Battery Dance Festival 2020 – Where the Whole World Dances

The silver lining encircling the world’s current health emergency may be whisper thin, but it does exist and reveals itself in the most unlikely ways.  One of them is the Battery Dance Festival (BDF) 2020.   It’s a New York thing and because it’s so unusual and so specific to location, you’ve likely never heard of it.  The festival has been going on for almost 40 years and is unique both because of its intentional global breadth and the for zeal in which it encourages bold creativity.  Every August until this one, New Yorkers have moseyed down to Robert Wagner Jr. Park in lower Manhattan to see dance performed in the open air; often with the Statue of Liberty clearly visible in the background.  There, over the festival’s week long run, nearly 12,000 people are presented a whirlwind of dance styles and a display of choreographic vision that seems inconceivable.

2020 is of course quite a different time, and the festival’s designers have done a miraculous job in turning an adversity into an asset.  In a typical year, most of the performances would be danced by New York companies reflecting the diverse professional dance talent of the city.  This year, planners collaborated with dance companies from around the world who filmed their contributions in their home countries and submitted video to the festival for viewing virtually.  For the 39^th Battery Dance Festival that began August 14^th and ended Sunday the 22^nd, nineteen countries were represented.   And of the 52 total performances danced, 28 of them were premiers. Just over half.

The virtual festival has proven extraordinary.  Each evening’s show, like the one that follows, will remain available on Youtube for 10 days after its posting: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=mR1cTNSucC4.   Concept assumes a very high profile in these works and when combined with splendid dance skill, the two make a brand new kind of magic.   A whole evening is devoted to the depth and beauty of East Indian dance, much of it classical with elements of mysticism mixed in and an impressive 2-minute contemporary dance solo tossed in for spice.    Each day of the festival is themed by geography or type and each day includes startling discoveries and wonderful flights of imagination.  Black Voices in Dance opened the festival with subsequent days featuring Europe, Africa, Japan and the Middle East; among others.  Many of the contributions presented in the festival are filmed outdoors and throughout the cinematography remains exceptional.

Battery Dance Festival 2020

Youtube