About
Welcome to REVIVAL 4: Fortitude
Artistic Director Naomi Goldberg Haas
Photo by Meg Goldman
We hope that you will join us for this full day interactive festival! Learn, watch, and participate with our multi-generational company, legendary guest artists and older adults sharing stories of legacy, connection, hope and resilience!
On October 24, we will celebrate “Fortitude” and how it resonates in our bodies and spirits in this time of the pandemic!
Enjoy the day of dancing, share in a rediscovery of 20th century dance with our guest artists, and join the participants of our programs in dance and music. Be inspired and get moving in 1-hour long ALL TOGETHER dance workshops from 11 AM to 6 PM and watch a new dance called “Fortitude” collaboratively created by the artists of all ages. Closing the day-long festival, hear the stories of the artists and their friends.
Enjoy this annual event now in a virtual format! We are all looking forward to the coming year and beyond when we can put this pandemic behind us!
Schedule for the Day
11 am–6 pm: ALL TOGETHER DANCE Workshops
11–11:50 am
Ellen Graff & Marnie Thomas Wood
ABOUT ELLEN
Ellen Graff danced with the Martha Graham Company, appearing in New York, and touring internationally. She has performed in Broadway musicals and for many years was a regular on the Carol Burnett Show. Graff has taught at colleges and universities across the country, and has a Ph.D in Performance Studies.
ABOUT MARNIE
Marnie Thomas Wood joined the Graham Company in 1958, performing and teaching for Graham until invited in 1968 with husband/partner, David Wood, to establish the Dance Major at the UC Berkeley. She served as Director of the Graham School and. currently she teaches there and at Adelphi University.
12–12:50 pm
Audrey Madison
ABOUT AUDREY
Audrey Madison has been a teacher, dancer, and choreographer since she was a teenager. In addition to studying ballet and modern jazz, Audrey was an original member of the Charles Moore Dance Theater having studied Dunham technique, and various Caribbean and African styles. During her tenure as a school-based educator with the NYC Department of Education, she created extensive dance programs for elementary and middle school students and produced talent showcases for school communities. Audrey is also founder and artistic director of her own company, MoJazz Dance.
1–1:50 pm
Sandra Rivera
ABOUT SANDRA
Sandra Rivera has had an extensive career as a dancer, choreographer and educator. A founding member of Ballet Hispanico, she performed as a principal dancer creating a number of roles in the company’s repertory. Since 1990 she has choreographed and performed contemporary dances with thematic content that reflects the Latino experience in the United States. Artist-in-residence at the Cathedral of St. John the Divine with the Omega Dance Co. where she served as director. Her solo dance portraits and choreographies have been presented at El Museo del Barrio, the Caramoor International Music Festival and the Abrons Art Center,the Julia de Burgos Cultural Center, Aaron Davis Hall and the 92 Street Y. She is on the faculty of Ballet Hispanico School of Dance and performs and is a teaching artist for Dancers for a Variable Population. BA in Dance in the Latino Diaspora; CUNY’s Baccalaureate for Unique & Interdisciplinary Studies.
2–2:50 pm: Lunch
3–3:50 pm
Tina Bush & Shirley Black Brown Coward
ABOUT TINA
Tina Bush began her professional career dancing with Jubilations Dance Company and went on to dance with Joyce Trisler danscompany, Jean Erdman Dance Company, The Jamison Project, Forces of Nature and several other NY based Modern Dance Companies. Tina’s credits include television, “Reading Rainbow”, Roseanne Barr at The Apollo, Film; “Alma’s Rainbow”, Stage; “Porgy and Bess”, “Carmen Jones”, to name a few.
As a Dance Educator, Tina has worked extensively with The Ailey School where she served as the Rehearsal Director for the Students Performance Group for 19 years. She has also taught the Horton technique there to Actors, Guest, Outreach, High School, College, and Professional students, as well as serving as Director for the Bridgeport AileyCamp program from its beginning in 1999 until it’s break in 2014. As Choreographer she has created “TRANSITIONS ” for The Ailey/Fordham BFA Freshman, “In2ition” for ASPG (Ailey Student Performance Group), “Time” for Dances for a Variable Population, “Optimistic” for the Dance II program along with several other works for SPG, PPAS, Bridgeport AileyCamp summer concerts and many other recitals for various youth programs.
Shirley Black-Brown-Coward
ABOUT SHIRLEY
Shirley Black-Brown-Coward is a graduate of the Julliard School and an award-winning veteran performing artist of classical and modern, Broadway and liturgical dance. She is also a Master Teacher and received an Audelco Award for Best Off-Broadway Choreographer for Black Nativity by Langston Hughes. She was a founding member of George Faison’s Universal Dance Theater.
4–4:50 pm
Naomi Goldberg Haas
ABOUT NAOMI
Artistic Director Naomi Goldberg Haas has worked in concert dance, theatre, opera and film. She began her career performing with Pacific Northwest Ballet, founded the mixed ability dance company Los Angeles Modern Dance & Ballet (1989–2004), collaborated with Tony Kushner and Disney Animation, was a resident choreographer for the Mark Taper Form, nationally toured with KlezDanz, a collaboration with The Klezmatics. Most recently, she was awarded a 2019–2020 Fellowship from Dance USA for Artist Addressing Social Change.
5–5:50 pm
Myna Majors
ABOUT MYNA
Myna Majors studied with the legendary Baba Chuck Davis, was a former member of The Titos Sompa Dance Troupe, the legendary Baba Olatunji Drum and Dancers, Bernard Dove and The Dovetts, and for the last 16 Years, a proud dancer with The WNBA N.Y. Liberty Timeless Torches.
6–7 pm: Performance and Panel Discussion
A performance of prerecorded videos will be followed by an interactive panel discussion featuring all of the guest artists and the DVP team.
Photos by Meg Goldman
Two Collaborative Dances
RELEASE: Back Into the Open
Washington Square Park, Garibaldi Plaza September 2020
Choreography & Direction: Naomi Goldberg Haas with the DVP students
Music: Ezra Bloom
Videography: Will Kitchings
Cast: Tsipi Ben-Haim, Jackie Bernard, Raeann Bessellieu, Kay Chapin, Mary Doty, Etta Hines, Magda Kaczmarska, Lynda Kenney, Elspeth Macdonald, Tequila Minsky, Coralie Saulson, Holly Schneier, Michelle van Vlaanderen and Susan Wells
Fortitude
Choreography: Naomi Goldberg Haas, Bryanna Dean, Myna Majors, Pamela Knowles, Marnie Thomas Wood, Ellen Graff, Rebecca Hite, Audrey Hubbard Madison, Sandra Rivera and Marisol Morales.
Music: Ezra Bloom with vocals by Ezra Bloom, Ethan Woods and Steven Donahue
Videography: Will Kitchings
Cast: Jackie Bernard, Raeann Bessellieu, Sandy Broyard, Kay Chapin, Coline Chaplin, Sally Cohn, Mary Doty, Sandra Fraiser, Cathie Gum, Etta Hines, Brenda Jones, Sheila Kennedy, Lynda Kenney, Shelagh Krueger, Gertrude Lane, Gail Learner, Ellen Maddow, Shirley Manning, Carolyn Molotchev, Jean Musacchio, Lorraine Owens, Louise (Poopsie), Judy Rogers, Jill Rosenbloom, Jane Rubinsky, Holly Schneier, Irit Schwager, Catherine Stern, Michelle Van Vlaanderen, Margaret Whitfield, Ellis Wood and Margaret Yuen
About Dances For A Variable Population (DVP)
Founded in 2005 by Naomi Goldberg Haas, Dances for a Variable Population (DVP) promotes strong and creative movement among adults of all ages and abilities. The organization’s programming includes: a multigenerational performance company that engages community members as participants and audiences; MOVEMENT SPEAKS® and Dances for Seniors, free, community-based programs for low-income, minority and culturally underserved older adults in four boroughs of NYC; performance and choreographic opportunities for older professional dance artists; and Variable POP® Dance and Fitness classes, offered year-round to adults of all ages and abilities. DVP’s site-related performances have been presented in some of New York City’s most iconic public spaces, including The New York Botanical Garden, Times Square, Washington Square Park, and the High Line. DVP has also performed at Jacob’s Pillow Dance Festival, and internationally in Poland and British Columbia. DVP is a member of the National Dance Education Organization and The International Dance Council in UNESCO, Paris. The company currently receives a funding from the National Endowment for the Arts, New York State Council on the Arts, the NYC Department of Cultural Affairs , the NYC Department for the Aging, among others.
About the Artistic Director
Naomi Goldberg Haas (Artistic Director) is a dancer, master teacher, choreographer and founding artistic director of Dances For A Variable Population (DVP). With DVP, Ms. Goldberg Haas has created site-related public performances at many of NYC’s most iconic public spaces including Times Square, Washington Square Park, the Whitehall Ferry Terminal, and the High Line. She also leads DVP’s education programs, including the organization’s free community-based dance workshops that have served over 5,000 seniors at 45 senior centers since 2009.
Ms. Goldberg Haas has worked in concert dance, theatre, opera and film and has collaborated with the Klezmatics, Pulitzer prize winning playwright Tony Kushner, resident choreographer at the Mark Taper Forum, Long Beach Opera, Milwaukee Skylight Opera and Disney animation. She studied at the School of American Ballet, Barnard College, Columbia University, holds an MFA from Tisch Dance at NYU, and began her career with the Pacific Northwest Ballet. She founded the successful mixed ability company Los Angeles Modern Dance and Ballet (1989 to 2004). In 2012, she received the Gibney award for “ART + ACTION”. The Lower Manhattan Cultural Council awarded her the 2014 Presidents Award for the Performing Arts. She served on the Arts, Media and Culture Committee as appointed by the Mayor’s Office for Age Friendly NYC (2015-2018). Most recently, she was awarded a 2019-2020 DANCE/USA Fellowship for Artists Addressing Social Change with funding from the Doris Duke Foundation.
Naomi is a leader in the field of creative aging. She presented her work with older adults throughout NYC and across the country and has published articles about her community-based dance programs MOVEMENT SPEAKS® in the national journals such as Dance Education in Practice and her work has been featured in numerous other publications and news coverage from WABC News and PIX 11 TV. She has presented this work at various conferences such as National Dance Education Organization, Teachers College, Columbia University and Face to Face/NYSCA. She is currently working on a book about MOVEMENT SPEAKS®: a dance program for older adults.
Production Team
Naomi Goldberg Haas, Artistic Director
Magda Kaczmarska, Consultant
Ezra Bloom, Sound Designer, Composer, Associate Producer
William Kitchings, Video Production Lead, Associate Producer
Lizanne Hart, Graphic and Website Designer