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BAM and Lumberyard Create New Dance Residencies
The Brooklyn Academy of Music, in what it says is its first formal relationship with a residency partner, will join forces with the budding Lumberyard Contemporary Performing Arts organization in upstate New York to commission and nurture three new dance works.
David Neumann, Kimberly Bartosik and Kaneza Schaal — artists from New York’s world of downtown dance and theater — were chosen for the partnership’s first year by Joseph V. Melillo, the Brooklyn Academy’s executive producer and one of the its most prominent and innovative leaders, who announced this year that he would leave the organization at the end of 2018.
The three artists will receive residencies at Lumberyard (formerly known as the American Dance Institute) in Catskill, N.Y., where their new works will have premieres ahead of being included in the Brooklyn Academy’s 2018 Next Wave Festival. The residencies come with a $10,000 development fee, in addition to technical and dramaturgical support, as well as housing, meals and transportation.
“The opportunities and support provided by Lumberyard will enable three unique artists to fully realize the work they envision, providing ample preparation before bringing their work to BAM’s stage,” Mr. Melillo said in a statement. “We look forward to a fruitful creative collaboration.”
Lumberyard, which is led by Adrienne Willis, is in the process of developing its new facility in Catskill — a 5,500-square-foot performance space and buildings along the Hudson River that will be used for the group’s own programming and commercial rentals. In the past, Lumberyard has awarded residencies to artists including the former New York City Ballet dancers Wendy Whelan and Jock Soto, and the choreographers Jodi Melnick and Brian Brooks.
In a statement, Ms. Willis said that Lumberyard’s collaboration with BAM provides “much-needed support to this country’s foremost presenting institutions, artists and audiences.”
Follow Joshua Barone on Twitter: @joshbarone
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