POP Performance: Ballaro Dance

DEC 1-3, 8:00 PM EST
THE THEATER
GIBNEY: AGNES VARIS PERFORMING ARTS CENTER
280 BROADWAY

2D + 3D = CommuniD

Ballaro Dance presents 2D + 3D = CommuniD, an evening of dances created throughout the Covid-19 pandemic. Developed non-traditionally, the Company used inventive virtual processes and outdoor explorations while in quarantine to find new approaches to creativity, collaboration, and community. The unique hybrid concert format will bring 2D and 3D platforms – the virtual and live art-making worlds – together on one stage, for the first time. Reimagined, the concert will be presented in proscenium form featuring Company dancers Nicole Daniell, Hannah Dillenbeck, Hannah Kearney, and Marina Vianello, along with live music by Boston-based cellist Rob Bethel and dance films by Zoran Prodanovic. Ballaro Dance will invite its network of Community MOVERS to join the Company on stage for two of the works, reinforcing the Company’s commitment to community and its belief in the power of shared, collective experiences. The evening will reflect the journey we took as a community during the early, then ongoing days, of the pandemic. Also on the program is the lively ensemble work, Spirito Riempito Vita, one of the Company’s signature pieces.

ABOUT BALLARO DANCE

Ballaro Dance builds community through the creation and presentation of modern dance while inviting its audience, often first-time dance viewers, to SEE, MOVE, & SHARE with the Company in an approachable, welcoming environment. Adhering to its mission, the Company takes pride in skillfully connecting with various communities inviting them to SEE dance in formal and informal settings, to MOVE while participating in the art, and to SHARE while gathering for conversation enabling deep connections to be formed. Founded in 2014, Ballaro Dance is proud to call New York City its home.

ABOUT MARISA F. BALLARO

A proud Buffalo, NY native, Marisa f. Ballaro (Founding Artistic Director; Choreographer) is a curious learner and an avid community builder. She received her Master of Fine Arts from Montclair State University in June of 2022 and was selected as the Convocation Speaker for the College of the Arts. With dual undergraduate degrees in Dance and Interdisciplinary Arts for Children, she is a summa cum laude graduate of SUNY College at Brockport where she received prestigious honors including the Marion Schrank Student Leadership Award and the Outstanding Scholar in the School of Arts &Performance. Marisa is on dance faculty at The Brearley School in Manhattan and taught on faculty at the New York State Summer School of the Arts (NYSSSA) School of Modern Dance for over a decade. Working as a master coach with the American Dance Legacy Initiative (ADLI), she learned repertory works from America’s modern dance masters while developing teaching methodology to stage the works; she performed for many years with ADLI’s repertory ensemble, Dancing Legacy. Passionate about service, Marisa is Vice President of the Board of Directors for the SUNY Brockport Alumni Association, and she is the Endurance Chair for the Cystic Fibrosis Foundation’s Tomorrow’s Leaders. She was recognized as an Outstanding Educator by The University of Chicago in October 2019 and is the recipient of two honors awarded by The Brearley School: the Margaret Riker Harding Lower School Fellowship and the Serena Marshall Weld Award. Marisa is the Founding Artistic Director of Ballaro Dance.

POP: PERFORMANCE OPPORTUNITY PROJECT

POP provides the dance community with increased support for showings and performances.

POP enables dance artists to self-produce performances and showings at Gibney through a curated rental process. Artists can participate in POP through Performances, Showings, or Open Rehearsals. POP Performances offer a three-night run in The Theater (Studio H) at 280 Broadway. POP Showings & Open Rehearsals are more informal showings in our studios.

All events take place at our 280 Broadway location, across from City Hall. The main entrance for this location is at 53A Chambers Street. Gibney 280 Broadway is an accessible venue. This event will take place on the 2nd floor of Gibney in The Theater, which is accessible via elevator from the main entrance at 53A Chambers Street.

Image Description: Dancer – Nicole Daniell. This image shows one dancer in a white top and pink pants leaning forward and gazing into a laptop in profile against outdoor greenery. Reflected on the other side is a mirror image of the dancer looking back at herself.

Photo by Ashley Garrett.