The Battery Dance Festival is an international dance festival staged in Battery Park City with New York Harbor and the Statue of Liberty as the background. Closing night is at Schimmel Center at Pace University. Participating dance companies host a series of dance workshops during the day.
New York is a city of theaters, but the Battery Dance Festival is the most stunning theater in New York City. Lady Liberty has always stood for something important for New Yorkers and the world. Watching over the Battery Dance Festival, she stands for freedom through movement.
The Festival draws a family audience of over 12,000 people every August and it is FREE.
38th Battery Dance Festival 2019
The 38th Battery Dance Festival is in Robert Wagner Park in Battery Park City Sunday-Friday, August 11-16, 2019 from 7-9pm with an Everybody Dance Now afterparty with dancing at 9pm. FREE
The Festival’s closing night is at Schimmel Center at Pace University in Manhattan’s Financial District from 6-8pm. Tickets from $10
Workshops are held at Battery Dance Studios in Chinatown.
Latin Dance Companies
Leah Barsky & Cristian Correa ~ Argentina
This Argentine dance company is the 2nd performer on Sunday, August 11.
Laboration Art Company ~ France
This French dance company is the 4th performer on Monday, August 12, and the first performer on Tuesday, August 13.
They host a workshop on Sunday, August 11, 2019 from 10:30am to 12pm. Free with registration.
Janice Rosario & Company ~ Caribbean New York
This dance company from Uptown, Manhattan is the 2nd performer on Tuesday, August 13.
Ballet Nepantla ~ Mexican New York
Ballet Nepantla is a New York-based Mexican-American folkloric ballet company that performs 1st on Wednesday, August 14.
A Day of Indian Dance
Thursday, August 15 is a day of Indian dance in celebration of Indian Independence Day.
Most people don’t think of Indian as Latin, but Romani culture and Spanish flamenco originated among the traveling court musicians of Northern India. They traveled all the way to Spain and that is how we got Spanish flamenco.
Some former British, Dutch and French colonies around the Caribbean have a strong Indian heritage. These include Trinidad & Tobago, Guayana, Suriname and Jamaica.
The West Indian American Day Carnival in Brooklyn shows the Indian heritage. It’s in the curry!
Richmond Hill, Queens is an Indo-Caribbean neighborhood in New York City.
For more information, visit batterydance.org