Indigenous Dance Forum

Blending interactive theater approaches with culturally immersive technologies, The Indigenous Dance Forum (IDF) is part community activation, part performance ritual, and part forum. Guided by intuition-led, process-based methodologies, IDF, the major outcome of Jack Gray‘ssemester-long residency at the A/P/A Institute at NYU, implores us to find a way to create and articulate a deeper sense of connection to the place Mannahatta.

Curated by Gray, the performance features a stunning cohort of guest dance artist and scholar collaborators from around the word, along with local community members, who will physically encounter the Indigenous liminality of Lenapehoking. A journey of expanded senses, this one-time only pop-up event articulates the relationality of our urban tribe and invites body, mind, and spirit into this space of shared breath and collective resonance.

Featuring collaborators Jasmin Canuel (Aotearoa/New Zealand, French Canadian, Dutch, Irish), Sammay Dizon (Carson, California; Gerona, Tarlac; and Guinobatan, Albay, Philippines), Bianca Hyslop (Te Arawa, Ngati Whakaue), Toni Pasion (Los Angeles, California; Laoag, Ilocos Norte; Antipolo, Philippines), Mark Zane Mauikānehoalani Lovell (Kanaka Maoli, Hawai’i), Dåkot-ta Alcantara Camacho (Matao/Guåhan/Illokos), Marya Wethers (New Orleans/New York), and others to be announced.

Jack Gray (Ngati Porou, Ngapuhi, Te Rarawa, Ngati Kahungunu) is an acclaimed dancer, choreographer, and scholar. Born in Auckland, New Zealand, Gray first connected to his cultural roots through traditional Māori dance, Kapa Haka, and later discovered contemporary dance. In 2000, he founded the Atamira Dance Company, an all Māori contemporary dance theatre, which has since become one of the nation’s premiere dance companies. Gray is committed to developing Indigenous epistemologies as a crossover into mainstream practices of dance and theatre. Since 2012, he has fostered an intercultural network of communities in the United States, activating cultural awareness and promoting strategies for Indigenous empowerment. He has collaborated with Dancing Earth Creations (New Mexico), Bernice Pauahi Bishop Museum (Hawai‘i), University of California, Riverside, and University of California, Berkeley, among many organizations and institutions. He is the Spring 2016 Artist-in-Residence at the Asian/Pacific/American Institute at NYU.

Dixon Place, an artistic incubator since 1986, is a non-profit institution committed to supporting the creative process by presenting original works of theater, dance, music, puppetry, circus arts, literature & visual art at all stages of development. Presenting over 1000 creators a year, this local haven inspires & encourages diverse artists of all stripes & callings to take risks, generate new ideas & consummate new practices.