The Jersey City Summer Dance Fest Series is coming soon to the J. Owen Grundy Pier right outside the Exchange Place PATH station, and will feature performances by The Kennedy Dancers, Hudson County’s premier dance company, now celebrating its 35th anniversary.
Performances are scheduled for every Thursday night from July 14 through Aug. 11 from 6:30-8:30 p.m. Every performance is free and open to the public and sponsored by the Jersey City Division of Cultural Affairs. Before each performance, from 6-6:30 p.m., the audience is invited to warm-up with the dancers with a free mini Zumba class.
Dancers from The Kennedy Dancers Professional Company and the Inner City Youth Junior Dance Company will present repertory choreography by Artistic Director Diane Dragone and world-renowned choreographer Sean Curran.
The Kennedy Dancers Professional Company is composed of eight dancers chosen by Ms. Dragone for their technical and performance abilities. They perform the work of Ms. Dragone and other well-known choreographers such as Sean Curran annually in New York and in Jersey City.
The professional company is comprised of Julianna Kenworthy, Aaron Atkins, Natasha Carles-Novikov, Juan Espinosa, Sarah Gordon, Kristin VanDeventer, Alexandra Caines and Jasmin Reyes.
The Inner City Youth Junior Dance Company is composed of economically disadvantaged and at-risk youth from diverse racial and ethnic backgrounds. Many of these students want to pursue education in dance, theatre, and performing arts vocations. Ranging in age from ten to seventeen, the Inner City Youth Company members attend classes on scholarship in tap, ballet, jazz, modern dance, gymnastics, hip hop, and ethnic dance. They perform approximately fifteen concerts annually with The Kennedy Dancers and receive television and broadcast exposure through Dance Vista.
On the bill are “La Dolce Vita,” Dragone’s valentine to Italy; “My Obsession with Cats,” a series of dances inspired by her love of all things feline; “Meadowlands Serenade,” dedicated to the migratory birds that make their temporary home in the Secaucus Meadowland; “On the VoTech Bus,” a comedic pantomime dance parodying the antics of VoTech students on the school bus, and “Force of Circumstance,” an abstract choreography by master choreographer Sean Curran. In honor of the 10th anniversary of 9/11, The Kennedy Dancers will end each show with Ms. Dragone’s patriotic “Tribute to 9/11.”
For more information, call The Kennedy Dancers at (201) 659-2190.