Your move!

Your Move Dance Festival is New Jersey’s longest-running annual modern dance event, designed to support choreographers from New Jersey, New York and beyond. Now in its fifth season, Your Move announced recently a new partnership with DeBaun Performing Arts Center in Hoboken, while keeping its previous partnership with Jersey City-based Art House Productions.
This year Morgan Hille Refakis and Meagan Woods will co-produce a festival consistently recognized for high-caliber modern dance.
The change of location, Woods said, was generated by the recent relocation of Art House Productions, and an offer by DeBaun to host the four-day festival.
“In the past we held our events at the Art House location,” Woods said. “But this year, Art House moved from Hamilton Park to Journal Square, and we were not sure if we would have the space we needed.”
Then came an offer from Hoboken.

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“This year we have quite a number from Hoboken, Jersey City, and companies from New York.” – Meagan Woods
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“The executive director at Stevens Institute saw our Stagefest event,” she said, referring to an annual series of performances conducted at the Landmark Loew’s Theatre at the end of last year. “He said he had space at the DeBaun and invited us to put on the festival there. This was a big honor, and a thrill. The space has capacity for more than 300 people and a lot of space for productions. So what we will be putting on will look even more professional without as much work. We’re working hard now on fundraising, but don’t have to worry about some expenses we had to handle in the past. We can focus our effort on getting what we need for the production itself.”

Drawing from regional dancers

This is a particularly good year because there were a lot of responses. The festival has been reaching out through social media and other venues, and has drawn attention from as far away as Montreal.
“This year we have quite a number from Hoboken, Jersey City, and companies from New York. One company has roots in Australia, but it’s based here.”
For dance, this is the event of the season, she said, and an opportunity for people to experience and talk about dance and to further their knowledge.
Some of the dance companies are from Jersey City and around Hudson County; some come from New York City, which is an easy commute, Woods said.
This is a smorgasbord of dance talent, each group providing its own interpretation of modern dance.
The program started because Hudson County had a lot of talented dance companies, but no central festival where people could see them.
“We brought it into one place, using local talent or anyone who was willing to perform in New Jersey,” Woods said. The result was modern and contemporary dance that people might find in New York City, presented on this side of the Hudson River.
“Our submissions have expanded,” she said. “We got together a program, set up the floor lights for anyone who wanted to see a very professional yet very accessible dance program.”
Each performing group will have two chances to perform over the four days. Each day’s total performance is about two hours with an intermission, Woods said.
People can attend all four days, or pick and choose between two of the four days to get to see as many acts as possible.
“If you want to see your favorite, you can purchase those or purchase tickets for every night,” she said.
She said the festival is rich with variety, with some dances even having a comic element, but provides a high level of dance production.
“We want people to experience and love dance, and we are offering it in different ways and concepts,” she said. “These performances will strike people in different ways.”
This is also an educational experience, with a question and answer period held on Friday, where people can ask performers about their work, take photos, and hear the interpretations of the dance by those who are performing them.

Who’s appearing

This year, Your Move is supporting 24 choreographers, 21 pieces, and over 80 dancers from NJ and NY.
Featured choreographers include: Khadija Ahmaddiya, Robert Mark Burke, Ronnie D Carney, Mark Caserta (all of DRIGGproductions); Caitlin Dutton, Loretta Fois, Ariel Grossman, Lane Gifford, Monica Gonzalez, Kyle Georgina Marsh, Kyle Marshall, Rebecca McCormac, Joe Monteleone, Erin Norton, Arielle Petruzzella, Morgan Hille Refakis, Hannah J. Rolfes, Heather Warfel Sandler, Raleigh Veach (IsadoraNOW), Sabatino Verlezza, Carlo Antonio Villanueva, Meagan Woods, and Elizabeth Rose Zwierzynski.
The festival is curated by Odessa Avianna Perez, Refakis and Woods.
Performances will be held on a rotating roster: Friday, Oct. 24 at 8 p.m., Saturday Oct. 25 at 3 p.m., Saturday, Oct. 25 at 8 p.m., and Sunday, Oct. 25 at 3 p.m.
On Friday, Oct. 24 there will be a free question and answer session with selected choreographers after the performance.
DeBaun Performing Arts Center is located at 24 5th St. in Hoboken. Tickets are $12 in advance ($18 at the door), a three-day festival pass is $30 in advance ($35 at the door) and can be purchased online at yourmove2014.bpt.me. Advance purchase is recommended.
For more information, including a programming schedule, please visit:https://www.facebook.com/YourMoveJC
https://www.facebook.com/events/447430458732922/www.arthouseproductions.org

Al Sullivan may be reached at asullivan@hudsonreporter.com.