Wanna Dance: Dance New Amsterdam
“While I dance I can not judge, I can not hate, I can not separate myself from life. I can only be joyful and whole. This is why I dance.” — Hans Bos
Founded in 1984, Dance New Amsterdam (DNA) celebrates 28 years of cultural leadership in contemporary dance. DNA supports the life, career and longevity of dance artists through ongoing high quality dance education, opportunities for choreographic exploration and innovative performance and service to the field and the Lower Manhattan community.
DNA fosters the development of new and experimental works through commissions, residencies and subsidized space. They commit to training healthy dancers, developing new audiences and bridging diverse communities by exploring the role of dance across a spectrum of contemporary dance styles and cultures.
DNA provides valuable opportunities for the aspiring, emerging and established artist. They do this through providing classes, certification courses, artistic residencies and studio and administrative office subsidies. DNA also commissions new choreographic works and presents a year-round performance season of fully produced dance works and world premieres.
Dance New Amsterdam offers a low prices to give aspiring dancers with insufficient funds to dance and express them selves with out worrying about the cost of rental space and classes. Dance New Amsterdam has a wide variety of movement classes for just about every type of dancer at every age level.
DNA—formally Dance Space Center (DSC)—was established by five choreographers committed to creating an inclusive space for dance. The founders, Laurie DeVito, Michael Geiger, Danny Pepitone, Lynn Simonson and Charles Wright, believed in the need for a space where anyone with the desire to dance, from amateurs to seasoned professionals, could learn, develop and perform.
Founder Lynn Simonson developed the Simonson technique, an organic approach to movement that trains dancers to dance with an understanding of their personal body mechanics which became the basis for many of the teachers’ diverse training styles.
Over the past 28 years DNA has created a platform for some of the most revolutionary dance artists to showcase their work, including Sean Curran, David Dorfman, Monica Bill Barnes, Wally Cardona, Nora Chipaumire, Robert Battle, Bill Shannon, Stephen Petronio, Jorge “Fabel” Pabon, Ronald K. Brown, Mark Morris and Urban Bush Women.
In early 2006, DNA moved into its current home in the landmark Sun Building, at 280 Broadway and Chambers Street. The 25,000-square-foot facility includes an intimate 130-seat theater, six dance and rehearsal studios and two gallery spaces for exhibitions and receptions. This allows DNA to serve the needs of the professional, pre-professional and amateur community like no other venue.
Michelle Maslanka | Elite.
