You are reading

Queensboro Dance Festival Tour Kicks Off June 4

QDF2021Rockaway (Photo: queensborodancefestival.com)

June 2, 2022 By Alexandra Adelina Nita

The annual Queensboro Dance Festival tour will begin this Saturday—featuring Queens-based dance companies of diverse cultures and styles.

The festival will consist of more than 30 free outdoor performances and classes across the borough, as well as pop-up events that will be announced throughout the summer on the festival’s Instagram account.

“We’re honored to be such an active part of the Queens arts landscape,” said the festival’s founder and Executive Director Karesia Batan, who is also a Sunnyside resident. “By working with so many local artists and cultural organizations, we truly feel the sense of community here. We feel the support and are thrilled to keep raising the visibility of Queens artists, especially dancers.”

Batan, a dancer herself, created her dance group-turned-production company The Physical Plant in 2010 before she established the festival in 2014. Her goal was to give Queens dancers and choreographers an accessible space to learn from each other.

The festival has won multiple awards, including being named the Best in Arts & Humanities with the Long Island City Game Changer award in 2019. Assemblymember Catherine Nolan presented the award.

There will be a kick-off party on June 4 in the form of a meet-and-greet with the 125 dancers participating in the festival. It will be followed by the festival’s first preview performances at Queens Night Market by Hawaiian group Na Pua Mai Ka Lani Nuioka and FANIKE! African Dance Troupe in partnership with Queens Rising at 7:30 p.m. and 10 p.m.

The second round of preview performances will be given by Chih & Yoyo, Gotham Dance Theater and Kofago Dance Ensemble on June 6th on the Queens Pride stage at 2 p.m. The stage will be in Jackson Heights between 37th Road and 75th Street.

After the weekend of previews, the festival will travel to Windmuller Park in Woodside to give 6 p.m. performances on June 11 and 12. These performances will mark the beginning of its full-length summer shows as it tours fourteen different Queens neighborhoods.

The festival will feature twenty-six Queens-based dance companies that encompass a variety of styles and cultures, all of whom will be present at its finale at Queens Theatre on Oct 2.

Presenting Queens-based Dance Companies:

Umami Playground

Fruto Ancestral

Robert Mark Dance

Belamovado

Chieh & Yoyo

Kofago Dance Ensemble

chrisbelldances

Cole Collective

Drye/Marinaro Dance Company

Fanike! African Dance Troupe

Flamenco Latino

Gotham Dance Theater

Barbara Mahler’s Dances

Greek American Folklore Society

Urvashie Kissoon

Karla Florez School of Dance

Kinding Sindaw

Sheep Meadow Dance Theatre

NK&D/a movement company

Noora Dance

The Kingdom Dance Company

sarAika movement collective

Na Pua Mai Ka Lani Nuioka

RUDanceNY

Manhatitlan Mexican Folkloric Dance Group

Wendy Kamal and the David Ali Dance Academy

Postcard front transparent.png

 

 

email the author: news@queenspost.com
No comments yet

Leave a Comment
Reply to this Comment

All comments are subject to moderation before being posted.

This site is protected by reCAPTCHA and the Google Privacy Policy and Terms of Service apply.

Recent News

Queens Council Members celebrate $2.5 million in funding for AAPI curriculum

Jul. 3, 2025 By Shane O’Brien

Queens Council Members Shekar Krishnan, Linda Lee, Sandra Ung and Julie Won gathered on the steps of City Hall Wednesday afternoon alongside Manhattan Council Member Carlina Rivera to celebrate the “historic” $2.5 million budget investment to support the implementation of Asian American and Pacific Islander (AAPI) history curriculum in NYC schools.

Woman attacked and strangled in anti-LGBTQ assault in Far Rockaway: NYPD

The NYPD Hate Crimes Task Force is investigating an anti-LGBTQ attack on a woman in Far Rockaway on the night of Tuesday, June 24, and three suspects remain at large.

The 28-year-old victim was walking in front of 18-26 Village Lane just north of Mott Avenue at around 8:30 p.m. when she was approached by the three men who shouted anti-LGBTQ rhetoric before they punched her multiple times, and one of the assailants placed his hands around her neck, and strangled her into unconsciousness, police said. The three men fled the scene, just down the street from the Rockaway Village development, to parts unknown.

Forest Hills home invasion leaves man hospitalized after brutal assault and robbery: NYPD

Police from the 112th Precinct in Forest Hills are looking for three suspects who beat and robbed a 28-year-old man during a home invasion on the afternoon of Saturday, June 21. The three intruders slipped into an apartment building at 102-40 62nd Ave. at around 4 p.m.

The perpetrators allegedly forced their way into the victim’s apartment, punched him repeatedly in his body with closed fists, and forcibly removed $60 in cash and medication before fleeing the building in an unknown direction, police said Monday. EMS responded to the crime scene and transported the victim to Long Island Jewish Forest Hills, where he was listed in stable condition.