The Madison Mostly Dance Festival Has Arrived, April 25 through May 5

 

The Madison Mostly Dance Festival Has Arrived April 25 through May 5 Eleven days of dance, films about dance, and a couple of afternoons of music so we can rest our weary bones.   Our Winter Weekend of Dance last December was just an appetizer. We are going spend eleven days thinking about dance in diverse ways in diverse genres. We'll start off with the Spring Show of Collective Memories by the celebrated Drew University Dance Department under the artistic guidance of Kimani Fowlin, spend a Saturday evening with a moving story filmed in India (Call Me Dancer). We'll take a brief rest with the Baroque Orchestra of New Jersey, then a dizzying week of dances by disabled artists (The Matheny School Arts Access Choreography Program), Tap and Jazz (with Dan Levinson with A.C. Lincoln), Swing Dancing with the Bottle Hill Big Band (and lessons from swing expert Nissreen Almazouni), and the classical Indian Dance company Kalagangothri Thursday May 2. On Friday May 3 there will be two events: a free morning Master Class with Charles Scheland from Carolyn Dorfman Dance, and in the evening, an international selection of short films on dance from the Thomas Edison Film Festival. We'll end our journey with the Extensions Dance Project on Saturday, and a nice cool final rest-- an afternoon with the Jazz Trombonist Mariel Bildsten and the NJ Jazz Society on May 5.   Tickets are available now.   Discount ticket packages are also available. You can get an Unlimited Pass, a Five-Pack, or a Three-Pack. Access them here.   More information below, or on the Madison Mostly Dance Web Page Drew Dance | Spring Concert | Collective Memory(ies) | April 25 (Th) & 26 (F) 7:30 pm | April 27 2024 (Sa) 2:00 pm Back for a second time this season, under the direction of Assistant Professor Kimani Fowlin, the department will present student-choreographed pieces based on the theme of Collective Memories …   Read more GET TICKETS Film Society of Summit | Call Me Dancer | April 27 (Sa) | 7:30 pm A documentary film by Leslie Shampaine & Pip Gilmour.   In our ongoing partnership with The Film Society of Summit, we will screen The San Francisco Dance Film Festival Audience Favorite Award-winning film Call Me Dancer. This documentary follows Manish Chauhan, a street dancer from Mumbai, whose working-class parents depend on their only son’s support. When he accidentally walks into an inner-city dance school and encounters a brilliant but curmudgeonly 70-year-old Israeli ballet master, a hunger develops within him. Ambitious and passionate, Manish is determined to make it as a professional dancer, but the odds are stacked against him.   Read more BUY TICKETS Baroque Orchestra of NJ | Sunday April 28 | 4:00-6:00 pm | The New Contemporary | Music by Music by David Williams, Michael DeMaio, and Robert W. Butts The Baroque Orchestra of New Jersey under the baton of Maestro Robert W. Butts will present The New Contemporary - Music by David Williams, Michael DeMaio, and Robert W. Butts …   Read more BUY TICKETS Individuals with Disabilities from the Matheny School's Arts Access Choreography Program | April 29 (M) | 7:30 PM Individuals from the Matheny School Arts Access Choreography ProgramThe Matheny Medical and Education Center has a unique arts program that provides individuals with disabilities the freedom to create in the visual literary, and performing arts. This evening we will present works created and performed by participants in the Choreography program.   Read more BUY TICKETS Tap Dancers Take the Lead | Dan Levinson with A.C. Lincoln | April 30 (Tu) | 7:30 PM Dan Levinson on the clarinet and A.C. Lincoln on the Taps. Jazz groups are using tap dancers again in a throwback to the Thirties and Forties when Tap was King. For this show, we will present a jazz ensemble led by noted clarinetist Dan Levinson in which the tap dancer takes the role of a soloist.   Read more BUY TICKETS Swing Dancing with Nissreen Almazouni & The Bottle Hill Big Band | May 1 (W) | 7:00 pm You won't be dancing in the aisles, because you'll have the whole floor.   Don't know how to swing dance? Nissreen is here to help you out!   The nineteen-piece Bottle Hill Big Band will perform and Dance teacher Nissreen Almazouni will instruct swing, lindy, etc., to those who are beginners (or need a brush-up) starting at 7:00 pm. Dancing begins at 7:30…   Read more BUY TICKETS Kalagangothri | An Evening of Indian Classical Dance | May 2 (W)| 7:30 pm Enjoy an evening of traditional Indian Classical Dance as Kalagangothri presents Bharatanatyam, a classical form that expresses South Indian religious themes and spiritual ideas. The dance dates back to the time before Christ, although in India the date is referred to BCE and not BC. During India’s colonization by the British, the government tried to suppress temple dances, but since 1947, …   Read more BUY TICKETS Mostly Madison Dance Festival '24 | MOVE HUMAN| Master Class | Carolyn Dorfman Dance Technique with Senior Company Member Charles Scheland | May 3 (F) | 10:00 am | Free Charles Scheland is a New York City based dance artist and teacher. Charles grew up in Germany, Austria, and the Washington DC area, and graduated summa cum laude from the Ailey/Fordham BFA Program in Dance with a double major in Dance and Economics and departmental honors in both majors. Charles is a dancer with Carolyn Dorfman Dance, and also dances …   Read more RESERVE A SPOT Mostly Madison Dance Festival '24 | Thomas Edison Film Festival | Dance on Screen | Friday, May 3 | 7:30 pm Screen Dance has become an important category for the Thomas Edison Film Festival (formerly The Black Maria Film Festival), an internationally-renowned juried festival of short-form films. TEFF screens juried short films from all over the world, advancing the creative power of film across several genres including narrative, experimental, documentary, screen dance and hybrids. This program presents the very best films that include dance.   Read more BUY TICKETS Extensions Dance Project | May 4, (Sa) | 3:30 & 7:00 pm Extensions Dance Project seeks to empower students and provide quality dance education in a fun environment. Recognizing that most dance students will not end up as professionals, the program seeks to instill confidence, discipline, perseverance, motivation, loyalty, determination, and teamwork while setting students on a path toward fulfillment. Their dance team will present an inspirational evening of dance ranging from hip hop and contemporary to jazz and tap.   Read more EXTENSIONS DANCE Jersey Jazz Live! | Mariel Bildsten |May 5, (Su) | 3:00 pm Get Tickets “Singing through her horn.” (JazzTimes) Downbeat Magazine calls trombonist Mariel Bildsten “irrepressibly spontaneous” (2020), and her 2023 release “Steppin’ Out!” explodes onto the scene as the exciting follow-up to “Backbone,” her 2020 debut. Mariel Bildsten headlines jazz festivals, plays around the country, and performs regularly in New York City, in the US, and internationally. Mariel has been featured onstage …   Read more BUY TICKETS Funding and other resources for the Madison Mostly Dance Festival provided by: Eating and Shopping in Madison Madison has an exciting array of shops and businesses and an excellent choice of diverse eating experiences. You can find them all by clicking here or on the Experience Madison image. Getting Here & Contacting Us For more information on the shows and how to get to us, visit our website or check out our posts, below: 10 Kings Road Madison NJ 07940, directly across from the railroad tracks. Parking located on the street in front of the building. MCAC is an hour from NYC either by car or by train on the NJ Transit Morris & Essex Line, and a five-minute walk from the Madison Train Station. Entrance is pictured here. Directions to the Madison Community Arts Center Physical …   Read more About Us The Madison Community Arts Center (MCAC) is the heart of a vibrant arts and culture scene in the Greater Madison, NJ area. The Center is committed to the creative health and well-being of the entire community, and to that end, it provides a space for the community to gather, create, and bear witness to the creative work of both professional …   Read more