New Victory Dance 2025 Arts Break

There are so many amazing dance companies hitting the New Victory stage this summer! Here’s a taste of what these artists are all about, along with some songs that inspire their work.

Program A

Program A features Luke Hickey and Elizabeth Burke, Nai-Ni Chen Dance Company and Ronald K. Brown / EVIDENCE, A Dance Company.

• While their piece was inspired by music, Elizabeth Burke and Luke Hickey also love sports—basketball, football, tennis, soccer—and looking for similarities between sports and dance.
• In Nai-Ni Chen Dance Company‘s piece, Lion in the City, the collaborators asked the question, “How would a Chinese lion perform hip-hop steps?” And the choreography developed from there!
• Ronald K. Brown of EVIDENCE, A Dance Company, creates contemporary African dance that educates and empowers people and communities.

Program B

Program B features Max Pollak Group, Thresh Dance and Reggie Wilson / Fist and Heel Performance Group.

• Max Pollak Group is a cross-cultural chamber music ensemble with musicians who also sing and dance. Some of their movements are inspired by jellyfish!
• Thresh Dance tells stories from around the world. They have a lot of fun working together in the studio, even finding inspiration in their goofy moments! “Serious work,” they explain, “comes from a lot of fun!”
• Reggie Wilson creates what he calls “post-African/neo-hoodoo modern dances,” combining postmodern dance elements with the movement traditions of Africans in the Americas.

Program C

Program C features RudduR Dance, Ishita Mili / IMGE Dance and Seán Curran Company.

• RudduR Dance‘s socially-conscious performances blend contemporary ballet, contemporary circus and theatricality to amplify underrepresented voices, especially from Black and POC communities, as a vehicle for social change.
• IMGE Dance welcomes dancers from diverse backgrounds, races and identities. They believe that body language and expression are the most powerful ways to connect intuitively with others, no matter where they come from.
• Seán Curran Company has performed Metal Garden all over the world. It’s also been learned and performed by many college students studying dance at universities across the U.S.

Dance means different things to different people. Have you ever talked about it as a family? Take a moment to chat about the ins, outs, whats and whys of dance!

• Dance is all around us. What are some everyday things you do that can be transformed into a dance sequence?
• If you had to perform a dance inspired by your culture, what stories would you tell?
• Certain types of dance are also considered sports. Why do you think that is, and can you name any?