The Carnival New York City 2008, Choreographer's Ball

Energy was through the roof at The Carnival Choreographers Ball November 2008 held at the very fashionable Hiro night club in New York City. iDANZ TV a long with iDANZ founder Candice Roxand the all around fashionista commentators, The BK BOYEEZ, took interviews with great dance personalities and industry professionals such as the Amount Boyz, choreographer to the stars, Brice Vick, Bam Bam of Nexx Level Elite!, Cicely of Nu Stylz, hip hop icon, Spexx Boogie, and Jason Herbert of Ballet Noir. Produced by Carey Ysais and Paulette Azzizian, and hosted by Ysias, Bijan Williams, and Shernita, the New York edition of Carnival was definitely deep with style and talent!

Stand outs on the show were Antonio Boss and his slick moves, Harlem's own Urban Dance Alliance giving us the street moves with genuine urban flair and fashion, Robert Taylor Jr. (and his back-up dancers), probably one of the hardest working performers at Carnival to sing r&b/hip hop and dance at the same time full-out with no compromise, and a crew imported all the way from Canada named Unkut Productions who just RIPPED IT! Oh, oh, oh . . . and, of course, Miss Sheryl Murakami(featuring T(h)RASH), never lets the children down, as she is, as always, one of the biggest attractions at Carnival each year.

Miss Sheryl Murakami has the power, the control, and the creativity of a real craftsman when it comes to staging and creating concepts for commercial dance. I call it "clever with clarity." The movement, no matter what it is, either simple or complex, is always pure clarity; the audience can readily see where moves begin and where they end. No moves are thrown away, and if they are, it is deliberate. Also, Miss Murakami always has a theme to show in a clever way with an element of surprise and suspense which that alone keeps audiences begging for more.

What we at iDANZ like most is, that from THAT clever clarity instilled comes, that Murakami confidence that pours into the dancers and out on the stage. The performers are always on point and just ready to "GET IT" (as we dancers say) like "WHAT," just turning the audiences into Sillyputty in Sheryl's hands. And to make things even grander as if that weren't enough, Sheryl Murakami let's loose the element of suspense, open's the surprise, and you just have to give it up and start screaming, WORK B ----!

Miss Murakami and her choreography gets the iDANZ Fierce Award of the night.

Featured Dance Performances: Razberry Jam, Sheryl Murakami Featuring T(h)RASH, Torey Nelson, Hollywood, George & La Jon Featruring BAD NEWZZ, Jamie J, Braham Logan Cane, SKATE, Shyrelle Kalilikane, Steven Williams, Antonio Boss, Robert Taylor Jr., Jaclyn Dunne, Sugar & Spice NYC, UNKUT Productions, Urban Dance Alliance, and STATIC NOYZE.

Featured links:

http://www.thechoreographerscarnival.com/

http://www.sherylmurakami.com/

Dance Review: Tango and Contemporary Ballet Remixed!

Tango and Contemporary Ballet Remixed!

The New Generation Dance Company, under the artistic direction of Argentinean choreographer, Dardo Galleto, presented a lovely concert at Symphony Space in New York City, November 7 - 8, 2008, that fused the passion of Argentinean Tango with the lines of Contemporary Ballet.

The show, called VOLVER AL SUR, meaning "to return to the South," is a wonderful journey about one's returning to his or her roots. Mr. Galleto used a lot of tango music as well as some Argentinean pop music like "Todo Me Recuerda A Ti" by Sandra Mihanovich, and Ariel Ramirez's "Misa Criolloa" with Mercedes Sosa's voice. The fierce, champion tango couples Natalia Hills and Gabriel Misse as well as Cesar Coelho and Guillermina Quiroga danced as guest artists throughout the production.

IDANZ visited with two of the young company members after the show, Aengus Ortiz and Ivanova Aquilar. We talked about their views on performing Galleto's style of tango fusion as well as living the life as a dancer in New York City. We were happy to find that they just adore working with Galleto and his New Generation Dance Company and learning how to use Tango as a cool medium to work within the Contemporary Ballet aesthetic.

For Aengus, who just joined the company only two months before the show, Tango is very new to him; thus, learning a new genre of dance and mixing it with vocabulary more familiar to him has proved quite exciting. He's thankful for his versatility because that definitely helps him get through the material not only in Dardo's company but in any group that he has previously danced.

For Ivanova, who has been with the company for two years, she joined after meeting Dardo in an Argentinean Tango class in which she was soon asked to join right away as a last minute replacement. Ivanova is a very versatile and sought out dancer. Originally from Mexico City, she trained on full scholarship at the The Joffrey Ballet School and toured the USA with The Joffrey Ensemble. This busy dancer, in addition to NGDC, is a member of several dance companies simultaneously including Christopher Caines, C. Eule Dance, D'zul Dance, and Janusphere Dance.

"Yes, you want to earn a living, but you should also work for a better philosophy for yourself, you want to exercise your artistic voice."
-Aengus Ortiz, Dancer with New Generation Dance Company

Aengus joined the company after meeting choreographer, Dardo Galleto, in master teacher Willie Burmann's advanced ballet class. Mr. Galleto was actually taking Burmann's class at STEPS on Broadway when he noticed Aengus side by side with him in class. With only two months before the show opened at Symphony Space in New York City, Aengus learned an entire full-length, Tango Modern Ballet. Aengus said that it was great doing Dardo's work because "both ends" Tango and Modern Ballet "support each other" and by fusing the genres together, "each style elevates the other."

Dancers like Aengus and Ivanova know what it is like to live and find work as a dancer in New York. It is definitely a full-time hustle; however, Aengus and Ivanova feel fortunate to have the opportunity to be challenged by Dardo and his work. As Aengus says, "yes, you want to earn a living, buy you should also work for a better philosophy for yourself, you want to exercise your artistic voice," and that is exactly the environment that Dardo and his New Generation Dance Company provides.

Because Aengus seemed so profound and down to earth, we asked if he had any advice for young dancers coming to New York and considering a career in dance. He said, “It's all about the network which is a continuous effort. You must be nice to EVERYBODY. You never know . . ."

New Generation Dance Company presents, Dardo Galleto’s VOLVER AL SUR at Symphony Space, New York City, November 7 -8, 2008.

iDANZ Dancers 4 Dancers Campaign