2024 marked TEN years as an organization. From the early years of 'big vision' and 'distant dreams,' to an ongoing initiative to develop innovative art and build community in places near and far, Ballaro Dance is a recognized organization in its home base of New York City, and beyond. 

The first five years: In 2014, Ballaro Dance produced Barefoot From Buffalo at The Riverside Theatre sharing 60-minutes of repertory over two evenings in NYC. This inaugural Season began an annual single concert tradition: Brothers and Sisters was produced at The Riverside Theatre in 2015 and toured to SUNY Brockport and was shared at St. Francis de Sales Church in NYC, and Sounds in Space was a collaborative evening with David Schanzer in 2016 in NYC then toured to the Flickinger Performing Arts Center in Buffalo, NY in 2017. The 2019 production of Open Air was the largest project at the time: the Company shared a dual themed evening of both site-specific and repertory work in New York, NY, Brockport, NY, Sandy Hook, CT (where we hosted our first official Season gala at Appleberry Farm!), Oyster Bay, NY, and Buffalo, NY. These concerts included residencies with local dancers, guest teaching opportunities, and moments to connect with audience and community. It was the start of something big, our wheels were turning....and then the pandemic hit in early 2020.

The more recent years: Looking back to the start of those 'pandemic years,' we had no idea that this would be a most fruitful time for Ballaro Dance, learning to lean into community in new ways to develop sensory-rich art that impacts, and is impacted by, the people it serves. During this phase of Ballaro Dance which began in 2020-2021, so much was occurring as the Company moved from a single concert tradition to ongoing, 10-month programming starting with the launch of our YouTube Channel SEE Ballaro Dance! This period brought us The NETcracker & The Adventures of Moon Rabbit: two virtual community productions featuring Community KIDS, Community TEENS, and members of the greater MOVE Community. Ballaro Dance hosted free weekly classes on Zoom and Yappy Hours to inspire members of the SHARE community to spark collaboration. WE. WERE. BUSY. In 2021 Ballaro Dance produced a second gala event at Appleberry Farm, presenting the first iteration of Embedded Memories, now a long-standing piece in the repertory that has been shared almost a dozen times already with communities at SUNY Brockport, in Newtown, CT, Saratoga Springs, NY,  New York, NY, and Ramapo, NJ - just to name a few. In 2022, Ballaro Dance returned to the NYC stage with 2D + 3D = CommuniD sharing new, innovative works made while in quarantine, and featuring a hybrid performance format with performers as far as Iraq!

Speeding ahead to 2023-2024, an evening-length work, The Distance, was produced at The Underground Theater in NYC, and the Company held the fourth annual summer SEE MOVE SHARE Dance Intensive & Performance Project. The first midwest touring opportunity took place in St. Louis, MO in June and Ballaro Dance received a two-year grant from the Cystic Fibrosis Foundation to lead a nationwide community project. Phew. Most recently, TEN: A Decade of Ballaro Dance celebrated an amazing ten-year anniversary accomplishment. Ballaro Dance finished the 2024 Season with a fifth annual collaborative concert with Lux Mea Women's Choir and hosted a movie night at Syndicated Movie Theater in Brooklyn, NY! Just before the New Year, Ballaro Dance traveled to Rochester, NY for the first-ever Mid-Winter MOVE mini-residency at the end of December.

2025 launches the next decade of Ballaro Dance...

Thank you to our 2024 campaign supporters!

We appreciate YOU. 

$1,000 + 
Steve Ho 

 

$500 - $999 
Fredi Pomerance

Anonymous

 

$250 - $499 
Michele & Leif Ericksen 

Jeremy Miller

Mary Richter 

 

$1 - $249 

Joe Deni, Meghan Giorgione, Ana Hurd, Jim Karb, Bill LaForest, Anonymous (7) 

 

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Ballaro Dance is a fiscally-sponsored project of Fractured Atlas, a non-profit organization that supports artists through administrative support. Tax-deductible donations can be made online HERE

OR by mailing a check made payable to Fractured Atlas (with 'Ballaro Dance' in subject) and sent to:

Ballaro Dance

845 Second Avenue, Apt 2A
New York, NY 10017