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the playground (new york city)
The Playground (NYC) is an open forum where professional dancers directly engage with emerging and established choreographers. Founded in 2010 by directors Loni Landon and Gregory Dolbashian, The Playground functions on a strict $5 entrance fee, and offers the most affordable place to explore artistry, bond as a dance community, and network with some of New York City’s freshest talent.
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About
- About The Playground (NYC)
The Playground launches an innovative network of exchanges through merging professional dancers and choreographers; provides a movement lab that is financially accommodating, easily accessible, and artistically rewarding for all of its participants; and establishes a place for the dance community to grow, unite, and share ideas uninhibitedly.
The Playground (NYC) is proud to currently call its home Gibney Dance Center, and produces around four seasonal sessions a year.
In January 2013, The Playground (NYC) was featured in Dance Magazine’s "25 to Watch", and our sessions continue to be in high demand.
VISION
The vision of The Playground is to formulate a live catalog that showcases the most sought after talent in the New York contemporary dance scene. At this open forum, selected choreographers are invited to investigate their movement process with professional dancers. Rooted in a common space that encompasses cooperation, community, and creativity, The Playground is a place for choreographers and dancers to discover dance together.
HOW IT WORKS
During seasonal "Sessions" or workshops classes are capped at 30 participants, and admission into class is kept at a flat rate of $5 for professional dancers only. The Playground allows dancers to experience various choreographic styles and ideas, engage with a new community of dancers, and gather resourceful information and inspiration from the array of choreographers involved. In turn, established choreographers are paid for their creative investigations, are given free space to explore new movement with professional dancers and are provided with the opportunity to establish relationships with new dancers and fellow choreographers.
Above, an example of a Playground session taught by Gregory Dolbashian
Photo Credit: Charlie Winter
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Founders
- One Spontaneous Heartfelt Act...
Loni Landon and Gregory Dolbashian, both natives of New York City, created The Playground as a spontaneous, heartfelt act. Curious to see what would happen if dancers could experience different choreographers without having to save up nickels and dimes, they intuitively called their respective contacts, booked space, and invited the crowds. To their amazement, The Playground was an instant sensation and was immediately picked up by Home4Dance and Manhattan Movement Center.
Loni Landon,Co-Founder & Artistic Director
Gregory Dolbashian, Co-Founder & Artistic Director
Rachael Pazdan, General Manager
Email us at pgroundnyc@gmail.com
LONI LANDON
Loni Landon was born and raised in New York City. Landon received her training from the Juilliard School, School at Jacob’s Pillow, Hubbard Street Dance Chicago Scholarship Program, Dance Theater of Harlem, and NYC High School of Performing Arts.
Upon receiving her BFA in Dance from the Juilliard School in 2005, Landon worked with Aszure Barton on the opening of the Baryshnikov Arts Center. Soon thereafter, Landon joined Ballet Theater Munich from 2005 to 2007 under the direction of Phillip Taylor. From 2007 to 2009, Landon joined Tanz Munich Theater under the direction of Henning Paar. During her time in Munich, she performed works by many premier European choreographers including Jiri Kylian, Stephan Thoss, Rui Horta, Robert North,Tony Rizzi, Cayetano Soto, Mirko Hektor, and Marco Goecke, among others. Landon is currently a dancer at the Metropolitan Opera.
Landon’s original choreography has been performed at the State Theater of Munich, APAP at New York City Center, American College Dance Festival (performed by Snow College Dance Ensemble), SUNY Purchase, Jacob’s Pillow Inside/Out, Dance Gallery Festival at the Ailey Theater in NYC, DanceNOW at Joe's Pub, WestFest, Pushing Progress, HT CHEN’S New Steps Choreography Series, and Dumbo Dance Festival. As a sought after choreographer, her work has been commissioned by Northwest Dance Project, CityDance Ensemble, Ballet X, and the New American Talent Commission from Ballet Austin.
She has been awarded as the 1st Prize Winner of Ballet Austin’s New American Talent Competition, Winner of Northwest Dance Project’s “Pretty Creatives’” Choreography Competition,Winner of the Next Commission from CityDance Ensemble, and 2009 Finalist in the Hannover International Choreography Competition. In October of 2010, Landon was featured with Northwest Dance Project in Dance Magazine.
In 2010, Landon co-founded the Playground (New York City) alongside Gregory Dolbashian.
Photo Credit: Karime Arabia GREGORY DOLBASHIAN
Born and raised in New York City, Gregory made his professional stage debut at the age of eight with the Glimmerglass Opera Company. Soon after, he was cast in the Philip Glass/Robert Wilson world tour of Einstein on the Beach. Gregory received his dance training at the Alvin Ailey School on a fellowship scholarship and then graduated cum laude from SUNY Purchase dance conservatory where he studied composition with Kazuko Hirabayashi.
Since then, he has gone on to dance and choreograph with a variety of artists: performing with Patrick Corbin, Nelly van Bommel, Sylvain Emard, and The Chicago Ballet. He was resident choreographer for both Chicago Ballet’s spring season in 2008 and CorbinDances in 2007. He was selected as one of four emerging choreographers in the Springboard Montreal intensive run by Juilliard’s Alexandra Wells, where he created and premiered his first international work. Gregory’s works have been performed at Jacob's Pillow Inside/Out Dance Festival (MA), Joyce SoHo, Alvin Ailey Studio Theatre (NY), Dance Place (DC), Athenaeum Theatre (Chicago), and shows in New York as part of the Reverb Festival, the Dance Sampler at Symphony Space, and a self-produced collaboration with Sidra Bell at the Gershwin Hotel. He recently showed his work as part of the Emerging Artists Program at DTW’s Summer DANZ Festival and was accepted into The Bessie Schoenberg Residency at The Yard for emerging choreographers.
He debuted his own company, The DASH Ensemble, in December 2009 at JOYCE SoHo and then again at The Skirball Center as part of the Dance Gotham Festival Series in January. The DASH Ensemble is set to perform at the Jacob's Pillow Inside/Out Festival in July 2010, at the DanceNOW festival this September at Dance Theater Workshop, and as part of the NuDances series at The Riverside Church Theater. For more information, visit: www.thedashensemble.org
Photo Credit: Karime Arabia
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Sessions
- Upcoming Sessions
SESSION HISTORY
Spring 2013 at Gibney Dance Center
03/08/13: Alessandro Sousa Pereira (Danish Dance Theater)
03/11/13: Annabelle Bonnery (Carte Blanche)
03/12/13: Monica Bill Barnes (Monica Bill Barnes & Company)
03/13/13: Pavel Zuštiak (Palissimo)
03/14/13: Bryan Arias
03/15/13: Nicole Wolcott
03/18/13: Elisabeth Motley (Motley Dance)
03/19/13: Streets Finest Crew/Element
03/21/13: Kyle Abraham (Abraham.In.Motion)
Winter 2012 at Gibney Dance Center
12/4/12: Adam Barruch
12/5/12: Ariel Freedman
12/6/12: Deborah Lohse
12/10/12: Barak Marshall
12/11/12: Barak Marshall
12/12/12: Elisabeth Motley (Motley Dance)
12/13/12: Nigel Campbell
12/14/12: Loni Landon
12/14:/12 Playground After Dark
Fall 2012 at Gibney Dance Center
10/22/2012: Pavel Zustiak (Palissimo)
10/23/2012: Jarek Cererek (The Balletboyz)
10/24/2012: Dancer from Nederlands Dans Theater
10/25/2012: Tiffany Mills
12/26/2012: Gregory Dolbashian (The DASH Ensemble)
Summer 2012 at Gibney Dance Center
7/16/2012: Kendra Portier (KendraPortier|BANDPortier)
7/17/2012: Cindy Salgado (Kidd Pivot)
7/19/2012: Sidra Bell
7/20/2012: Nelly Van Bommel (NØA DANCE)
7/23/2012: Gabriel Forestieri
7/24/2012: Loni Landon
7/26/2012: Emery LeCrone
7/27/2012: Manuel Vignouelle
7/30/2012: Gregory Dolbashian (The DASH Ensemble)
7/31/2012: Bryan Arias
8/2/2012: Shannon Gillen (Shannon Gillen + Guests)
8/3/2012: Ariel Freedman
Spring 2012 at Gibney Dance Center
5/29/2012: Harumi Terayama (Cedar Lake Ballet)
5/30/2012: Adam Barruch
5/31/2012: Shannon Gillen (Shannon Gillen + Guests)
6/1/2012: Sidra Bell
6/4/2012: Barak Marshall
6/5/2012: Richard Siegal (Richard Siegal | The Bakery)
Fall 2011 at Manhattan Movement & Arts Center
11/28/2011: Alex Ketley (The Foundry)
11/29/2011: Loni Landon
11/30/2011: Francesca Harper
12/1/2011: Harumi Terayama (Cedar Lake)
12/2/2011: Emoery LeCrone
12/5/2011: Gregory Dolbashian/Loni Landon
12/6/2011: Zoe Scofield (Zoe | Juniper)
12/7/2011: Malcolm Jason Lowe (Formal Structure)
12/8/2011: Danielle Agami (GAGA USA)
12/9/2011: Caroline Fermin (Gallim Dance)
12/13/2011: Adam Barruch
12/14/2011: Alex Springer and Xan Burley (alex|xan: the Median Movement)
12/15/2011: Partick Corbin (Corbin Dances)
12/16/2011: Gregory Dolbashian (The DASH Ensemble)
Spring Session 2013 with Annabelle Bonnery Photo by Charlie Winter
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Support
- Support for The Playground (NYC) Provided By...The Playground is fiscally sponsored by Gotham Arts Exchange.
The Playground is made possible in part with public funds from the Manhattan Community Arts Fund, supported by the New York City Department of Cultural Affairs in partnership with the City Council and administered by Lower Manhattan Cultural Council.
CONTACTQuestions, comments, just want to say hi? Email Loni, Gregory, or Rachael at pgroundnyc@gmail.comLoni Landon (Co-Founder/Artistic Director)Gregory Dolbashian (Co-Founder/Artistic Director)Rachael Pazdan (General Manager)Resident Photographer: Charlie WinterBrooklyn Brewery lovingly supports The Playground (NYC)
Photo by Charlie Winter
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Posts
- Mar 02, 13
Thanks to all who came out and supported The GIVE LOVE Dance Jam this past Valentine's Day in collaboration with Gibney Dance, and in solidarity with the organization 1 Billion Rising. Lead by Camille A. Brown and Gibney Dance Company, this donation based event raised over $100 for Sanctuary for Families, the leading non-profit in New York State dedicated exclusively to serving domestic violence victims sex trafficking victims, and their children.
- Jan 16, 13
- Jul 10, 12
- May 01, 12
Since our last sessions, which were so successful and we want to thank all the amazing choreographers and dancers who came out, we have been working hard to take The Playground to the next level. We knew with the summer approaching, we wanted to come back with some special surprises, and give both the NYC community and all the visiting artists an amazing summer of play. This will mark our first official summer session and so far it's pretty fresh. We have a teaser week beginning May29-June1, and then a special bonus two day collabo with the visiting BODYTRAFFIC on June 4th and 5th. We have also been making some moves in our real-estate game as well. We have had the great fortune of sitting down with the force of nature Gina Gibney who has been gracious enough to partner with us for this summer and we are extremely excited to be housed at her beautiful space located at 890 broadway on the 5th floor. What a fire location!!! She is extremely excited to be working with us as are we with her. Its a match. Our two day collabo with BODYTRAFFIC is going to be the jumpoff. We are featuring two of thier choreogrpahers, Barak Marshall and Richard Siegal. This is a very special and very rare opportunity for NYC artists to get in the room with these guys, and they both have incredible skils. BODYTRAFFIC will be here in NYC to make their JOYCE Theater debut, so if you like what you do in the studio with them, you got to go check out their show on June 6th and 7th as part of The Gotham Dance Festival! We then are coming with a solid 3 weeks in July running from the 16th- August 3rd. Same drill, Monday-Friday, from 12-2!!! We are talking to some incredible artists for this and can't wait to deliver it to NY! There is still so much more to come, so keep staying tuned, keep telling your friends, keep checking in with us, but most of all keep playin!!!!
- Dec 11, 11
Hey NY!,
What an amazing two weeks it has been so far. Our second week saw the Playground reach capacity 3 times! It is beautiful to watch this thing grow by the day. We love seeing The Playground popping up on other people's sites, profiles, tweets, all of that. Keep em coming. The more you talk about it, the further we go.
We have to thank the choreographers from this past week: Malcolm Jason Low, Zoe Scoffield, and Danielle Agami. Malcolm had such a dope time that he wrote this on mine and Loni's wall after his session: "the playground with Alex Ketley from Frances Chiaverini on Vimeo.
- Dec 03, 11Week 1 was a success! For those who missed it, check out what happened. If you still haven't got a chance to come down to MMAC, you still have 2 weeks left!Here is what happened!Alex( Ketley) lead us through a beautiful complex phrase full of gesture and sweeping fluidity that inspired the entire room. He also introduced us to a great movement game he plays called "hot mess" where each dancer shows the ugliest and most beautiful versions of their individual dancing.Co-founder Loni (Landon) began her session with improvisational duets that traveled through the space and focused on inventive ways to manipulate one another. She then shared a piece of phrase work from her vocabulary that challenged and excited the room. Everyone wanted more.Francesca Harper took a very original approach and began her session with a tool called "auto-dramas", where the dancer compresses their life story into a two minute monologue using text and movement and sound. It was amazing to see what people came up with and how brave everyone was in their stories. We then made those stories interact with each other in larger improvs. It was a very uplifting day.Harumi Terayama, was able to get away from her rehearsal schedule at Cedar Lake to come play with us for a day. She used the time to teach two small, wonderfully organic phrases in her style, then she immediately began to structure a formal dance, using everyone in the session to build a big, fun ensemble piece. Her work is fun, challenging and fulfilling to do.Emery Lecrone closed out the week with a great session involving incredibly fluid phrase work that felt so good on your body. She then guided us through an improv where we had to sing our favorite song while we explored our own movement through improv. We worked with her phrase trying it with many different qualities and tempos. It was a great end to an awesome week!
On Monday, Alex started the week off right by leading us through a beautiful complex phrase full of gestures and sweeping fluidity that inspired the entire room. He also introduced us to a great movement game called "hot mess," where each dancer contrasts their most "ugliest" and most "beautiful" versions of their individual dancing.On Monday, Alex started the week off right by leading us through a beautiful complex phrase full of gestures and sweeping fluidity that inspired the entire room. He also introduced us to a great movement game called "hot mess," where each dancer contrasts their most "ugliest" and most "beautiful" versions of their individual dancingOn Monday, Alex started the week off right by leading us through a beautiful complex phrase full of gestures and sweeping fluidity that inspired the entire room. He also introduced us to a great movement game called "hot mess," where each dancer contrasts their most "ugliest" and most "beautiful" versions of their in - Nov 27, 11
Hey NY!
Novmeber 28th: Alex Ketley
It is finally here! The very first week of The Playground begins. Remember, it is FIRST COME, FIRST SERVED per session. There is no pre-registration. Show up early for your spot! We look forward to everyone coming out and playing and we are extremely grateful to our choreographers participating this week.
Below is a little sample of each choreographer for this week. To get to know them and their work better, check out these links:
Work Sample: http://bit.ly/vilhXn
For more info visit: alexketley.com
November 29th: Loni Landon
Work Sample:http://vimeo.com/27783624November 30th: Francesca Harper
Work Sample: http://bit.ly/sSqdkj
For more info: http://www.francescaharper.com/Dec 1st: Harumi Teryama
Work Sample: http://vimeo.com/27783624Dec 2nd: Emery LeCrone
Work Sample: http://bit.ly/s8TWlW
For more info visit: emerylecrone.com
Don't miss the chance to work with these amazing artists for just $5! See you down at The Playground! - Nov 27, 11
We are sooo excited for the first day of the Playground. Grab a friend and come down to MMAC manana!! Alex is first up, and I know that you won't want to miss this - he is in from San Francisco working on some ideas-
See you all tomorrow
**remember its first come first served, & Cash only :) - Nov 16, 11
Dear NY!
So we are less than two weeks away from our very first day at The Playground!!!! Keep up the chatter becasue it is working. I am starting to see The Playground popping up all over people's radars and it is exciting. If you haven't started chatting it up, DO SO!!!!
Dance Informa got in on the action with this great article that you can check out right here:
http://bit.ly/sBQNSX
We took this interview when I was in Austin working with the ballet and Loni was in New York preparing for her commission with Ballet X. It was great to get to step back from the madness for a second and think "Oh yea. . . these were the actual reasons why we started this" and also just to reflect on where we have gotten to so far and how much further we want to keep going.
I've been meeting more and more dancers throughout New York, some of whom have just arrived within the last month or so, and they have already heard about what we are doing with The Playground. It's good to know that this is starting to get out there, but this is only the very tip of the beginning. I told them the same thing I always say. "We are doing it for you". . . . actually We are doing it for all of us.
So we will keep pushing to make this session so fulfilling. You guys do the same. Much love NY!
Sincerely,
Greg & Loni - Nov 08, 11
Whats up NY!
Very excited to have our upcoming session about to kick off in a little more than two weeks. Our line-up is on our website under our "Sessions" header. We cannot stress enough how important it is that you get connected with us as much as possible. Join our mailing list. Post comments on our blog. Follow us on Twitter @theplaygroundny, and most importantly. . . bring yourself down to the sessions. If you can't make it, send a friend. The Playground cannot happen without you! You are The Playground! We are pushing to get more support and build up our empire but we cannot do that without being able to show the response to what we are bringing.
We are making this for you, so we want to know as much as we can from you. . . feedback, advice, resources, stuff you want to see more of, stuff you want to see less of. Get on that mailing list! Tell your peoples to get on that list. There is nothing like this in NY.
Also, remember, our sessions are first come, first serve and we cap the room at 30 heads! You show up and sign in, in the order you arrive. So get on it. That S#!T Cra! - Oct 27, 11Hey NYC Dancers!
A lot of good things going on right now for The Playground. One of them is this blog, so we can all be even more connected-
We have a brand new website as well, www.theplaygroundnyc.org where you can read about our expanding missions and get our schedule of choreogrpahers which will drop next week.We have been grinding hard for this next 3 week session starting November 28th hosted by our friends at Manhattan Movement Arts Center. We are lining up a lot of great artists as well. I just had a great conversation with Alex Ketley and it looks like he will be coming to play. Danielle Agami formerly of Batsheva is also going to be coming in as well. We also have brought in a director of development, Catherine Coury, who has been killing it! She wanted to become involved because she came through to dance in our last sessions in March and felt what we are doing with this was so important she wanted to help.
This is what the Playground is all about. We are here to provide as much as we can, but we grow through our partnerships and through the support we get from all sides. Including support from all the artists in the NYC community and abroad. Come through to these sessions, NYC! Tell everyone about the Playground. Get on our mailing list. Pass our info on to anyone in the field. There is a lot that we are working on to expand and meet our goals, but it starts with the support and the excitement from our community. - Sep 26, 11
- Aug 18, 11
For many of you who started with us, this may bring back some memories :)
http://www.vimeo.com/18123823
Thanks to Home4Dance, for making this video for us
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Uploads
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Jobs
- Currently Seeking Summer/Fall 2013 Interns!
Fundraising and Development Internship
The Fundraising and Development Intern will assist in the general operation of the organization, and will play a critical roll in it's continued expansion. A great opportunity for those with some experience in arts management, and a strong desire to learn more. Internship may be used for college credit.
Responsibilities include (but are not limited to):
- Fundraising and grant research: researching new funding opportunities, mainly grants.
- Grant writing: following through application process, proposal writing, and editing with the General Manager.
- Sponsorship research and outreach: discovering new sponsorship opportunities, both monetary and in-kind, and developing relationships with these brands and companies.
- Special event planning: developing special event opportunities for fundraising, and cultivating individual donor interest.
Requirements
- Candidates must have excellent writing and editing skills
- Detail oriented and highly organized worker
- Ability to meet deadlines
- Previous experience in arts management encouraged, but not required.
- Familiarly with Excel and Google Docs is encouraged.
Please submit your resume and a brief cover letter in the body of your email to pgroundnyc@gmail.com. Please make the subject of your email "Application for Playground Internship"
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