It gives me great pleasure to announce “Gallery Dances” - 4 days of professional dance at Burchfield Penney Art Center. As the Founder and Artistic Director of Lehrer Dance, Buffalo’s very own internationally touring professional dance company, I am committed to helping dance thrive in our great city. The Burchfield Penney Art Center has graciously asked me to become their dance curator, allowing me to help elevate and expose the amazing professional dance scene in Buffalo. From November 10 - 13, professional dancers and choreographers will take over the gallery, showcasing their unique artistry, giving audiences a glimpse into Buffalo’s rich dance scene. Each day will be different, offering a variety of styles, artistic voices, and innovative dance sure to inspire and entertain. All programs are followed by a talk back with choreographers and dancers. Just as the city of Buffalo itself is on the rise, a renaissance in many ways, so too is the professional dance scene in the Queen City. Join me and celebrate dance n Buffalo! - Jon Lehrer
Thursday November 10 - 7pm - Cultural Dance Night
The diverse and vibrant cultural dance community takes the stage! The evening will showcase five of Buffalo’s most exciting cultural dance groups. Through performance, lecture, and video, the audience will be transported into the wonderful world of Buffalo’s cultural dance community!
Featuring:
- Amor and Heritage - “Traditional Dance and Legends”
- Mackenzie “Eirene” Lynch - “The Evolution of Egyptian Raqs Sharqi - A Brief History of Belly Dance in the 20th Century”
- Slyboots - Griffin Brady - “The Slyboots Circus”
- Ballroom Revolution - Lihann Jones - “Swing Dancing: The American Folk-Dance”
- Devi Bollywood Dance - Gaitrie Devi - “Behthi Nadiya" (Flowing Water)
Free with gallery admission
Friday November 11 - 7pm - Modern Dance Night
The rich, cutting edge modern dance community in Buffalo is ready to explode and will take over the entire Burchfield Penney Art Center on Friday night. The evening will showcase five of Buffalo’s most innovative, up-and-coming modern dance choreographers and performers. Dancers will perform throughout the beautiful gallery, giving the audience a breathtaking combination of artistry and visually stunning movement! Don’t miss your chance to see the future of dance in Buffalo up close and personal.
Featuring:
- ConvergeDance - Hayley Sunshine
- Center Dance - Nancy Hughes
- Mone’ Dance - Nakita-Mone’
- Kim Vincent
- Melanie Aceto
This is a free event
Saturday November 12 - 2pm & 5pm - Lehrer Dance
Fresh off tours to Florida, New Jersey, and Louisiana, a sold out 10th Anniversary show at UB Center For The Arts, as well as tours to Europe and Russia, Buffalo’s very own internationally touring professional dance company returns to the Burchfield Penney for an intimate performance. Witness the company’s trademark artistry and athleticism in the beautiful Burchfield auditorium and gain insights and details about the choreography, the dancers, and Jon Lehrer’s inspirations. Always striving to bring the Buffalo audience innovative dance, Lehrer Dance will combine video and visual arts to their repertoire for this unique performance!
Tickets required for each performance: $20 Not Yet Members; $10 Members $5 Students with ID Call 716-878-6011
Sunday November 12 - 2pm - Elaine Gardner: Buffalo’s Ambassador of Contemporary Dance
Buffalo’s Elaine Gardner has devoted her career to sharing the inspirations of contemporary dance as a performing artist, choreographer, educator, collaborator, and curator. She came to Buffalo in 1981 from professional dance company stints in Phoenix and Los Angeles. For the next twenty-five years, she cultivated her own repertory company, Pick of the Crop Dance. During that time, Gardner pursued original collaborations with musicians and visual artists; brought emerging and established guest artists from the United States, Europe, and Israel to create new works for the company; established ground-breaking arts in education programs in the schools; and stabilized a roster of salaried company dancers. Her cycle of three evening-length original fairy tale-based ballets, using young dancers from many different WNY dance studios, was a high point in the company’s history.
In this program, Gardner explains her own development as an artist and thinker through photos and video excerpts from throughout her career. For this occasion, she has invited her dear friend, the noted Roman dancer-choreographer Benedetta Capanna, who will perform a solo she has created that includes choreographic contributions by Gardner and herself. This new work is a memoir of Capanna’s grandmother, the ballerina Mirdza Kalnins, who starred at the Opera of Riga and at the Teatro dell’ Opera in Rome.
Free with gallery admission.