The Joyce Theater brings three contemporary dance companies to Central Park, celebrating Jazz music through a wide range of styles. SummerStage alum Complexions Contemporary Ballet, founded in 1994 by Dwight Rhoden and Desmond Richardson, will perform Rhoden’s latest company premiere Midnight Riff, which celebrates legendary female vocalists including Billie Holiday and Sarah Vaughn, set to recordings by New York Voices. Led by Artistic Director Michael Novak, The Paul Taylor Dance Company, founded in 1954, makes its festival debut with the vibrant work by Resident Choreographer, Robert Battle, Under The Rhythm, set to music by Ella Fitzgerald, Wycliffe Gordon, and more. Finally, multi-Bessie award winner (2021/2023), New York Times lauded “Queen of Social Dance” and celebrated Best Dance & Breakout Star (2021) LaTasha Barnes is an internationally awarded and critically-acclaimed artist-scholar, curator, choreographer, and tradition-bearer of Black American Social Dance co-based in Phoenix, AZ and New York. A Richmond, VA native, she is globally celebrated for her musicality, athleticism, and joyful presence throughout the cultural traditions she bears: House Dance, Hip-Hop, Waacking, Authentic Jazz, and Lindy Hop, among them. Barnes’ expansive artistic, performative and wordsmithing skills have made her a frequent collaborator to The New York Times, Summer Dance Forever & Foundation Hip-Hop Center Amsterdam, International Center for Prince Studies, Singapore-based Timbre Arts Group, Jacob’s Pillow and many more.
One of the only theaters built by dancers for dance, The Joyce Theater has garnered a well-deserved international reputation for cultivating and honoring emerging and established dance artists whose work represents a wide range of aesthetic interests. Since opening in 1982, The Joyce has supported the dance community by providing a home for more than 400 domestic and international companies and by offering an annual 45 to 48-week season which, each year, allows more than 150,000 audience members to experience diverse, popular and challenging performances.
The Joyce’s invaluable commitment to artists and audiences extends beyond the immense volume of work taking place on its stage. In an effort to make dance accessible to audiences throughout New York City, The Joyce has also expanded its reach beyond its Chelsea home through off-site presentations at venues ranging in scope from Lincoln Center’s David H. Koch Theater, to Brooklyn’s Invisible Dog Art Center, and to outdoor programming in such spaces as Hudson River Park.
The Joyce anticipates many more years of success in sustaining dance by building robust, educated audiences who share a love of the art form and embrace its enduring power.
