Virtual Educational Performance

We are creating a virtual educational performance for widespread dissemination to school-age children, educators, and school administrators, akin to the live version we showcased in over ten schools and after-school programs since our inception in 2018. As part of this educational initiative, children will learn about the history and cultures behind various dance forms, and watch professional dancers from Spain, Cuba, Haiti, Colombia, Argentina, Puerto Rico, Japan, and the United States perform artistic works which cleverly combine elements of ballet, hip hop, salsa, tango, and martial arts.

Virtual Dance Residencies

During the fall semester 2020, Accent Dance NYC returns to the Amani Public Charter School in Mount Vernon, New York, to bring an interactive, energetic, and virtual dance residency to the students. In June 2020, Accent Dance NYC also continued its partnership with Casita Maria Center for Arts and Education, an arts organization located in the South Bronx, bringing a virtual dance residency to middle and elementary school-age students during which they processed and physically expressed the experience of, among other things, quarantine and the struggle for racial justice and equity.

Since the start of the pandemic, Accent Dance NYC also has produced the following:

• An Evening of Advocacy: broadcast on BronxNet TV, featuring a “call-to-educational-action” by Bronx Principal + Influencer Luis Torres, as well as interviews with children nurtured and empowered by our music and dance programs, professional performances by artists of Accent Dance NYC, and a lively Q&A discussion with a distinguished panel of educators.
• Bronx Rising! Los Cantantes: A livestream event presented by the Bronx Music Heritage Center, celebrating the life and legacy of the great salsa singer Héctor Lavoe and combining dance segments with interviews of three musicians who collaborated with Lavoe.
• A Time of Cultural Convergence: A virtual evening of dance presented by the Jefferson Historical Society and celebrating culture, diversity and unity in uncertain times. The evening included the premiere of a short dance film, Children of the World, showcasing youth from across the globe joining together through movement.
• NYC to NYC with Love: The Battery Dance Virtual Festival: On the closing evening of the Battery Dance Festival, the world premiere of Naranjo en Flor took center stage, featuring a beautifully-shot dance film by Don Solaris, choreographed by Dardo Galletto, performed by Elisa Toro Franky, with jazz singer Lucia Jackson and accompanied on guitar by Ron Jackson
• A program for healthcare workers and staff at the Columbia University Irving Medical Center-New York Presbyterian Children’s Hospital with weekly Zoom salsa and bachata dance classes that our front-line workers enjoyed during their much-needed breaks
• Free movement classes from our Facebook page (@accentdancenyc)
• A dance film, Longing for Connection Notwithstanding Isolation, created in various socially-distanced, outdoor environments. The dance film was circulated widely by the Picture House in Pelham, New York, the community-based arts-film theater where our first annual fundraiser took place in September 2019 as well as featured in a virtual art show presented by the New York City Parks Department.