test

Dance Parade is thrilled to welcome Disney’s Aladdin as a sponsor for the 13th Annual Dance Parade!

The movie will be released May 24th and is a a thrilling and vibrant live-action adaptation of Disney’s animated classic, “Aladdin”–  an exciting tale of the charming street rat Aladdin, the courageous and self-determined Princess Jasmine and the Genie who may be the key to their future.

Directed by Guy Ritchie (“Sherlock Holmes,” “The Man from U.N.C.L.E.”), who brings his singular flair for fast-paced, visceral action to the fictitious port city of Agrabah, “Aladdin” is written by John August (“Dark Shadows,” “Big Fish”) and Ritchie based on Disney’s “Aladdin.”

 

The film stars Will Smith (“Ali,” “Men in Black”) as the larger-than-life Genie; Mena Massoud (“Tom Clancy’s Jack Ryan”) as the charming scoundrel Aladdin; Naomi Scott (“Power Rangers”) as Jasmine, the beautiful, self-determined princess; Marwan Kenzari (“Murder on the Orient Express”) as Jafar, the powerful sorcerer; Navid Negahban (“Legion”) as the Sultan concerned with his daughter’s future; Nasim Pedrad (“Saturday Night Live”) as Dalia, Princess Jasmine’s free-spirited best friend and confidante; Billy Magnussen (“Into the Woods”) as the handsome and arrogant suitor Prince Anders; and Numan Acar (“The Great Wall”) as Hakim, Jafar’s right-hand man and captain of the palace guards.

 

 

 

 

Eight-time Academy Award®-winning composer Alan Menken (“Beauty and the Beast,” “The Little Mermaid”) provides the score, which includes new recordings of the original songs written by Menken and Oscar-winning lyricists Howard Ashman (“Little Shop of Horrors”) and Tim Rice (“The Lion King”) and includes two new songs written by Menken and Oscar and Tony Award®-winning songwriters Benj Pasek and Justin Paul (“La La Land,” “Dear Evan Hansen”).

Naomi Scott as Jasmine and Mena Massoud as Aladdin in Disney’s live-action adaptation of ALADDIN, directed by Guy Ritchie.

Aladdin (Mena Massoud) meets the larger-than-life blue Genie (Will Smith) in Disney’s live-action adaptation ALADDIN, directed by Guy Ritchie.

Mena Massoud as the street rat with a heart of gold, Aladdin, and Will Smith as the larger-than-life Genie in Disney’s ALADDIN, directed by Guy Ritchie.

Facebook: @DisneyAladdin

Twitter: @DisneyAladdin

Instagram: @DisneyAladdin

Hashtag: #Aladdin

 

Dance Parade is excited to welcome Disney’s Aladdin to the Dance Parade!

The movie will be released May 24th and is a a thrilling and vibrant live-action adaptation of Disney’s animated classic, “Aladdin”–  an exciting tale of the charming street rat Aladdin, the courageous and self-determined Princess Jasmine and the Genie who may be the key to their future.

Directed by Guy Ritchie (“Sherlock Holmes,” “The Man from U.N.C.L.E.”), who brings his singular flair for fast-paced, visceral action to the fictitious port city of Agrabah, “Aladdin” is written by John August (“Dark Shadows,” “Big Fish”) and Ritchie based on Disney’s “Aladdin.”

 

The film stars Will Smith (“Ali,” “Men in Black”) as the larger-than-life Genie; Mena Massoud (“Tom Clancy’s Jack Ryan”) as the charming scoundrel Aladdin; Naomi Scott (“Power Rangers”) as Jasmine, the beautiful, self-determined princess; Marwan Kenzari (“Murder on the Orient Express”) as Jafar, the powerful sorcerer; Navid Negahban (“Legion”) as the Sultan concerned with his daughter’s future; Nasim Pedrad (“Saturday Night Live”) as Dalia, Princess Jasmine’s free-spirited best friend and confidante; Billy Magnussen (“Into the Woods”) as the handsome and arrogant suitor Prince Anders; and Numan Acar (“The Great Wall”) as Hakim, Jafar’s right-hand man and captain of the palace guards.

 

Naomi Scott as Jasmine and Mena Massoud as Aladdin in Disney’s live-action adaptation of ALADDIN, directed by Guy Ritchie.

Eight-time Academy Award®-winning composer Alan Menken (“Beauty and the Beast,” “The Little Mermaid”) provides the score, which includes new recordings of the original songs written by Menken and Oscar-winning lyricists Howard Ashman (“Little Shop of Horrors”) and Tim Rice (“The Lion King”) and includes two new songs written by Menken and Oscar and Tony Award®-winning songwriters Benj Pasek and Justin Paul (“La La Land,” “Dear Evan Hansen”).

 

Aladdin (Mena Massoud) meets the larger-than-life blue Genie (Will Smith) in Disney’s live-action adaptation ALADDIN, directed by Guy Ritchie.

 

Mena Massoud as the street rat with a heart of gold, Aladdin, and Will Smith as the larger-than-life Genie in Disney’s ALADDIN, directed by Guy Ritchie.

Share on Social Media:

Facebook: @DisneyAladdin

Twitter: @DisneyAladdin

Instagram: @DisneyAladdin

Hashtag: #Aladdin

 

Dance Parade is pleased to welcome D.Webb Designs to its family of sponsors. D.Webb Designs is the brain child of Designer and Belly Dancer Debbie Cartsos.  D.Webb Designs is a New York City based apparel company that proudly designs and manufactures quality apparel catered to the Dance community.

 

We sat down with Debbie Cartsos, founder and owner of D.Webb Designs and interviewed her about her new venture within the Dance Parade world.

Dance Parade: Why is D.Webb Designs sponsoring the 2019 Dance Parade?

Debbie: “Quite simply, I love this event! As a dancer, I have taken part in at least 5 Dance Parades over the years and each year, I can’t wait to go back and do it all again. I love dancing down the streets of NYC and feeling a unity with other dancers from around the world. It’s a feelgood event where, whether spectator or participant, one can be inspired by dance forms you’ve never been exposed to. It’s an opportunity for artists to showcase their work and genuinely get a vast amount of exposure, which is not easy to find. 

photo by Monzeeki Photography, model Chance

Dance Parade: Can you tell our readers what D.Webb Designs will be doing at the 13th Annual Dance Parade and Festival? 

Debbie: We’ll be dancing in the parade in collaboration with the Dalia Carella Dance Collective, repping our interactive full-length dance theater production, Menagerie d’Arte fusing 1920/30s cabaret styles of Berlin and Paris with contemporary and world dance, avant garde, darkly comedic, bringing human fashion installations to life and merging the worlds of couture and dance.

Dance Parade: Ahh, Dalia Carella–Yes, I heard she’ll be performing at our March 2nd Launch Party as well.

Debbie: Yes! Dalia is a recognized around the world as a master performer and will be doing a solo piece for LIFT OFF at the Taj. By the way, you can all use code DWEBB for 20% off tickets!

Dance Parade: That’s awesome! So tell us, then what happens when you get to the festival in Tompkins Square Park?

Debbie: After we have all danced our way through Manhattan, D.Webb will be meeting you in Tompkins Square Park at our fully stocked experience booth, with mini-dance contests, prizes, photo ops and a meet and greet with the D.Webb crew.

Debbie: And THEN TO THE MAIN STAGE where we are collaborating with Sol Dance Center and some of our D.Webb Ambassadors,under the artistic direction of Dani Albertina, to bring you a dance and fashion filled performance bringing our fashions “from the dance floor to the streets” with hip hop, ballet, belly dance, and more. It’s a full experience of the senses with D.Webb Designs and friends. Don’t miss it!

 

 

Check out D.Webb Designs website and get your new outfit for Dance Parade!

 

Founder of D. Webb Designs, Designer Debbie Cartsos

Debbie’s Bio

Debbie Cartsos donned her first belly dance costume at the age of five from a belly dancer that performed at Zorba’s, a famous Greek night club in Florida. Later on when she moved to Athens, Greece, she continued to shimmy on through her mother’s design studio to the sounds of classic Mediterranean music, surrounded by the vibrant colors and patterns destined to become beautiful gowns for her family’s evening wear boutique. Is it any surprise that dance and fashion were her first loves? They led her to degrees in Fashion and Intimate Apparel Design at the Veloudakis Private Institute of Design in Greece and NYC’s Fashion Institute of Technology (FIT), where she also received the Jean Yu Critic Award for Intimate Apparel Design and the Intimate Apparel Council Merit Award. At the same time, Debbie was earning numerous belly dance certifications, performing and, eventually, teaching.

Inevitably, her two loves merged. Her expertise in bra-making and fashion led to costume design and a line of performance wear and so D.Webb Designs was born. She now designs apparel that can be worn in many different ways, “from the studio to the street”, striving to fill a gap in the fashion industry by creating pieces that allow for freedom. Freedom in movement and freedom in style, as non-conforming and individual as the people who wear them.

 

 

 

Over the past three years dancer/choreographers Shireen Dickson, Carlye Eckert and Jamila Holman have joined with choreographer/director DJ McDonald and Executive Director Greg Miller to present guerilla dancers and ensembles as part of the annual Dance Parade and DanceFest, the world’s largest single-day public dance event, in community centers, public parks and schools across the metro area, and in outdoor performances in collaboration with the Lincoln Square BID. The Collective’s deeper roots lie in Dancing Through the Light, which McDonald and Miller created, alongside co-producer Steven Estroff.  It featured 7 different NYC based ensembles reflecting dance from 3 continents, the sub-continent and Hawai’i at numerous sites across Green-Wood Cemetery in Brrooklyn. This year the Collective emerges onto a platform within DanceFest, on stages and sites, by first presenting 3 distinct ensembles from Native American to Contemporary as the nucleus of a professional outgrowth. The aim will be to take its work further into the streets, plazas, piers, sites, neighborhoods, communities, minds and hearts of NYC.

We aim to take over the city. Not all of it, and not all at once; just to bring the artists we work with and among above the threshold of the sensible allowing them to be recognized and validated along with the largely Native American and immigrant communities from which they spring. Working together with communities we engage in resonant sites across the city, we bring a healing hand and heart to sites of historic conflict, trauma and struggle honoring past present and future as we bring dancing to the streets, parks, plazas, piers and sites of NYC.

ARTISTS OF THE COLLECTIVE:

Shireen Dickson


A professional dancer trained in Horton, Dunham classical modern and fusion styles as exemplified in 2018’s Kara Walker reVERSE-gesture-reVIEW with Thomas F. DeFrantz and SLIPPAGE (video), Shireen has worked in dance and dance education for 17 years. Her art/research focuses on African-American vernacular styles including Tap, Swing, Improvisation, Hip Hop and Traditional Jazz.  She is also knowledgeable in international folk styles – Irish Step, Bhangra, Polynesian and Caribbean dance.

Shireen serves as Artistic Director/Performer with The Okra Dance Company offering performances and residencies to schools, libraries and community centers, primarily in urban and under-served communities, in schools, after-school programs and on the college/professional level. Previously she worked as Education Director with the STREB Lab for Action Mechanics, as Choreographic Assistant to Dianne McIntyre, as Young Adolescent Program Coordinator at the East Harlem Tutoring Program, as a Teaching Artist with the Jazz Drama Program at the Louis Armstrong Middle School and as Arts Educator at Vanguard High School,

Dickson produced both the Parade and DanceFest in 2009 and 2010 and then created Dance Parade’s Community Engagement Program, now overseen by Carlye Eckert before joining the Collective. She iis a graduate of Goucher College, Maryland.

_____________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________

Carlye Eckert

Carlye works as a choreographer, performer, teacher, and in arts programming in New York. She is a graduate of the Juilliard School (Bachelor of Fine Arts Degree, 2009).

As a performer, Eckert has worked and collaborated with Tino Sehgal, Jonah Bokaer, Jack Ferver, Luke Murphy Dance, Yara Travieso, Lucie Baker, Esme Boyce Dance, The Equus Projects, and appeared as a guest dance artist with Aszure Barton & Artists and Keigwin+Company. She. is a member of the Brian Brooks Moving Company and is currently working with Boris Charmatz/Musee de la Danse.

Her choreographic work has been presented in Portland, Oregon at A-WOL and the West Linn Theater; in NYCi at Judson Church, Center for Performance Research, Triskelion, CAVE, CUNY, Dance New Amsterdam, West End Theater, Dixon Place, Location One, DUMBO Dance Festival, Green Space, The Peter Jay Sharp Theater at Lincoln Center, and The Juilliard School.

Ms. Eckert’s work focuses on activating experiences of community and environment, whether through choreography, dance education, or arts programming. In April 2011, she co-established the performance series, STUFFED: Dinner and Dance at Judson Church, a community program which presents dance artists and feeds hungry audiences on a quarterly basis. Carlye teaches dance at Rutgers University in New Jersey.

_____________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________

Jamila Holman

In 2005, Jamila began dancing at Madison Square Garden for the New York Knicks and was chosen to perform in shows in China, with John Legend and Paul McCartney. Currently, Jamila tours arenas nationwide as a choreographer and back-up dancer with R&B star Lisa Lisa of  Lisa Lisa and the Cult Jam. Her dance career in NYC began in 2003 with renowned Jazz choreographer Frank Hatchett and soon after was featured in his “VOP” instructional jazz dance DVD as well as assisting Hatchett in numerous dance conventions.

Growing up in Springfield, MA, Holman began her training under Hatchett’s principal dancer Kim Norrington and was promoted by choreographers at the Broadway Dance Center and Hunter College. Her training varies in styles from ballet, to jazz, tap, hip-hop and African. As a teacher she has assisted the late Hatchett at conventions such as The Dance Teachers Summit, NADAA, with the New York Knicks Cheering for Children Organization and at New York City’s most popular gyms such as Crunch and David Barton.

____________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________

DJ McDonald

DJ has been immersed in dance, theater, film/video, music and visual arts, as well as management, production, curation, development, marketing/PR, touring, education and community engaged art activities for more than two decades. Initially this came about in support of his own professional contemporary dance and theater company, and later as co-producer of a professional cabaret and dinner theater, NYC’s annual Dance Parade and Festival, and as Industry Spotlight Coordinator for Asian American Film Lab. Dancing Through The Light: Greenwood Cemetery Celebrates Life, Death, and Culture Through Dance.

As a performer, he has worked with several notable choreographers, directors, companies, and projects, most recently as one of 6 principal performers in Nameless forest created by Dean Moss in collaboration with an international cast of visual, musical and technical artist. DJ continues to publish occasionally and has contributed as a writer for Village Voice and other publications including the blogs Culturebot and City Of Glass.

_____________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________

Greg Miller
Executive Director

Having worked 14 years in management for Fortune 500 companies (Lehman Brothers, EDS, Bosch, ANA, Revlon and Cablevision, Greg has been serving as an arts administrator to non-profits since 2003 when he co-produced the Fall Collection, a mixed media festival in the Lower East Side.

Drawing on his love of dance and cultural experience in living nine years abroad, Greg founded Dance Parade, Inc. in 2006.  Greg supports and oversees the Collective by bringing his ”One Parade-Many Cultures” vision to it, encouraging as many artistic and vibrant forms of movement and community activist engagement as possible. The Collective nourishes a network of those who will cross generations and cultures to unite and celebrate under the umbrella of dance.

Motivated by the healing qualities of dance, he practices Salsa, Swing, Roller and Gabrielle Roth’s 5 Rhythms, a conscious movement discipline. He was recently the General Manager of Nimbus Dance Works, Jersey City’s preeminent dance company, currently consults for non-profits and serves on the Advisory Board of Neville Dance Theater. Movement of the People Collective represents his most audacious venture.

_____________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________

DanceParade_CommunityEngagement_Seniors             LeonardRosmarin_DanceParade         

2015DanceParade_GrandMarshals

Community_Engagement_DanceParadeParade-Pic_DanceParade            DanceParade_E-Newsletter_PeterCai

                        Luke_Williams_Dance_ParadeParade_Shot_DanceParade

 

 

PRESS RELEASE

Contact: Rebecca Myles

rebecca@danceparade.org, 917-326-0802

 

 

JOIN THE FESTIVE FUN OF 12TH ANNUAL DANCE PARADE AND DANCEFEST ON SATURDAY, MAY 19 WHEN 10,000 DANCERS PARADE IN SNEAKERS, CLOGS, TAP SHOES AND BALLET SLIPPERS BEATING THEIR RHYTHMIC WAY DOWN BROADWAY

 

New York, New York: Have a blast at the 12th Annual Dance Parade, Saturday May 19, a joyous celebration of dance with approximately 10,000 paraders – students and professionals, young and old, with color, costumes, music, and 80 different styles of dance.

“New York rises on the foundation of its diversity and we are proud of our incredible performing arts landscape that incorporates the customs of people from the world,” wrote New York City Mayor Bill de Blasio, in a proclamation declaring Saturday “New York Dance Parade Day.”

“Today, our city’s remarkable multiculturalism will be on full display …which brings together professional artists and dance enthusiasts of all ages and backgrounds for a vibrant celebration of the universal art form.”

A grandstand at Astor Place gives great viewing for all or part of the Parade, which starts at 1:00pm on Broadway & 21st Street, dances down Broadway, through Union Square and University Place, across 8th Street/Saint Marks, and settles at approximately 3:00pm in Tompkins Square Park, where four stages are set up for free performances by many of the companies, as well as social dancing and free lessons in various styles of dance.

Leading out the parade Tina Thompson, channeling Josephine Baker, and her Skin Dance Company, followed by Fusha Dance Company (African Dance). Among this year’s highlights are American Tap Dance Foundation, Paul Taylor Teen Ensemble, Arthur Murray Dance Studios (Ballroom) Eye Catching Circus (Taiwanese Acrobatic), Rhythm Locura (same sex Salsa/Latin) FogoAzul – Brazilian Drum and Dance, a dozen Chinese Dance groups, dancers doing belly dancing, jazz, hip hop, tango, leg-kicking cheerleaders and majorette groups among them Brooklyn Gatorettes and the Golden Dancerettes, and folk dancing from Niall OLeary School of Dance (Irish), Los Andulleros (Dominican Santiago) Shot of Scotch, (Scottish) Kaisokah Moko Jumbies of Dance (Caribbean carnival) and Slavic Folk Dance, Indian Bhangra, and hypnotic roller bladers Disco Energy in the Middle.

It’s a joyous celebration of dance in all its forms by dancers of all styles and ages who love dance!   Audiences, too, find their dancing feet and move to the rhythms.  In fact, the Dance Parade police will be on hand again to give out summonses to folks for ‘non-moving violations.”

This year’s Grand Marshals are Camille A. Brown, one of today’s most sought-after dancer/choreographers; recipient of a Bessie award, a four-time Princess Grace Award, a Guggenheim Fellowship, and more; Mickela Mallozzi, a four-time Emmy winner for her delightful  public TV show “Bare Feet” in which she celebrates the diversity of dance around the world; DJ Doc Martin, who has spun records for appreciative admirers for over three decades and host of his popular show on WBLS 107.5 FM; City Council Member Rafael Espinal, who recently made dance history by passing legislation to repeal the antiquated 1926 cabaret law, which required a license to dance.