UPCOMING PLAYTIME

The Playground NYC x BARYSHNIKOV ARTS

OLEG STEPANOV
Friday, 09/19 || 10:00AM - 12:00PM

Oleg Stepanov is a versatile artist, excelling as a dancer,choreographer, musician, and filmmaker. Born in the Urals, Russia, he has been residing in Germany and Switzerland since 2016. After graduating from the Physics Department of the Ural University, Oleg devoted himself to art-making. He danced at Tanztheater Wuppertal Pina Bausch (Germany) for 7 years, Gothenburg Dance Company (Sweden) for 3 years, 2 years at Theater Basel (Switzerland) and for 5 years at Provincial Dances Theatre (Russia). He collaborated with renowned choreographers such as Dimitris Papaioannou, Saburo Teshigawara, Sidi Larbi Cherkaoui, Alan Lucien Oyen, Richard Siegal, Constanza Macras, Bobbi Jene Smith, Fabrice Mazliah, Uri Ivgi & Johan Greben. Oleg was a long time collaborator and assistant to Russian critically acclaimed choreographer Tatiana Baganova. He assisted her in the production of «Rite of Spring», set to Stravinsky's music at the Bolshoi Theatre in Moscow in 2013, as well as in the piece «Sepia» commissioned by American Dance Festival in 2010.

Oleg has received numerous awards. From the latter he was proclaimed by the German «Tanz» dance portal as «Dancer of the Year» in 2022 for his role in Richard Siegal’s and Anish Kapoor’s «Ectopia». He was also nominated for the Russian National Theatre Award, «Golden Mask» as «Best Male Dancer» for his role of Rudolf Nureyev in Natalia Kasparova’s and Leo Shulman’s «The Point of No Return» (2008) and as «Best Choreographer» for «All That I Can Be» (2016) and «Object in the Distance» (2017). Oleg secured the 3rd place in the «Gdansk Solo Dance Contest» (Poland) and the Online Dance Festival «Side by Side» (Germany) for his solo performance «NoBodY».

In 2023, Oleg’s work in film also involved choreographing for director Tom Tykwer’s film «The Light». In 2024, Oleg’s short film «A moth on a bomb» won a prize at New York Tri-State International Short Film Festival, it also received an honourable mention for the best cinematography at Newfilmmakers New York Festival, and it was also officially selected for Tokyo, Seoul and Roma International Short Film Festivals. His short dance video, «Moverevermore», received the Jury Choice Award at the «EnRoute Dance Film Festival» (USA). Oleg is currently collaborating as a choreographer with film director Alla Kovgan on their next full-length dance film «Purple river». Oleg actively facilitates dance research laboratories and workshops. He regularly teaches at b12 festival in Berlin, DAF Academy in Rome, AN-TRE program in Porto.

Oleg leads his course at Palazzo Caprioli Academy in Gussago, Italy.

OMAR ROMÁN DE JESÚS
Wednesday, 10/22 || 10:00AM - 12:00PM

Omar Román de Jesús is a queer Puertorriqueño choreographer and the director of the NYC-based dance company BOCA TUYA. Currently, he is a proud Artist in Residence at 92NY. Omar is the inaugural Baryshnikov Arts Center Fellow at Kaatsbaan Cultural Park and a 2023 Dance Magazine Harkness Promise Awardee. He was recently awarded the Alan M. Kriegsman Residency at Dance Place and the Kennedy Center. His accolades include the 2022 Princess Grace Award in Choreography, the 2022 NYSCA/NYFA Artist Fellowship in Choreography, the 2022 Palm Desert Choreography Festival Grand Prize, and the 2020 Ann & Weston Hicks Choreography Fellowship at Jacob’s Pillow.

He has been commissioned to create works for over 20 companies and pre-professional schools, including The Paul Taylor Dance Company, Charlotte Ballet, The Juilliard School, Ballet Hispánico, BalletCollective, Limón 2, SALT Dance, St. Louis Dance Theater, MOVE NYC, Bruce Wood Dance, Joffrey Ballet Concert Group, Whim W’Him, Parsons Dance, The Ailey School, Kennesaw State University, James Madison University, and Booker T. Washington High School for the Performing and Visual Arts.

Omar’s works for stage and screen have been presented worldwide, receiving top recognitions through the Joffrey Academy of Dance's Winning Works Choreographic Competition, Whim W’Him’s Choreographic Shindig, The Dance Gallery Festival, Reverb Dance Festival, and the International Dance Festival of Puerto Rico, where he was awarded the Ambassador of Dance medal. His screendance, Los Perros del Barrio Colosal, has been viewed by audiences in over 20 countries and was awarded Best of Screen Dance International as well as Best Choreography and Best Narrative at the ReThink Dance Film Festival. Over the past five years, he has toured internationally to Colombia, Panama, and the Canary Islands, and has presented work domestically in New York, Georgia, Washington, Pennsylvania, and California. In 2023, his piece Papagayos, commissioned for Ballet Hispánico, premiered at New York City Center and traveled to North Carolina for the American Dance Festival. Most recently, Like Those Playground Kids at Midnight was presented in celebration of the 92NY 150th anniversary.

Omar is fond of education and has experience teaching workshops and master classes all over the world for professional dancers, students with special needs, people with physical disabilities, and marginalized communities.

OUR SESSIONS

THE PLAYGROUND NYC HOSTS SEASONAL SESSIONS OF DANCE PLAYTIME FOR MOVERS OF ALL LEVELS AT A DISCOUNTED RATE.

OUR SESSIONS ALLOW DANCERS TO EXPERIENCE VARIOUS CHOREOGRAPHIC STYLES AND IDEAS, ENGAGE WITH A CREATIVE COMMUNITY, AND GATHER RESOURCEFUL INFORMATION AND INSPIRATION FROM THE ARRAY OF CHOREOGRAPHERS LEADING THESE SESSIONS.

THE PLAYGROUND NYC OFFERS VARIOUS PRICE POINT:

2 HOUR SESSIONS : $5 - $10 CLASS FEE

3 HOUR SESSIONS : $10 - $15 CLASS FEE

4 HOUR SESSIONS : $15 - 20 CLASS FEE

AFTER DARK SESSIONS : $10 CLASS FEE

PAST SESSIONS

WE’NE HELD WORKSHOPS WITH THE FOLLOWING ARTISTS AND COMPANIES:

Fernando Hernando Magadan

Frances Chiaverini

Francesca Harper

Fluct- Sigrid Lauren

Göteborg Opera

Glo ATL-Laurie Stallings

Hubbard Street

Jermaine Spivey

Jon Rua

Kate Wallich- The YC

kidd pivot

Kyle Abraham | Abraham In Motion

LA Dance Project

Lee/Saar

Sonya Tayeh