2018 Wake Forest Dance Festival

Presented by ARTS Wake Forest and the Wege Foundation, in partnership with the Wake Forest Parks, Recreation & Cultural Resources, the Wake Forest Dance Festival will bring a day of dance to the Triangle in a spectacular outdoor setting. Free and open to the public, this family-friendly event will take place on Saturday, Sept. 29, 2018, at beautiful E. Carroll Joyner Park, 701 Harris Road.

The event will feature international, national and regional professional dancers from the Wake Forest dance community and beyond, along with local rising advanced dance performers.

The 2018 Wake Forest Dance Festival will pay tribute to the American Dance Festival (ADF), based in Durham, NC. With ADF being such an integral part of the dance community here in North Carolina we will celebrate its contribution to the art of dance for over 84 years around the world, 40 years here in our North Carolina, and highlight ADF’s incredible lineage of dance history showcasing a diversity of genres, performers, choreographers and music.


Event Details
The Wake Forest Dance Festival will begin with an educational Technical Rehearsal in the morning and culminate with a staged performance late in the afternoon.

The festival will feature regional, national and international professional dancers along with local rising advanced dance students. Genres will include classical ballet, modern, contemporary, jazz and world. Throughout the day, dancers will perform in different areas of the park.


Schedule

9:30 am - Technical Rehearsal
The public is invited to observe the Technical Rehearsal, which serves as a practice run through of the "Festival Performance" to be presented on stage in the early evening. Following the rehearsal, join us for a Q&A to gain a deeper understanding of the dance works.

1-4 pm - Tour in Motion
A "Tour in Motion" is a guided walking tour, beginning at the top of each hour, with four locations presenting short site-specific dance works, showcasing various dance styles in intimate outdoor settings throughout Joyner Park. This immersive experience will showcase works by Aparna Pisharody (Classical Indian Dance), Vania Claiborne (Contemporary Dance), Katie Harmon and Tori Stewart (Structured Improvization), and MARO Movement (Contemporary Jazz Dance).

5-6:30 pm - Festival Performance
The culminating "Festival Performance" will feature local advanced students from Destiny Dance Institute, Wake Forest Civic Ballet, NCSU Dance Company, along with professional artists including: Koffee Dance Company, Justin Tornow (Founder/Director of COMPANY), Randi Osetek (former Soloist with Carolina Ballet), Antonio Fini (Founder/Director of FINI Dance), world renowned New York based José Limón Dance Company, New York based The DASH Ensemble (performing in honor of ADF), and a work by internationally acclaimed dancer and choreographer Pedro Ruiz.