Return, Renew, Rejoice!

December 1 through December 4

2022 Lifetime Achievement Awards to :

Choreographers Phyllis Lamhut and H.T. Chen

2022 Award for Distinguished Service to the Field to:

Christine Jowers, Creator of The Dance Enthusiast

ADG Festival 2022 Honorees L-R: Phyllis Lamhut, H.T. Chen (Photo credit: Jon Lee) and Christine Jowers

FEATURING 34 CONTEMPORARY CHOREOGRAPHERS

AND

THREE HISTORIC MODERN DANCE WORKS

The American Dance Guild will return to live performance with their yearly ADG PERFORMANCE FESTIVAL, their first live production since the Covid pandemic. Return, Renew, Rejoice! will take place over four evenings, Dec 1 - Dec 4 at the Ailey Citigroup Theater, 405 West 55th Street, in New York City. The work of 34 contemporary choreographers will be shown.

ADG Honors this year will go to choreographers Phyllis Lamhut and the late H.T. Chen, winners of ADG’s Lifetime Achievement Award. An Award for Distinguished Service to the Field will be presented to Christine Jowers, founder of The Dance Enthusiast. Opening night, December 1, will feature all three ADG honorees, and will include an awards ceremony. Each honoree will show their work again over the Festival weekend. *Full lineup below.

The Festival will include a presentation of three historic modern dances. "Shuvi Nafshi" (Return O My Soul Unto Thee - 1947) by Hadassah, reconstructed by Steven Vendola will be performed by Mary Ford Sussman on Friday Dec. 2. "Pizzicati” (1916), a rarely seen work by Michio Ito, restaged by Bonnie Oda Homsey courtesy of Los Angeles Dance Foundation and licensed with the Michio Ito Foundation, Inc., will be performed by Kaoru Ikeda on Saturday Dec. 3 and Sunday Dec 4. In addition, “Concertino” (1955), with choreography by the late Pauline Koner, will be presented by Gwendolyn Bye’s Dance Fusion Company from Philadelphia and shown on Friday, December 2.

The ADG Festival’s participating artists represent a wide variety of aesthetic and cultural voices, reflecting the broad spectrum of American dance life and the diverse character of dance today. Works by mature as well as emerging artists will be shown.

“We’re excited to be back at Ailey LIVE. The ADG Festival is dedicated to presenting the range and diversity of expression in current dance art practice, and to remembering our historical modern dance roots. The Festival has always honored and presented the work of several modern dance legends, making our yearly program a vibrant blend of old and new,” said Gloria McLean, ADG President.

The 2022 American Dance Guild Performance Festival thanks The Arnhold Foundation, The Harkness Foundation for Dance, and The Janis & Alan Menken Foundation Charity Fund for their generous support.

THE AMERICAN DANCE GUILD PERFORMANCE FESTIVAL

RETURN, RENEW, REJOICE!

THURSDAY THROUGH SUNDAY, DECEMBER 1-4

Thursday, Dec. 1 at 7:30pm; Friday, Dec. 2 and Saturday Dec. 3 at 8pm; Sunday, Dec. 4 at 7pm.

LINEUP: (not in performance order and subject to change)

THURSDAY December 1 at 7:30pm:

2022 Honoree Award Presentation with Reception to Follow Performance Larry Keigwin, Janis Brenner, Seyong Kim, Tina Croll, Christine Jowers, Phyllis Lamhut, H.T. Chen

FRIDAY, December 2 at 8pm:

Becky Brown, Greg Hurley, Briele Melahn, Peggy Choy, Douglas Dunn, Dancefusion/Pauline Koner, Connie Procopio, Mary Ford Sussman/Hadassah, Lori Belilove, H.T. Chen

SATURDAY, DECEMBER 3 at 8pm:

5/2 Dance Company, Damir Tasmagambetov, Mary Seidman, Kaoru Ikeda/Michio Ito, Catherine Gallant, Christina Eltvedt, Amanda Selwyn Dance Theater, Phyllis Lamhut

SUNDAY December 4 at 7pm:

Adriana Ogle and Toru Sakuragi, Dana Tai Soon Burgess, Sandra Rivera, Nancy Zendora, Eloy Barragan, Mitzi Adams, Kaoru Ikeda/Michio Ito, Diane Sharp Nachsin, Ellen Robbins, Stephen Hill, Christine Jowers

ADG FESTIVAL HONOREE BIOS:

PHYLLIS LAMHUT’s philosophy is rooted in the belief that motion is the engine for creative thinking, acting, and being. A choreographer of over 100 works, she received her professional dance training from multi-media innovator and pedagogue Alwin Nikolais at the Henry Street Settlement Playhouse located on the Lower Eastside of New York City where she became a principal Nikolais dancer for 20 years and leading dancer with the Murray Louis Dance Company. The Phyllis Lamhut Dance Company was formed in 1970-1990. According to Ms. Lamhut, “My heritage, from multimedia innovator Alwin Nikolais, has served me in every possible way in my creative expression and awareness of the of art form. From the age of 17, studying with Nik at the Henry Street Settlement House, the motional concepts of space, time, shape, motion and dynamics have guided me.”

With the Nikolais, Louis, and Lamhut Companies, she performed all over the world on concert stages, television, and participated in the National Endowment for the Arts, Dance Touring and Artists in Education programs. She has directed the National Association of Regional Ballet Craft of Choreography Conference, the National Canadian Composer/Choreographer Seminar, the Dance and Music Workshop in Israel, the Venice Biennale “Move Man” project, The Carlisle Project “ New Impulses “ choreography workshop, and Choreography Advisor /Editor for the Joyce-Soho Residency Program. Awards include 16 Choreography Fellowships from National Endowment for the Arts, a Guggenheim Fellowship, awards from the New York State Council on the Arts and the New York Foundation for the Arts, the Mary Flagler Charitable Trust, and Meet the Composer/Choreography Project. A beloved teacher and mentor to generations of dancers, Phyllis was on the Faculty of New York University Tisch School of the Arts from 1987-2022. In 2013, Phyllis was the recipient of the Balasaraswati/Joy Ann Dewey Beineke Endowed Chair for Distinguished Teaching from the American Dance Festival.

H.T. CHEN (Hsueh-Tung Chen) was the Artistic Director and Founder of Chen Dance Center. Born in Shanghai, China and raised in Taipei, Taiwan H.T. Chen moved to New York City where he studied dance at the Martha Graham School of Contemporary Dance, American Dance Center, the Juilliard School and earned an MA in Dance Education from NYU. After choreographing and performing for numerous years at the La MaMa Experimental Theatre Club and as an actor, dancer and choreographer with the Pan Asian Repertory Theatre, Chen turned to presenting his own work, forming H.T. Chen & Dancers in 1978 sustained with his beloved life partner Dian Dong.

As a professional choreographer, H.T. Chen was a positive voice for his community, speaking with power and honesty from a distinct perspective, describing his experiences and influences through his work. This important artistic statement combines a repertoire of dances rooted in Chinese legend and folktales which, when fused with Mr. Chen’s awareness, enlightens audiences both familiar and unfamiliar with Asian culture.

He taught at the Navajo Community College, and the New York University Department of Dance and Dance Education. Working with Dance Theater Workshop’s National Performance Network, Chen coordinated the Asian Arts Partnership Program (AAPP), which served as an ongoing cultural exchange between American and Asian artists. Mr. Chen had been an Arts America speaker for the United States Information Service (U.S.I.S.) to the Island of Mauritius.

The Organization of Chinese Americans honored Mr. Chen with a Lifetime Achievement Award, he received the Special Recognition Award for Community Service from the CUNY Asian Alumni Association, and a BESSIES Special Citation. In 2002, H.T. Chen & Dancers received the New York State Governor’s Awards for artistic achievement and contributions to communities, the 2009 New York City Mayor’s Award for Arts and Culture, and 2012 Mid-Career Award from the Martha Hill Dance Fund.

CHRISTINE JOWERS is the founding editor of the non-profit, independent journalism site,The Dance Enthusiast. For 15 years, she’s covered the NYC dance scene as a videographer, writer, and speaker. She’s encouraged and discovered journalists and developed creative formats through which to share the important stories of dancers with diverse audiences. Before Instagram videos and FB stories existed, Christine captured video from Flip cameras to draw readers into the lives and work of professional dancers. Eventually, “Flipping with The Dance Enthusiast” became “Dance Up Close,” a series funded by Dance/USA’s Engaging Audience Program under the auspices of The Doris Duke Charitable Foundation. Christine’s Enthusiastic Events series brought together dancers of all genres with visual artists, filmmakers, curators, fashion designers, authors, chefs, gallery owners, and producers to introduce audiences to dance’s connection to the world-at-large. Recognized for promoting dance literacy, this series was funded by the Mertz Gilmore Foundation, the Lower Manhattan Community Council and the New York State Council on the Arts. Prior to working in arts journalism, Christine danced to critical acclaim, taught, and produced. At the heart of all her work is a commitment to curiosity, communication, history, integrity, and advocacy for artists — particularly dancers.

FEATURED HISTORIC WORKS:

MICHIO ITO (1893-1961), the “forgotten pioneer of Modern Dance” was a truly visionary artist who fused East and West, in truly modern individualist ways as a charismatic dancer, choreographer and theater director from Japan, to Europe, coming to NY in 1916.

HADASSAH (1909-1992), a choreographer of rare taste and artistic integrity, was a leading voice at the New Dance Group, and pioneer of Israeli and Indian dancing in the U.S.

PAULINE KONER (1912-2001), a modern dance maverick, studied with Michel Fokine, Michio Ito, and Yeichi Nimura and is perhaps best known now for her roles with Jose Limon with whom she performed as a Special Guest Artist for over 15 years.

Questions for 2022 American Dance Guild Festival: adgfest@gmail.com

Press Contact for 2022 American Dance Guild Festival: Adria Rolnik PR, Adria Rolnik: adria@adriarolnikpr.com