Making Moves, one of JCAL’s signature programs, is a three-day celebration of dance and movement showcasing the work of emerging, mid-career and established choreographers based in Queens and across New York City.
The festival aims to reflect the diverse communities and cultural traditions that define the borough, becoming a vibrant platform for bold new works, innovation and creative exploration.
This year’s festival will feature lineup of artists and companies including Marley Poku-Kankam, Forza Dance, MOVE|NYC| Young Professionals Ensemble, Tommy Wasiuta, Trey Singletary, Jatary Sunchy Danza y Proyección Escénica, and Blacks in Ballet, as well as two new artists, Vasialys Solae Rodriguez and Project Oviasu.
Audiences will experience an expansive range of dance spanning modern, contemporary, ballet, ballroom, folk, hip hop, jazz and social dance styles alongside works rooted in African, Afro-Latin, Afro-Caribbean, East Asian, Middle Eastern and East Indian traditions.
Tickets for the festival are $10 and available here.
Jamaica Center for Arts and Learning at 161-04 Jamaica Ave.Via Google Maps
Beyond showcasing performances, Making Moves reinforces JCAL’s longstanding commitment to cultivating artistic innovation and expanding opportunities for choreographers to create, experiment and connect with audiences. By investing in new voices and celebrating a wide spectrum of dance traditions, the festival continues to strengthen Queens’ vibrant cultural landscape while affirming dance as a powerful form of storytelling, identity and community.
Courtney Ffrench, artistic director of Making Moves, said it’s important the lineup features new artists because it allows the center to discover new talent that might not otherwise have the opportunity to showcase their skills.
It’s also important, he continued, that the lineup features less conventional forms of dance such as waacking, characterized by fast arm movements and dramatic posing, and krumping, a high-energy dance form defined by fast-paced, exaggerated movements.
“It makes it exciting because you don’t know what you’re gonna see next,” Ffrench said. “It’s not just ballet and modern dance. You’ll find hip-hop, house, offshoots of social dancing and breakdancing. You can see a piece done to the music of Tchaikovsky, and then the next piece is to the music of Missy Elliot.”
Ffrench said organizers put out a Request for Proposal (RFP) each year ahead of the September festival, screening videos of dancers’ work and choosing up to nine choreographers to create pieces for the show.
This year, he said a total of 53 dancers will be performing at the festival with a heavy emphasis on diverse dance styles.
Esosa Oviasu, the creator and director of interdisciplinary dance company Project Oviasu, said he was introduced to JCAL through his friend Keerati Jinakunwiphat, a former featured artist at one of the festivals.
“After seeing her work and hearing about the organization directly from members of my own company, I knew I wanted to be involved in any way I could,” Oviasu said. “This marks my first time personally working with JCAL, but it feels like a beautiful full-circle moment. Being able to contribute to the artistic landscape of Queens, a place that was an important part of my childhood, means a great deal to me.”
Oviasu said one of the founding principles of Project Oviasu is to create from a place of emotion and feeling. The dance company draws from commercial dance, as well as hip-hop, house, contemporary dance and breaking culture.
For this year’s festival, he will be presenting a brand-new work called “Clayton.” It blends the world of Tarzan with the modern issues of hyper-industrialization that continue to affect local communities. By using movement language drawn from breaking and house culture, he continued, the company seeks to illustrate the grounded, earthen nature of the world.
Oviasu emphasized how important the festival, and the issues raised and expressed through it, are to the Southeast Queens community.
“Movement rooted in street and club dance is not often presented on festival stages, much less in spaces beyond clubs and the battle scene,” he said. “I believe presenting this work will allow people, especially children, to see that the rigid expectations of the dance world do not have to determine where they invest their time and energy. I want people to feel that they can pursue a profession in dance that exists beyond the studio and concert-dance world.”
“We don’t believe people who live in Queens should always have to find their way into Manhattan or Brooklyn to find live entertainment, art or dance,” Ffrench added. “The vision is to have that interested audience stay within their hometown or borough and actually see themselves on stage. Eventually, you inspire young people to investigate more and get involved in the art form. There’s something freeing about dance.”
The Making Moves Dance Festival is supported by the Mertz Gilmore Foundation and the Harkness Foundation for Dance. This year’s festival received public support from City Council Speaker Julie Menin, Council Member Nantasha Williams and the Council’s Cultural Immigrant Initiative, with operating support from the Mellon Foundation, Howard Gilman Foundation, Matisse Foundation, Altman Foundation and MacMillan Foundation.
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