adventure...

I am writing on the plane, returning from representing Dance Entropy in Eastern Europe, where I enthusiastically joined over 400 international arts leaders in the 2024 IETM Plenary meeting in Sofia, Bulgaria!

The journey kicked off with an intimate 30 person, pre-conference excursion to Veliko Turnovo and Gabrovo with an immersion into grassroots cultural performance spaces. We then joined the other attendees in Sofia, which included performing artists, producers, managers, and presenters from across the globe. This important meeting is held in a different European country annually and focuses on the hosts arts scene while highlighting the local performers. 

This year's event was headquartered at one of Sofia's newest and most exciting multi-stage arts center Toplocentrala. The Bulgarian talent presented included an exciting mix of dance, drama and physical theater, puppetry, circus, interactive, and multi-disciplinary performing arts. Besides the main venue the performances were taking place in diverse venues throughout the city and outside, it was exciting to traverse Sofia on the hunt for these obscure spaces, while breathing in the city streets and atmosphere (thank god for google maps:).

In addition to an offering of 6 one of kind performances per day, I think I saw a total of 12 on this trip. There were panels, meetings, and talks on a variety of subjects relevant to the field.  This year's focus/theme was BURN IN, BURN OUT.  What is it we burn for? What is it we are burned out from? Generally, we found that everyone is burned out from something, alongside being "burned in" or excited about something else in the meantime. There was a lot of connection and understanding as we all resonated with each other and the sentiments shared.

All in all, it was a great experience, meeting local arts makers, their unique venues, the work, and how it differs from what is presented in NYC and the US. It was exciting and refreshing for me to witness so much diverse art making, and return to the Balkans, where I have spent much time in the past.  Besides picking what shows I wanted to see, or talks, as many overlapped, was the ongoing meeting and connecting with the other attendees from around the world. There was much to talk about, network and connect on, as we shared food, drinks and local sites together.

It was a jammed packed week, I leave feeling inspired by the work I witnessed, by the people I met, conversations, and hopefully potential future collaborations!

Introducing Sophia Diehl, VG/DE’s newest Company Member!

The nourishing space that Valerie Green/Dance Entropy cultivates for emerging artists became the springboard to my professional dance career in New York City. In Spring 2023, I participated as a choreographer in the DIG program. Through the mentorship of moderators and feedback from peers, I developed a 10-minute solo that helped me to hone my artistic voice and sink into new ways of generating movement. Performing my solo, Sullen Roots, at Green Space expanded my confidence as a dance-maker and inspired me to continue finding ways to create and share work. 

The connections I formed with wonderful choreographers throughout the DIG process opened opportunities for work as a dancer. I began performing with Clymene Aldinger, a DIG cohort member, and Chris Ferris, one of our moderators. Valerie Green invited me to dance as a guest artist in her new site-specific work, Clepsydra, a physical investigation into water, time and environment. Valerie originally choreographed Clepsydra around a water sculpture at Socrates Sculpture Park. I loved taking part in this dynamic process of transferring choreography to an outdoor environment and working with live musicians. The day of the performance was joyful and community-filled. 

We have since had two more opportunities to reset and perform Clepsydra at Gantry Plaza State Park and at the New York Hall of Science. Each rendition has challenged me as an artist to find new connections with the natural environment through our movement. I’ve also enjoyed seeing how audience members warmly receive the piece. The audience of our most recent performance was filled with kids who were enchanted by the interactive animation projected on the walls! 

Becoming a cast member of Clepsydra has folded me into a beautiful community of other dancers who I admire for both their artistry and their character. This piece is performed by a diverse cast in which every dancer is able to express their authenticity. This artistic individuality is another reason I have come to love Green Space and feel that it is an essential asset to our NYC dance community.

VG/DE Teaching Artist Spotlight on Lawson Pinder

Working as a Teaching Artist, and Dancer with VG/DE has helped me tremendously in growing as an Artist. In helping me keep with my motto, “in learning you will teach, in teaching you will learn”.

Imparting all the knowledge that I’ve acquired through my experience as a Performing Artist and a Teaching Artist, is one of the great joys I get out of doing what I love. Which is bringing an experience to children, and adults alike that may not have had the opportunity to explore. 

The Home residency, this year has been pretty eventful! The kids were excited, some of them remembered me from last year! A few of the students, were very eager to share some of their dance experiences with me. Seeing their little eyes, light up when I came on stage was so heart-warming, we had a journey together, moving from being in the classroom with them to being on stage in front of them.

This year I also worked with High Schoolers at Scholars Academy in Far Rockaway. My experience with teaching high school is usually almost like pulling teeth, we all know how high school students are... “cause we’re cool”  But This high school - they are ready and so eager to learn and dance they’re so involved it sometimes seems unreal. The energy that I receive for these students just heightens my passion as a Teaching Artist.

I want to say in the past 14 years I have created a mission and refined it, which is to be the voice of encouragement and guidance, for the youth.

I like to sometimes see myself as a “initiator of passion”. Majority of the humans that cross my path love my stories of where I’ve been, or what I’ve been through to get to where I am today. It just really inspires them to not be afraid of taking a risk, take a chance they really never know what will happen.

There are so many examples, but just happened recently at one of the schools I’m doing a residency at.

Story time:-

There’s this little girl no more than 11/12 I want to say she wasn’t even in my dance class but just hanging out, and I noticed she was playing around.

​A lot of interesting voices just flowed from her. After “kikiing” with her for a bit I suggested she should look into becoming a voice over actor, of course she has no clue what I was talking about. Fast forward a few weeks, maybe a month of getting to know her and answering her questions about voiceover and acting, she came to me just last week and said her mom is looking to enroll her in a voice over acting class to try it out.

So, yeah that one example, of what I get out of what I do and why I love being a Teaching Artist. I’m just grateful that VG/DE took that chance on me to continue my mission, and to enhance VG/DE community outreach program.

Lawson

HOME - Neighborhood School Series - Celebrate the beauty of diversity

HOME takes young audiences on a journey around the world to explore the concept of home. Through a combination of colorful costumes, lively music, and participation, children are transported to different countries and cultures, gaining a deeper understanding of what home means to people from diverse backgrounds and giving them time to reflect on what home means to them.

The show features dances from Sweden, India, Burkina Faso West Africa, and the USA, showcasing the rich traditions and unique movements of each culture. From the energetic rhythms of Colombia to the graceful movements of India, the children were captivated by the variety of styles and expressions on display and delighted to try the movements on their own bodies.

One of the highlights of the performance is the opportunity for audience participation, allowing children to join in the fun and learn some basic dance steps themselves. This interactive element not only keeps kids engaged but also encourages them to appreciate the art form of dance and its ability to bring people together.

HOME is not just a dance performance – it is a celebration of diversity, unity, and the universal desire for belonging. By exposing children to different cultures and perspectives, the show promotes empathy, understanding, and a sense of global citizenship.

As part of our neighborhood school series, HOME is offered free of charge to schools in the community, making it accessible to all students regardless of their background or financial circumstances. Dance Entropy is committed to providing high-quality arts experiences for young audiences, and HOME is a shining example of our dedication to promoting cultural exchange and artistic expression.

 Let's celebrate the beauty of diversity and the power of dance to connect us all, no matter where we call home.

Take Root Spotlight: Jeeno Joseph Nadanam Collective

“Your support and commitment to showcasing diverse talents make a significant impact on the arts community. The experience has been invaluable, and we are grateful for the exposure and connections it has brought our way.”

— Jeeno Joseph

Take Root is a monthly curated series that supports dance makers by providing an opportunity to present a paired evening of work. The impact Jeeno Joseph Nadanam Collective made on audiences last week was profound.

Today we are shining a spotlight on Jeeno and his experience at Take Root.

Jeeno Joseph Nadanam Collective’s work explores Bharatanatyam. An Indian classical dance from the southern Indian state of Tamil Nadu. “As a first generation Malayali - American born to parents who emigrated from Kerala to New York, I’ve often felt a lack of representation for the Malayalam language within the Bharatanatyam repertoire. Through this work I hope to explore the beauty of Malayalam musical compositions, poetry, culture and rhythms through the traditional Indian dance form of Bharatanatyam.”

“It was an honor to be a part of such a beautiful event, and I am truly appreciative of the platform you provided for our performance.”

— Jeeno Joseph

Photos by David Rauch

Come to Take Root and support our March artists Grant Jacoby & Dancers and Althea Dance Company.

Purchase tickets here

Stepping into Rikers Island, and Out

Mask drawings from Skimming the Surface participants

Stepping into Rikers Island, and Out

By Valerie Green

On my many journeys throughout NYC offering my signature workshop Skimming the Surface since 2013 I have worked in halfway houses, homeless shelters, substance abuse centers, work release programs, Queens Public Library, NYC Correctional facilities among many others. Each opportunity is its own adventure that can be beautiful, challenging, and/or profound. My latest visit to Rikers Island on January 24th, came after a several year hiatus, due to the pandemic. I was pleased to receive an email from Rose M. Singer's House Programs Manager asking for my return to share this valuable workshop with the inmates of this all-female house. After many visits to Rikers I think I finally got down almost all the rules of getting in and getting out of Rikers as vendor, how does no one teach you this? The first time back in 2017 was an intense and intimidating free fall learning curve. I was relieved all went smoothly, as I was received and guided through many detectors, gates, and check points to the prison’s gymnasium. I was greeted by 10 inmates who thought they were going to make a dance performance! They soon learned they were really going to be entering a journey into themselves to move and process emotions. While there was most certainly the strong defenses and ego masks to attempt to penetrate of this diverse group, the impact was real. We explored our bodies in movement, breath, our boundaries, letting go, seeing and being seen, while finding our voices. We explored what the inmates wanted to moving forward to, identified our resources to feel better, AND the limitations and gifts of our mask. This unique and very different experience for the innates was a journey they didn't quite expect, but were welcomed to receive by class end. The most meaningful exercise for all was finding "what to move forward to" when you are stuck inside a prison. Through our time together there were tears, small and large, flowing releasing, and shedding, and the eventual moments of showing a glimpse of the real self. This deep exploration all among an unusual flow of correctional facility staff as spectators, as I led the inmates to explore their very personal fears and sorrows. As we sat in our final circle sharing, what was most real was some amount of connection that finally landed, and the gratitude the inmates had for my presence and generosity in offering this experience inside the infamous wall of Rikers. For a couple of innates I was their first visitor. They all felt better and more relaxed, had a flicker of hope to look for inside themselves, and new tools to work with for the hard moments, that undoubtedly will continue to come.

As I drove off, and felt my own body and breath, I took stock of the successful experience, and once again felt honored to do this healing work. I am inspired by the power of movement, the capacity of the human mind and spirit, and the opportunity to keep connecting to myself.

“It really helped, today I was in my feelings”

“It feels good to think about my struggles and how I can work to achieve past them”

This program is supported by The NYC Department of Cultural Affairs in partnership with the City Council.

“RITE” and Reflection

The healing ceremony and meditative ritual, “RITE,” made an impact on audience members gathered at the Queens Public Library, Hunters Point on Monday December 11th. 

 This physical dance work, performed by 6 men, invites the audience to not only witness the performers on a journey through their internal struggles but also to participate in their own ritual of letting go. The vulnerability of the performers was palatable creating a visceral experience for the audience and drawing them deeply into the piece. Viewing the work, along with participating in this ritual, had a profound effect on audience members in attendance.  

 At the talkback, led directly after the performance, by Artistic Director, Valerie Green, our lively conversation allowed audience members and performers alike to reflect on their experience. The dancers shared their thoughts on the opportunity to perform in a company of men in a piece in which they are asked to be unguarded, to let down what is expected of them as men in society. This rare circumstance was noted by the audience as well ‘It’s not often we see men without their mask’. One audience member was moved when invited to participate in the work. ‘All our lives we hold on to pain and hurt. What if we could consciously let it go?’.  

 Hear about RITE, the work and process from each dancer in a sneak-peak below! 

Aidan Feldman: “This piece is physically demanding, and it's an interesting challenge to try and pace myself as we go through it. At the climax of the piece, we are meant to reach a point of peak exhaustion and collapse - the trick is not collapsing too early, while also not being too precious in conserving energy and holding back.   That balance within the piece is a regular reminder of a larger theme of the work, which is struggle with the self. 

Johnny Matthews III:  “I have found this work to be a physical and mental representation of pushing through difficulty to find shared humanity and unity between us performers. As a performer, Rite asks me to dissolve my facades and go through a journey of discovery into my essential, animal self. Riding the waves of this work as we show it to new audiences allows me to discover more depth within the choreography.”    

 Tsubasa Nishioka: “In the process of creating this piece, I learned that immersion in the piece and the dancer become one, it's a feeling I always feel when working with this company. By thinking more deeply, you can improve your understanding of the work and make your expressions more concrete.  I felt how interesting it was that when the dancers unified their sense of purpose, their respective paths of life intersected through the work and they were moving in the same direction.” 

 Lawson Pinder: “I related to one moment in RITE "the take downs", more than anything else.  And I know life really "do be throwing curve balls" but it's up to us what we do with those detours, either stay down or get back up. “ 

Richard Scandola: “Working on Rite had been challenging for me on multiple levels, physically, mentally and emotionally. It is a 45-minute-long work that doesn’t really stop, and you need to be in it so deeply at all times, in connection with the movement and the intentions while being interconnected with your own story.  I am getting into it so deeply that it is triggering part of me that needs healing. So strongly that I would start crying on stage or backstage after ending it, releasing the scars of the traumas. I believe that dance, like any other art form, has the power to heal. To heal the one performing it and the one watching it” 

 Ethan Schweitzer-Gaslin: “RITE is truly a journey. It is both physically demanding to dance and has the power to elicit emotional reactions from those dancing it and those watching it. But at the end, we are left with a unique sense of peace in our own bodies and a unique sense of understanding of the experiences of those who danced with us.” 

 “RITE” will continue to make an impact on audiences across New York this year. Please join us in this ritual of Letting Go at The Center @ West Park, on Feb. 29-March 2! Save the Date! 

December Take Root presents Marie Lloyd Paspe and Almasphere, this season's Late Stage Mertz Gilmore Grantee!

“The story is older than my body, my mother’s, my grandmother’s. For years we have been passing it on so that it may live, shift, and circulate. So that it may become larger than its proper measure, always larger than its own in-significance.” - Trinh T. Minh-ha

'bumalik,' the Tagalog word for 'return,’ is a performance installation series of dynamic bamboo that centers the profound power of imagined memories as the gateway to returning home. The co-creators share that the work, revolving around the sculpture ‘sirkulo,' "... re-imagines the relationship between the brown Asian body and environment as sites of trauma, reorientation, then liberating transmutation. Our transformation of ‘sirkulo’ explores the disorientation and reorientation of the peripheral Filipina, shaped by geographical migrant stories of our mothers and our psychological migrations out of and into ourselves."

Marie Lloyd Paspe is a Filipina-American dance/vocal performer, choreographer, director, writer and educator. She is interested in collaborative Filipinx-American diasporic identity work within spaces of memory, fascia and time, igniting 'kapwa' (Tagalog for “shared one-ness”). Her work to re-root the small, brown body through movement/vocal forms juxtaposes patrionormative white-dominated spaces. She is Bessie-awarded for choreographic contributions to Bill T. Jones/Arnie Zane Company, 2024 Target Margin Theatre Institute Fellow, 2023 Gallim Moving Artist Resident, and 2022 Jadin Wong Fellow. Recent features include film in Taikang Space (Beijing), MASS MoCA, TOPAZ Arts, and press in The New York Times and Fjord Review.

The performance will utilize designs created alongside Almasphere. Almasphere creates atmospheres through large-scale sculpture and installation, inviting individuals to commune with inner worlds, ritualize with community, and embark with the cosmos. Sabrina Herbosa Reyes, Filipina-American architect, sculptor and movement artist, draws from Filipinx cosmology and memory to conjure extensions of environments into and out of bodies. Antonio Giovanni Rivera, the son of a Puerto Rican, ignites architectural experiences as modes of universal language. Their cross-cultural collaboration encourages the exploration of building spaces that evoke intuition and curiosity. Their work was shown in Mexico City, Brooklyn and Queens.

Paspe, Reyes and Rivera come together to build highly imaginative environments that transform and ignite each discipline into transcendence and potentiality. Sculpture and architecture imprint on the skin of those moving and making sound, cyclically impacting the skin of their diasporic landscapes.

Click here to watch a trailer of bumalik!

Performances take place December 8th and 9th at 8:00pm. Advance sale tickets are $20 online purchased here. Tickets purchased at door will be $25 cash or card."

Retreating to Nature: A Movement Healing Workshop in Rowe, MA, Nov. 10-12

I’m so happy for the opportunity to present Skimming the Surface: Movement Healing Workshop at the Rowe Center this November 10-12.

Leaving home for a retreat of any kind can often seem like a significant use of time and money, but if the resources and time are available, being able to escape can magnify the benefits of a workshop. Time away from the stress of home, immersed in a different lifestyle, is already deeply beneficial to anyone feeling the need for change – whether it’s from overstimulation or boredom. A change of pace is additionally vital for anyone living in the city, where the harsh environment can harden us and put us out of touch with our emotions.

The workshop uses both physical and emotional exercises to release repressed feelings of stress. We’ll use multiple tools to embody healing and grow both as individuals and as a group. And what better environment to facilitate healing than three days away from the stress of daily life at the beautiful Rowe Center, the natural beauty in this environment is uniquely positioned for emotional growth. Located at the foothills of the Berkshire mountains, surrounded by strong trees and streams galore, one can't help but feel more grounded than ever, which is the perfect fit for our workshop.

This offering is super affordable and spots are still available for a limited time! 

Learn More and register today for this rare opportunity to connect with yourself and our natural environment: https://rowecenter.org/skimming-the-surface-movement-healing-workshops-with-valerie-green/

Lome, TOGO - A piece of you lives inside me

For this month's blog I would like to share on my recent teaching visit to Lome, Togo, a small country in Western Africa.

Here I collaborated with the organization Sol'Afrik, directed by Kossivi Sénagbé Afiadegnigban  and their training program, Woedupe, a program initiated to cultivate and offer diverse trainings for Togolese dancers. In a two-week intensive process, I was able to offer my signature modern/contemporary technique class called "Dance your Frame", the "Tools for Choreography" and "Performance in Action".

In the technique class the dancers reported the class to be a very new experience then the other offerings and training they have received locally or from visiting guests in Lome, or in Western Africa. The technical warm up was found to be thorough and specific in attention to all body parts, and the main point of reflection for the dancers was the new use of "center" for them.  My technique class comes out of the training of the Erick Hawkins technique whereby all initiating movement is rooted in use of the pelvic and primarily the center. Somehow this was a revelation for the dancers, while they without a doubt have a strong use of their center in African and African Contemporary Dance this was a new experience they found deeply helpful in organizing their movement and finding integration throughout the body.

The Tools for Choreography class offered a daily new experimentation in movement creation the first week of the program, offering detailed processes to get out of their heads and habits.  We explored creative ways to share weight and create lifts within a group, how we can use words or pictures to inspire a movement, and detailed use of time, dynamics, space, sensation, emotion and much more. The dancers appreciated most how the studies started out so simple but after an intricate and cumulative process that kept evolving the movement, the dancers landed in a completely new place and one that resulted in a very fresh movement creation, out of their habits. For many their favorite class was graphing time and dynamics, which they found to expand the potential and clarity of movement interpretation, the use of stream of consciousness, and finding connection to emotions and movement creation. 

The lab class focus is to integrate all the technique class explorations and phrases, the dancers’ choreographic studies, and a whole lot of other ideas thrown in my me into a culminating performance.  The intention in pulling all of the movement together is also so the dancers can reach towards the movements mastery, and experience a different choreographic process and work on performance skills. This class always creates more connection, team work, and excitement as we lead to final day/performance. The dances theme always emerges organically in these trainings, and is reveled over time and becomes quite clear. In this case the title emerged to be "Epurer" in French or "The Clearing" in English.  A dance that presented it's self as a process, about struggle, a path, a contradiction, a challenge, a revitalization, a society, a community, helping, rescuing, collaborating, resisting, accepting, and feelings!  All combined to clear, to begin again, to land in a place that would be somewhere else, and something different and something new. 

We were grateful to have separate visits from the American and French Embassy's in Togo watching final rehearsals leading up to the performance on Sept. 2 at Brin du Chocolate where all events took place. My experience in working with the dancers who had varying ages and experiences and language capacities was a challenge but one that I am used to, and do my best to rise each individual up to progress their skills, self-confidence and empower them as dancers and as humans! The dancers’ experiences of all these ideas was so new, but what touched me the most was their intense hunger to learn, to understand the movement. While we worked very hard and intensely in this period our sessions were all filled with laughter, play, and connection. At our celebratory post show dinner, they recounted their appreciation of my teaching, approach and patience. I am grateful for this experience, for their warmth and openness and allowing and accepting me to challenge them.

Outside of the dance studio trainings while in Lome, I was able to experience an African dance class for myself, watching a local dance company rehearse, with a little jumping in to dance with them as well! Visits to the bustling market, beach, cafes, restaurants, live music, and daily adventures of food, rides on the moto, and more!  It was an exciting, exhausting, challenging, and beautiful experience that I will hold in my heart forever. I could not be more aware of how lucky I am to travel the world and share in these unique cultural learning experiences, these two-week processes are always so rich, deep, and profound. The hardest part is departing each country knowing we will likely never meet again, while I am now used to this hardship, what makes it easier is the perspective of knowing a piece of me and lives in side them and a piece of them lives inside me. And that the legacy of these trainings will ripple into their world and hopefully impact others.

Exploring coastal ecosystems & the shifting nature of rivers and water lines through dance

Photos by Argenis Apolinario

Valerie Green/Dance Entropy had the pleasure of being invited to create a new site specific dance work at Socrates Sculpture Park this summer.

“Clepsydra” a dynamic site-specific investigation into movement, water, time, and sculpture was inspired by and activated Mary Mattingly's "Ebb of a Spring Tide," the featured 2023 Socrates Sculpture Park installation exploring our relationship to coastal ecosystems and the shifting nature of rivers and water lines.

The collection of sculptures includes Water Clock, a 65-foot living sculpture fabricated on-site to mirror the cityscape across the East River, and a Flock House, a dynamic structure acting as a growing, making, and eventual living space to fit the evolving needs of the project.

According to Mattingly, “Water Clock is a tribute to the power of water, time, and the life force of this riparian edge. It vocalizes tidal shift with a composition for the twice-daily rise and fall of the oceans, brought on by the lunar cycle and unfurled by this climate crisis.”

Choreographer Valerie Green relied heavily on Mattingly’s written musings and conceptual drawings to generate movement vocabulary for “Clepsydra.” The piece is shaped by the physical environment of the installation, and the dancers rehearsed outdoors, braving heat waves and sprinkler systems to bring “Clepsydra” to life. Ronnie Burrage, acclaimed jazz composer and musician, accompanied the piece with his complex rhythmic and vocal stylings in collaboration with the Jazz Foundation of America.

The dance traveling to multiple locations within the park was presented at LOTIC TIME on August 5 to enthusiastic audiences and was a great success. 

““It was a thrill to watch Valerie Green/Dance Entropy develop Clepsydra in the Park, for the Park. The work was surprising and alive with the immediacy of the dancers’ daily interaction with Mary Mattingly’s Ebb of a Spring Tide and our local community. For those of us working at Socrates Sculpture Park, this collaboration highlighted the potential of this place to be a site of creative exchange and radical imagination, an incredible contribution to the artist legacy at Socrates!””

— -Katie Dixon, Interim Executive Director

A Vulnerable Journey from Form to Clarity

“You are the one in the way of yourself. Can you get out of your own way?”

Choreographer Valerie Green has a new work to debut this season: “RITE” is a healing ceremony, a meditative ritual, and an exorcism of the ego.

This 36-minute dance work performed by six men is a physical invocation of our internal struggle with self-image and societal pressure, and the vulnerable journey from Form to Clarity. Inspired by shamanic journeying and altered states of consciousness, “RITE” invites us to contemplate our individual struggles and release our attachments to Body and Thought.

In June, groups from Ravenswood and Rego Park Senior Centers came to Green Space for a private showing of “RITE” and a talkback with Green and dancers. These community members participated in Dance Entropy’s residencies, and relished the opportunity to visit our artistic home!

Our conversations ranged from dynamic discussions on the themes of brotherhood, masculinity, and community care within the piece, to learning about the dancers themselves-- this fascinating, multicultural cast is predominantly comprised of immigrants to the United States.

We hope “RITE” will make an impact on whoever witnesses it, carving a path through human pain, to show what’s waiting for us when we release that which weighs us down.

Never Too Old to Dance

Ravenswood Final Performance

This past March through June we were delighted to bring incredible community programming, of our annual SU-CASA sponsored dance residencies at three local older adult community centers in Queens. Supported by public funds from the New York City Department of Cultural Affairs in partnership with the City Council, these three residencies encouraged older adults to get regular dance exercise and connect with their neighbors in our “Get Up and Dance Classes.” Our residencies took place at Rego Park Older Adult Center, Elmcor Older Adult Center, and Ravenswood Old Adult Center. Teaching artists Evelyn Hastings and Jiali Wang, as well as Director Valerie Green, visited each location twice a week to teach dance styles to community members, incorporating jazz, contemporary dance, Zumba, traditional Chinese dance, and more with the use of music, rhythmic instruments, fans, and other props. When asked about consistently taking dance classes, one participant said that, “the class is wonderful, Miss Jiali is professional and very patient. I am happy to attend her class.” Participants were able to see their growth from the beginning of the residency, and were empowered with a sense of accomplishment and pride in themselves and their work.

As an exciting finale to the residency, the participants also learned choreography and performed for their community this past week, in conjunction with a visit from Dance Entropy’s company dancers, who performed HOME for the community members. Some of the participants had taken classes with Dance Entropy teaching artists before, but for some it was their first time performing on a stage. The excitement of the performers and the audience was clear at each venue Dance Entropy visited. One performer described the process by saying, “It was such an adventure, I’ve never done something like this before.” One of the aids added that “the ladies here love it!” By the end of the performance everyone was up and dancing together, even those who had been shy at the beginning of the day.

 Director Valerie Green has been running this program for years, and says “Each season I am delighted by working with so many diverse and wise souls willing to try something new, have fun, play, laugh, and explore. I leave each class feeling fulfilled in sharing this precious time together, and it warms my heart to make my students laugh and smile too!” Dance Entropy is proud to have facilitated these performances and thanks the organizations, administrators, teaching artists, aids, and councilmembers who continue to make this programming possible.

VG/DE's Six Episode Podcast Series Explores the Scope of the Company

Valerie Green/Dance Entropy kicked off 2023 with a 6-part podcast series hosted by Podcast Business Networks’ Steve Harper. The series took listeners through the entire history of Dance Entropy and described the plethora of programming Dance Entropy offers the Queens and greater New York communities.

The first episode gave listeners a general outline of the wide-ranging programming VG/DE offers. Steve began by asking Valerie about her favorite works, her technique class “Dance Your Frame,” and movement healing. Valerie discussed her upbringing and relationship to dance, how she found dance in college at University of Wisconsin Madison, and her journey moving to New York. When discussing her studies with Erik Hawkins, she noted how she always had the urge to create her own work. After 28 years in the field, Green’s advice to young dancers is to “just keep at it and not care what anybody else says.”

The following episodes through the next two months included discussions about Green’s journey of creating Skimming the Surface and Adult Support Group, including her four-year training in Core Energetics, and how both have helped hundreds of people from all backgrounds. The point that kept resonating between Steve and Valerie was that movement heals, and that anyone can learn from being present in their body. The fourth episode spoke about home and identity, and how those definitions informed her newest full length work, HOME, in collaboration with Maria Naidu (Sweden), Ashley Lobo (India), Souleymane Badolo (Burkina Faso), Sandra Paola López Ramírez (Colombia), and Bassam Abou Diab (Lebanon).

The final episode took Steve through a small experiential, led by Valerie, in order to illustrate how grounding and choice can inform a person, and to share more about how her embodied movement programming, which include Skimming the Surface, Adult Support Group, and 1 on 1 sessions, use the body, mind, and spirit to unlock trapped emotions.

The series was a great way to reflect on the expansive history of Valerie Green’s work over the last 25 years, and how courageous it is to lead a company through thick and thin for two and a half decades. In reflecting on the experience, Green remarked “I enjoyed the opportunity to reflect on Dance Entropy’s history and how the organization and my work keep expanding and evolving in new directions organically through the years.”

The podcasts are available to listen to until January of 2024, and offer deep insight into the inner workings of Dance Entropy.