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Dance alum Davalois Fearon premieres new work at 2025 Vision Festival in New York City
University of Wisconsin-Milwaukee Peck School of the Arts April 25 2025 PSOA alum Davalois Fearon (MFA 2016, Dance) is set to premiere her new dance piece “Up/right”at the 2025 Vision Festival in New York City. As part of her Finding Herstory Project, " Up/right” explores how racial segregation impacts the art of dance in America, featuring cross-cultural movements and non-Western African diasporic forms. The piece incorporates many elements of Black culture and art, being heavily influenced by Fearon’s sociocultural background and Afro-Jamaican-informed contemporary dance style. Photo: R.I. Sutherland-Cohen |
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Davalois Fearon Dance to Premiere UP/RIGHT at Vision Festival 2025
A.A. Cristi, Broadway World, April 22 2025 Davalois Fearon Dance will premiere "Up/right" at the 2025 Vision Festival, presented by ArtsForArts, with support from the Bronx Council on the Arts Cultural Vision Fund and Dance Fund. Up/right features choreographer Davalois Fearon alongside collaborators Mike McGinnis (clarinet, sax), Adriel Vincent-Brown (drums), Peter Apfelbaum (piano), Patricia Smith (poetry), and dancers Jalisa Wallerson, Marýa Wethers, and Myssi Robinson (video art). "Up/right" is a multi-disciplinary dance piece that aims to integrate Fearon's research on non-Western African diasporic forms with her professional concert dance career as a master's level, academically trained artist. It explores how cross-cultural movements, mainly stemming from the African diaspora, have shaped the development of contemporary dance and celebrates the forms that helped build American dance, often without acknowledgment or credit. 6:30 PM, June 5 at Roulette Intermedium. Tickets Here! Photo: Robert I. Southerland-Cohen |
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Lewis Center for the Arts' Princeton Atelier Presents Katrina's Cabaret - A Blood Dazzler Production
New Jersey Stage, April 15 2025 The Lewis Center for the Arts will present Katrina's Cabaret— A Blood Dazzler Production, an end-of-semester sharing of work by students and faculty in the spring Princeton Atelier course, "Blood Dazzler: Collaboration and Catastrophe," co-taught by award-winning artists Patricia Smith and Davalois Fearon, on Friday, April 25, 2025 at 2:00pm. This developmental presentation of a new work-in-progress is a multidisciplinary performance of poetry, dance, music, and visual art exploring Hurricane Katrina on the 20th anniversary of this devastating category 5 storm. The event takes place in the Hearst Dance Theater at Lewis Arts complex on the Princeton University campus. The event is free and open to the public; no tickets are required. |
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Lewis Center for the Arts presents Spring Dance Festival: Threshold
New Jersey Stage, March 31 2025 Lecturer in Dance Davalois Fearon has choreographed a new solo work to be performed by senior Moses Abrahamson. “Fragmentation” explores the tension between stillness and motion, presence and absence, as the dancer moves through the ruins of a world left behind. Created in response to Kay Sage’s painting The Instant, this solo work navigates shifting forms and incomplete movements, blurring the boundaries between structure and decay. Through movement, it grapples with the act of rebuilding—piecing together remnants of the past to construct something new, yet never whole. Friday, April 4 at 7:30pm and Saturday, April 5 at 2:00pm & 7:30pm at the Hearst Dance Theater. Performances are free and open to the public with tickets available through University Ticketing. |
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More Choreographers On Lewis Center Roster
Town Topics Newspaper, March 27 2024 Born and raised in Houston, George has danced for Cedar Lake Contemporary Ballet, Basel Ballet/Theater Basel, GöteborgsOperans Danskompani, and The Forsythe Company. During his Hearst residency, he will be guest teaching in the spring dance course, Building Physical Literacies: Practices in Contemporary Dance, an advanced studio course taught by Davalois Fearon and Rebecca Lazier that compares practices and performance methods of diverse approaches to the body and community in contemporary dance. Photo: Shane Wynn |
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Climate ARTivism, Music/Dance Performance
Citizens' Climate Lobby Tacoma, 2024 Davalois Fearon, Consider Water, 2015, Bronx River Park, a performance to grapple with the issue of water shortage. "Her family in the U.S. had already spent money bussing clean water to relatives in Jamaica when a conversation with the U.S. ambassador to the U. N. prompted Davalois Fearon to think about the big picture of water resources. As part of her work Consider Water, two dancers randomly distribute cups to audience members and a third pours water into some of the cups. The symbolism allows other audience members to glimpse what it feels like to be denied a resource, overlooked and ignored." |
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EXCERPTS OF UP/RIGHT Comes to the New York Public Library With a Post-Performance Discussion
By: Stephi Wild, Broadway World, Dec. 12 2023 "Up/right" is a dance piece that features Fearon's "gymnastic and natural" choreography (Mary Cargill, DanceViewTimes) and original music by Mike McGinnis. It aims to integrate her research on African diasporic dance forms and her professional concert dance career as a master's level academic concert-trained artist. "Up/right" is a part of the "Finding Herstory Project," a series of solos and group works that look at how cross-cultural movements, mainly stemming from the African diaspora, play a role in the development of contemporary dance and celebrate the forms that helped build American dance, often without acknowledgment or credit. |
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Davalois Fearon Dance Virtual Theater to Present CONSIDER WATER and TIME TO TALK WITH DAVA for Climate Week NYC
Blair Ingenthron, Broadway World, Sep. 17 2023 Davalois Fearon Dance Virtual Theater (DFDVT) presents the Virtual Premiere of "Consider Water" and Time to Talk with Dava as part of Climate Week NYC, September 18th - 22nd. The performance will be available for streaming from now until Midnight EST, September 22nd, via the DFDVT. A "Consider Water" screening will take place on the first day of Climate Week NYC, September 18, 2023, at 7 p.m. EST, followed by an episode of Time to Talk with Dava. Visit the link below for tickets. |
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THE DANCE ENTHUSIAST'S A TO Z: F for Davalois FEARON
The Dance Enthusiast , June 14 2023 A to Z: 20 Questions - Celebrating 16 Years of Dance Enthusiasm and People Who Power the Dance World "Leaning in with curiosity as a wise person has told me to do from time to time. Through that lens of inquiry, I can be patient with others, and try my best to find common ground and understanding." Davalois Fearon |
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Stepping Out into the World with Davalois Fearon
Podcast Produced by: The Moving Architects, Interviewer: Erin Carlisle Norton, January 9 2023 Today we bring you a beautiful and inspiring conversation with Davalois Fearon, whose work as a dancer, teacher, and choreographer brings together her family history, early years in Jamaica, and a dedication to moving the art form and community forward. Davalois takes us through some of the most important moments of her journey and how these influenced her evolving approach to her craft. We also get to hear about her current work in choreography, her commitment to grassroots building, and why her performances include such a strong theme of reciprocity with the audience. Listeners can expect to come away with some fascinating insight into her process of connecting the different parts of her life and experience into a unified artistic voice, so make sure to join us for this great episode, with the one and only Davalois Fearon! Podcast 148: Davalois Fearon available on Spotify, Apple Music, and Stitcher |
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Playful Contortions: Stephen Petronio’s Bloodlines/Bloodlines(future)
Samara Michaelson, FRIEZE, December 30 2022 The remaining three works further elaborate upon the question of rhythm and sound. Davalois Fearon’s Finding Herstory (2021) begins with something (paradoxically) unexpected: dance to the beat. As Fearon twerks and steps, she reminds you of that other side of dance: synchronicity with sound. This is also the first time that the audience begins to make its own sounds – shouts, hollers, claps and snaps. The delineation of the performance is blurred and the fact of its living-ness accentuated. The outstretched robe and headpiece haunting the altar of St. Mark’s Church (home to Danspance Project) which Fearon alternately inhabits and sheds further stresses the work’s temporality: it is reaching forward as much as it is reaching back. |
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New York Public Library Presents Davalois Fearon Dance Virtual Theater Premiere Of KERNEL
A.A. Cristi, Broadway World, December 14 2022 "KERNEL" is a fusion of American contemporary dance and Afro-Jamaican dance forms, such as Kumina and dancehall, that features music composed and performed by Mike McGinnis with dance choreographed and performed by Davalois Fearon. "KERNEL," a Brooklyn Arts Council 2022 Awarded project, was born out of Stephen Petronio Company 2021 Bloodlines(future) Program commission of "Finding Herstory." It is the second solo from "The Finding Herstory Project." "The Finding Herstory Project" looks at cross-cultural movements, mainly stemming from the African diaspora. Audience members are invited to enjoy the " KERNEL " screening in the library's Community Room and stay for a workshop led by the 2022 Bronx Council on the Arts Dance Fund and Bronx Recognizes It's Own (BRIO) awardee Davalois Fearon. |
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Dance Calendar December 2022
Charmaine Warren, New York Amsterdam News, December 8 2022 "At Danspace, early career choreographers Johnnie Cruise Mercer, Davalois Fearon, Tendayi Kuumba and Greg Purnell (UFly Mothership) will offer an evening of new works as part of Bloodlines/Bloodlines(future), a concept that began in 2014 to honor and preserve a lineage of postmodern dance artists who have inspired Stephen Petronio’s career as a dancemaker. Also on the program is a re-staging of a work by Petronio’s mentor and postmodern icon, Steve Paxton, for his company. " |
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Faculty explore healing, media, intersectionality in new AAS course offerings
Miriam Waldvogel, The Daily Princetonian, December 7 2022 "Patricia Smith, a prolific poet and visiting professor of creative writing, described poetry as “the way to get us listening again.” Smith is co-teaching the class with poet Mahogany Browne and choreographer Davalois Fearon. “I want to bring that same unwavering attention [of poetry] to a problem no one really talks about — the problem of missing Black women,” Smith wrote. “I hope [the students] are slapped awake, and that they then begin to do the slapping. I want them to contradict me, to say ‘That couldn't possibly be true,’ to be astounded at what their country is capable of.”" |
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Stephen Petronio Returns Back To Danspace Stage After Career Launching Season 40 Years Ago, Dec 8 - 10
A.A. Cristi, Broadway World, November 22 2022 "Returning to the stage where Petronio had his first evening-length show forty years ago, the season is a full circle moment for the company's founder; a re-staging of a work by Petronio's mentor and postmodern icon, Steve Paxton, a new and evolving work adapted for the Danspace Project stage created by Petronio for his ensemble of artists, and three in development and new works by early career choreographers, Davalois Fearon, Tendayi Kuumba and Greg Purnell (UFlyMothership), and Johnnie Cruise Mercer." |
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Events in December at Lewis Center for the Arts, Dec 2 - 4
Wine Time Media, LLC, New Jersey Stage, November 23 2022 "The 2022 Princeton Dance Festival features new and repertory works by nationally and internationally recognized choreographers Ronald K. Brown, Davalois Fearon, Sun Kim, Michael J. Love, Susan Marshall, Rashaun Mitchell & Silas Riener, and Caili Quan, performed by more than 50 Princeton dance students." |
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Arts for Art Family Gathering, November 19
Madavor Media, LLC, Jazz Times, November 18 2022 Join Arts for Art as we kick off our annual Artists & Friends Fundraising Campaign with INSPIRING performances, featuring many of the groundbreaking artists in our community. William Parker Finale Dance: Davalois Fearon, Cooper-Moore Solo Davalois Fearon – danceJoin Arts for Art as we kick off our annual Artists & Friends Fundraising Campaign with INSPIRING performances, featuring many of the groundbreaking artists in our community. William Parker Finale Dance: Davalois Fearon, Cooper-Moore Solo Davalois Fearon – dance |
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Thelma Hill Performing Arts Center Presents 46th Dance Season, June 22-25
A.A. Cristi, Broadway World, June 13 2022 “The engagement will feature new works by emerging and established choreographers of color, including Willie Dynamite Brown, founder and artistic director of The DynamitExperience; dancer Courtney Renee Cochran; choreographer Will A. Ervin Jr.; Davalois Fearon, Artistic Director of Davalois Fearon Dance; Dance Theatre of Harlem Company Member Dylan Santos; and choreographer Ledell Watts." |
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2022 Vision Festival Lineup Announced
Madavor Media, Jazz Times, March 24 2022 “The 2022 Vision Festival —edition number 26, “A Light in Darkness”— will take place from June 21 to June 26 in New York City, including hundreds of performers and featuring tributes to two giants of the avant garde: Wadada Leo Smith and Oliver Lake." |
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Gibney Center Announces Spring 2022 RISING UP! Season
Chloe Rabinowitz, Broadway World, December 13 2021 “Spring season highlights include nine commissioned premieres by devynn emory, Kayla Farrish, Samar Haddad King (Yaa Samar! Dance Theater), Wendy Jehlen, Dohee Lee, zavé martohardjono, MICHIYAYA Dance, Jennifer Nugent, and Soles of Duende; the Deeper Lecture Series with WNYC radio host John Schaefer; poet, playwright, and songwriter Cornelius Eady; and Team Sunshine choreographer and theater director Makoto Hirano; and the return of The Eva Yaa Asantewaa Solo for Solo Residency program with Kayla Farrish choreographing for Belinda McGuire and Javier Padilla choreographing for Davalois Fearon." |
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Davalois Fearon Dance Virtual Theater Presents The Virtual Premiere Of MAS-IN-POVERTY-ATION
A.A. Cristi, Broadway World, December 02 2021 “Más-In-Poverty-Ation explores the overrepresented black and brown incarcerated experience through the personal, correctional, and sociological lens. The performance will be available for streaming at 7:00 pm ET on Friday, December 3rd, 2021, via the Davalois Fearon Dance Virtual Theater. A Time to Talk w/ Dava post-performance discussion will take place immediately following the premiere." |
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Pentacle Presents FOUR ARTISTS' MOVEMENT THROUGH TIME: A PENTACLE LEGACY CONVERSATION
A.A. Cristi, Broadway World, November 10 2021 “In celebration of Pentacle's 45th anniversary serving the performing arts community, we are pleased to present Four Artists' Movement Through Time a free, virtual event, open to the public, featuring four iconic dance artists who have benefited from Pentacle's services at pivotal points in their artistic careers, on Monday, November 29th at 7:00pm.” |
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DANCE NOW's Fall 2021 Digital Program
Kathryn Boland, Dance Informa, Novemeber 2021 Davalois Fearon and Dancers’ A Little Power Inside and Between underscored the wonder that can be found inside and outside of us, if we leave all of the sensory noise behind to truly listen and see. The dancers moved, alone, in various locations. The first to dance allowed her arms to smoothly sway, like willow branches in the wind. The only score was the sound of wind against manmade structures, a sound one can hear in a quiet outdoor space on a windy day — nature and the elements reminding us of their presence and power (regardless of human will). Photo: Hope Youngblood |
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PLG Arts, In Collaboration With Davalois Fearon Dance, Presents Music And Dance At Parkside Plaza
A.A. Cristi, Broadway World, October 08 2021 “PLG Arts, in collaboration with Davalois Fearon Dance, presents Music and Dance at Parkside Plaza, an outdoor, block party-style event that celebrates the rich Caribbean heritage of Flatbush/ Prospect-Lefferts Gardens and the growing community of local artists." |
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Featured Project: Music And Dance At Parkside Plaza with Davalois Fearon
Etty Yaniv, Art Speil, October 16 2021 “PLG Arts (Prospect Lefferts Gardens Arts), in collaboration with Davalois Fearon Dance (DFD), presents Music and Dance at Parkside Plaza, an outdoor, block party-style event that celebrates the rich Caribbean heritage of Flatbush/ Prospect-Lefferts Gardens (PLG) and the growing community of local artists. " |
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In A Performance Piece that Pairs Painted Waves Alongside Real Ones
Marley Katie Guadagnino, NY Times, August 23 2021 “Over three days of rehearsal, Fearon helped the participants grow accustomed to the feeling of holding a wave painting, with one person on either end of each work, and introduced a few choreographic motifs, directing them, by turns, to stand in a straight or staggered line, or to fan out in the shape of a propeller.” Photo: Caroline Goddard for Tom Powel Imaging |
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In Newport, an Entrancing Performance Piece Responds to the Rising Seas
Marley Marius, Vogue, August 24 2021 “In each performance, movement devised by choreographer Davalois Fearon sets textiles woven from recycled ocean plastic into fluid, undulating motion. 'Ultimately, it was important for me to create a work that centered on the community we are building here in Newport and celebrated everyone’s abilities,' [Fearon says] ” Video: Melissa McGill |
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'In the Waves' public art event at Rough Point puts out casting call for 100 youths
Sean Flynn, Newport Daily News, July 2021 “The choreographer will be Davalois Fearon, formerly with the Stephen Petronio Group of New York City and who now has her own dance company. ...'It’s really about aiming to raise awareness about rising seas and respecting the waters in a collective and inspiring shared experience,' McGill said.” |
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Davalois Fearon Dance Announced Spring 2021 Performances
Alexa Criscitiello, Broadway World, 2021 “At the height of the global coronavirus pandemic, Fearon introduced the Davalois Fearon Dance Virtual Theatre, the company's newest platform to present new and in-progress performances. Fearon has also introduced several new initiatives including Time to Talk with Davalois Fearon a discursive series that highlights structural racism within dance, academia, and society at large. This multidisciplinary series utilizes both arts and informed discourse to educate audiences on the many racial disparities that take place socially, environmentally, and academically.” Photo: Anya Kress |
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Review - Dance We Do: A Poet Explores Black Dance
Christopher Luna, Rain Taxi, 2021 “Shange asks the same questions of more than one dancer, such as whether they have a preference for live or recorded music. Davalois Fearon comments that live musicians cause dancers “to be on your toes . . . because sometimes they’ll stretch out that note. That is so fun . . . you have to really be in the moment. There’s a different kind of presence and awareness that live music brings.” |
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Fearon To Perform Her Timely Work Combating Racism
Tampa Bay Newspapers, February 25th 2021 “At the height of the global coronavirus pandemic, Fearon introduced the Davalois Fearon Dance Virtual Theater, the company’s newest platform to present new and in-progress performances. Fearon has also introduced several new initiatives including “Time to Talk with Davalois Fearon,” a discursive series that highlights structural racism within dance, academia, and society at large. This multidisciplinary series utilizes both arts and informed discourse to educate audiences on the many racial disparities that take place socially, environmentally, and academically. Each episode will feature Fearon and a guest to talk about race and be featured in the virtual theater. " |
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Davalois Fearon Dance To Perform 'Time To Talk' At Hillsborough Community College
Patch.com, February 25th 2021 “TAMPA, Fla. - Hillsborough Community College Visual and Performing Arts Series presents Time to Talk performed by Davalois Fearon, along with her company, Davalois Fearon Dance at 7:30 p.m. on Friday, February 26, and Saturday, February 27." Photo: Richard Termine (c) Mabou Mines |
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Notable Books of 2020
Wendy Perron, December 13th 2020 "As Alexis Pauline Gumbs explains in the foreword, Shange was working on this book while she was trying to recover from two strokes and a degenerative nerve disease. She had explored Black dance, not only as an element in her own productions, but by studying and performing with Dianne McIntyre and Halifu Osumare. Shange follows her curiosity by interviewing Black dance artists, including McIntyre, Osumare, Eleo Pomare, and two from the younger generation: Camille A. Brown, who choreographed the last staging of colored girls, and Davalois Fearon, a dance artist who was in Stephen Petronio’s company." |
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This Coloring Book Highlights 21st-Century Female Dancers
Lisa Traiger, Dance Magazine, December 2020 “Modern Women: 21st-Century Dance, a 92-page coloring book, feels like the antidote to a COVID-19 winter. Created by Brooklyn-based dance photographer Julie Lemberger, the book pays tribute to this generation of powerful and creative women dancers.” |
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In ‘Dance We Do,’ Ntozake Shange Tells an Artist’s Love Story
Jamara Wakefield, American Theatre, November 4th 2020 “Dance We Do is a Black dance community portrait highlighting some of the most prolific dancers of our time—Shange’s colleagues, with whom she trained, danced, and auditioned. They are also cultural icons: Camille A. Brown, who choreographed Porgy & Bess at the Metropolitan Opera and received a 2019 Tony nomination for Choir Boy; Dianne McIntyre, a John S. Guggenheim Fellowship recipient; Dr. Halifu Osumare, whose dance contributions are global; Davalois Fearon, a member of the Joyce Theater’s Prestigious Young Leaders Circle Artists’ Committee; Otis Sallid, who produced a segment of Anna Deveare Smith’s HBO film Notes From the Field; and Dyane Harvey, whose screen credits include Free to Dance, The Wiz, and Ailey Celebrates Ellington." |
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Davalois Victoria Fearon
Black Dance Stories, October 1, 2021 Davalois Fearon, is a critically acclaimed choreographer, dancer, and educator. Born in Jamaica and raised in the Bronx, Fearon founded Davalois Fearon Dance (DFD) in 2016 with the mission to push artistic and social boundaries. Her choreography, said to reflect a “tenacious virtuosity,” has been presented nationally and internationally, including at renowned New York City venues such as the Joyce Theatre, the Metropolitan Museum of Art, and the New Victory Theatre. "Hip hop was being created in front of me it was such a joy to grow up in what a lot of people would call impoverished or a food desert or a place that is lacking culture in all of those things but it was very rich. It was such a rich upbringing that gave me the fundamentals of what it means to move my body the way I move my body.” Davalois Fearon |
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Davalois Fearon Dance Announces Davalois Fearon Dance Virtual Theater Davalois Fearon Dance Virtual Theater will debut with the premiere for For C.J. and
Time to Talk with Davalois Fearon Broadway World News Desk, October 2020 Bessie Award-Winning Artistic-Activist Davalois Fearon has announced the virtual premiere of the BRIClab work-in-progress performance of For C.J., supported in part by the 2020 New Music USA Project Grant. The performance will be available for streaming at 7:00 pm ET on Friday, October 23rd, 2020, via the Davalois Fearon Dance Virtual Theatre, a new platform to present both new and work-in-progress performances. Photo: |
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New Music USA 2020 Project Grants Announced
New Music USA, July 2020 New Music USA is pleased to announce the selection of 110 projects involving 392 creators and artists for the tenth round of New Music USA Project Grants. These projects demonstrate the imaginative, diverse, and high-quality work that New Music USA is dedicated to supporting. Photo: Tony Tenenbaum |
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Dance/NYC Announces 25 Recipients of Dance Advancement Fund
Dance/NYC, January 2020 Made possible by the generous support of the Ford Foundation, the purpose of the Dance Advancement Fund is to address the inequitable distribution of resources in the dance field and advance resilience by supporting dance makers with budgets between $25,000 and $1 million. Photo: Marcus Middleton |
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Review: Emotional, Vulnerable Dance at New York Live Arts
Alise Rovner, Bwog, November 22 2019 I had chills by the end of this performance, as I watched these women quite literally bringing each other back to life and embracing one another after hardship...My favorite piece, Walk Good “Lady” by Davalois Fearon, which literally blew my mind– it was raw, emotional, vulnerable, and unlike anything I had ever seen before! Photo: Julieta Cervantes |
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"Barnard/Colombia Dances" weaves silence and spoken word into contemporary dance at New York Live Arts
Anya Raj, Colombia Spectator, November 25 2019 Dancers began murmuring sayings like, “you’re such a show-off,” and “I don’t know,” continuously getting louder and more chaotic. Their movements were synced with their yelling and the noise of a timer ticking. The piece ended with dancers on the floor, harmoniously humming while hugging a partner. Even as the lights dimmed, their vibrant white costumes and humming could still be seen and heard Photo: Julieta Cervantes |
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PRELUDE Festival Announces Full Lineup
Broadway World, October 2 2019 PRELUDE's Work-in-Process series will showcase samples of new work by: Melis Aker, Sophie Amieva, Kate Benson and Jessica Almasy, nicHi douglas, Davalois Fearon, Sanaz Ghajar, Deepali Gupta, Michael + Patrick, Cristina Pitter & Serena Miler, Target Margin Theater / Moe Yousuf, Ashley Tata, Elinor T. & Drew Vanderburg, and Bailey Williams + Derek Smith + Alex Rodabaugh. Photo: Marcus Middleton |
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The Martin E. Segal Theatre Center Presents PRELUDE 2019: Riotous Excursions
Broadway World, August 29 2019 The Martin E. Segal Theatre Center presents its annual PRELUDE FESTIVAL on October 3, 4, and 5 at The Graduate Center, CUNY, The City University of New York, curated by David Bruin & Sanaz Ghajar in collaboration with Frank Hentschker, produced by Sami Pyne. Photo: Suzanna Mars Photography |
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BRIC Announces BRIClab Residencies
Broadway World, July 31 2019 In Spring 2020, artists developing and presenting new works-in-progress include...dancer, teacher, and choreographer Davalois Fearon, with For C.J., a multimedia dance piece that highlights systemic environmental and medical racism, dedicated to Clifton Fearon, Jr., who died from an asthma attack at age 20 (March 5-6) Photo: Tony Turner Photography |
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Festival Report: Vision
John Sharpe, New York City Jazz Record, July 2019 Among the dance projects, the presentation by the Davalois Fearon Dance company, musicians Mike McGinnis, Peter Apfelbaum and Gerald Cleaver and poet Patricia Smith achieved the sort of vivacious coming together of movement, music and poetry that summed up the festival ethos in a production that was sexually charged and empowering. Photo: Frank Rubolino |
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Vision Festival #24 - Day 2
Martin Schray, The Free Jazz Collective Blog, June 24 2019 This project was everything in a nutshell the Vision Festival represents: a collaboration of improvised music, dance, visual arts and poetry. Smith delivered some kind of feminist poem in which she referred to an image of a house without windows which seemed to symbolize the situation of women. But the house’s “roof was on fire“ and the woman who was confined to it had no interest in extinguishing the flames because she wanted to see the man burn. In the end, the house with no window also became a deadly trap for the man. |
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Davalois Fearon at the Vision Festival
Dance Enthusiast, June 3, 2019 The Motion of Words and Sound, a music, dance, and poetry experience featuring longtime music and dance collaborators Davalois Fearon and Mike McGinnis joined by world-renowned poet Patricia Smith. Photo: Argenis Appolinario |
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Exclusive Announcement: 24th Vision Festival Returns to Brooklyn, June 11-16
Matt Micucci, JAZZIZ, April 2019 Dance had a key role to play on the Vision Festival, and 2019 is no exception. The festival presents crucial figures from New York’s downtown dance scene as well as choreographers whose art is intrinsically connected to musical forms and collaborations with improvisers. Dancer-choreographer Davalois Fearon, who will appear in tandem with clarinetist and saxophonist Mike McGinnis. Photo: Heidi WIld |
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Davalois Fearon: dancing for C.J. and so many others
Eva Yaa Asantewaa, InfiniteBody, March 30, 2019 When dance artist Davalois Fearon lost her nephew to asthma, she turned mourning into action. Her work, For C.J., represents a cry against the dire health outcomes for communities--predominantly, Black and Latinx people--doubly-impacted by urban pollution and inadequate health care. Photo: Tony Turner Photography |
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3/21/19 O&A NYC What's Happening This Week
Out and About NYC, March 21, 2019 The Bronx Academy of Arts and Dance (BAAD) presents its 19th annual celebration of women in dance, comedy, music, poetry and performance, including works by queer and trans women. Among the featured artists are Marga Gomez, Nélida Tirado, Alicia Bauman-Morales and Davalois Fearon Dance. Festival continues Friday, March 22, 29 and Saturday March 23, 30. Photo: Tony Turner Photography |
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Marga Gomez Opens BAAD!Ass Women Festival
Broadway World, February 22, 2019 Fresh off of back to back engagements on Broadway and at Martha’s Vineyard, and her successful crowdfunding campaign that raised over $20,000 to artistically combat disparities in asthma care, the Bessie Award-Winning Artistic Activist Davalois Fearon is excited to announce her return home to The Bronx for two engagements at BAAD! The Bronx Academy of Arts & Dance to close out 2018, and kick off her 2019 season. Photo: Argenis Appolinario |
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March 2019 Dance Calendar
Charmaine Warren, Amsterdam News, February 28, 2019 Davalois Fearon Dance in “For C.J.,” “… dedicated to artistic director Davalois Fearon’s nephew C.J., who was the victim of a fatal asthma attack in 2017,” notes the release. Though dominated by dance, there are also theater and film offerings. For more information visit www.baadbronx.org. Photo: Argenis Appolinario |
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BAAD!Ass Women Festival
Time Out The Bronx Academy of Arts and Dance presents its 19th annual celebration of women in dance, comedy, music, poetry and performance, including works by queer and trans women. Among the featured artists are Marga Gomez, Nélida Tirado, Alicia Bauman-Morales and Davalois Fearon Dance. Photo: Argenis Appolinario |
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BAAD! Bronx Academy of Arts & Dance Presents Davalois Fearon Dance "EXCERPTS OF FOR C.J."
Dance Enthusiast, December 2018 Fresh off of back to back engagements on Broadway and at Martha’s Vineyard, and her successful crowdfunding campaign that raised over $20,000 to artistically combat disparities in asthma care, the Bessie Award-Winning Artistic Activist Davalois Fearon is excited to announce her return home to The Bronx for two engagements at BAAD! The Bronx Academy of Arts & Dance to close out 2018, and kick off her 2019 season. Photo: Argenis Appolinario |
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Interconnection Among Dance and Human Rights
UAB Institute for Human Rights Blog, November 2018 Something that set her apart from other choreographers was how she used dance as a way to interact with the audience. ...Fearon’s goal is to give the audience members an idea of what it feels like to be “denied a resource, overlooked and ignored.” The message doesn’t stop with the performance but continues on with a discussion. The discussion is meant to create a safe environment where people can talk about the issue and try to understand it. Photo: Tony Tenenbaum |
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Wassaic Project Presents New York Times Featured Artistic Duo as Part of the 10th Annual Wassaic Project Summer Festival
Harlem Valley News, August 2, 2018 DavaMike makes history as the first music and dance residency in the Wassaic Project’s inaugural summer dance residency. The duo’s performances feature original choreography by Davalois Fearon alongside compositions by Mike McGinnis that moves beyond stylistic limitations. Photo: Piotr Redlinksi/New York Times |
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August 2018 Dance Calendar
Charmaine Warren, Amsterdam News, July 26, 2018 "For this pairing, The Yard celebrates '…a new generation of activist dance artists has arisen in the American Black community, seeking to address unfolding real-world events…explore and provoke searing questions about being Black, about dancing Black, in today’s America.'" Photo: Andrew Lee Imaging |
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These Choreographers Are Using Dance To Fight For Climate Action
Nicole Loeffler-Gladstone, Dance Magazine, July 23, 2018 Her family in the U.S. had already spent money bussing clean water to relatives in Jamaica when a conversation with the U.S. ambassador to the United Nations prompted Davalois Fearon to think about the big picture of water resources. Fearon usually convenes a post-show discussion with experts. "It's an opportunity for audience members who are suspicious, or who don't understand the issue, to engage head-on," she says. Photo: Andrew Lee Imaging |
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Summer Daze: The Shows to Catch During This Year's Packed Summer Festival Season
Courtney Escoyne and Wendy Perron, Dance Magazine, June 14, 2018 Caleb Teicher, The Bang Group and Ephrat "Bounce" Asherie liven up Martha's Vineyard in Tap The Yard: A Vineyard Festival of Rhythm and Beats, July 5–7 and 14. Later in the summer, look for Doug Elkins (July 27–28), Canadian ice skating group Le Patin Libre (Aug. 3–4), and The Wondertwins on a split bill with the fearless Davalois Fearon (Aug. 16–18). dancetheyard.org. Photo: Andrew Lee Imaging |
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Yard Steps Boldly Into Summer Season
Louisa Hufstader, Vineyard Gazette, June 14, 2018 "Hip-hop dancers The Wondertwins, who performed on the Vineyard during the Winter Yard season earlier this year, are back August 16 and August 18 with Jamaican-American choreographer Davalois Fearon in a provocative new work called Black." Photo: Mark Frohna |
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The Billie Holiday Theatre Presents a Two-Day Festival of Cutting-Edge Revolutionary Dance
Broadway World, June 14, 2018 Join ChoreoQuest choreographers Germaul Barnes, Angel Chinn, Davalois Fearon, Rosamond S. King, Sekou McMiller, Johnnie Mercer, Nathan Trice and Edisa Weeks. Post-Performance Reception with choreographers to follow. |
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DavaMike Presents At First Fridays
Arts Nowri, June 2018 First Fridays is pleased to announce its fifth and final concert of the spring season. On Friday, June 1, 2018 at 8 pm, the duo DavaMikePresents, consisting of dancer/choreographer Davalois Fearon and composer/instrumentalist Mike McGinnis, will perform multimedia works that combine dance, live music and poetry. Through dynamic, fluid dance, live music, poetry, and visual art, “Time to Talk” brings attention to inequalities and encourages audience members to question how they may knowingly or unknowingly contribute to maintaining social inequity. |
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New Victory Announces Victory Dance Summer 2018
Broadway World, April 26, 2018 Sharing the New Victory stage in a mixed bill of the City's most acclaimed dance companies and soloists, this year's Victory Dance artists include A Palo Seco Flamenco Company, Ayodele Casel, Calpulli Mexican Dance Company, Dance Theatre of Harlem, Davalois Fearon Dance, Ephrat Asherie Dance, Eva Dean Dance, Parul Shah, Paul Taylor's Company B, Pilobolus, Seán Curran Company and Stephen Petronio Company. Photo: Piotr Redlinski |
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Davalois Fearon and the Politics of Race in Dance
Eva Yaa Asantewaa, InfiniteBody [Fearon is] a woman who excels at whatever she sets her mind to doing. Her supple, sculptural, forceful body is equipped to ace every form of movement--from ballet barre to twerking--even when built-in, exaggerated imperfections show she's unhappy and unfulfilled by the expectations that others put on her. Photo: Richard Termine (c) Mabou Mines |
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OPEN: Dancer Davalois Fearon
BronxNet Host Rhina Valentin sits down with dancer and artistic director Davalois Fearon to discuss her dance company. Photo: Argenis Appolinario |
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Dance Calendar March 2018
Charmaine Warren, Amsterdam News, March 1, 2018 March 27-April 1—As one of the initiatives at the newly opened Performance Space New York in the Mabou Mines theater, works by Tariq Al-Sabir, Tamar-kali, Davalois Fearon and Sanaz Ghajar will be presented at the inaugural SUITE/Space artists’ series titled “Mabou Mines.” The series promises to support artists who reflect New York City’s rich cultural landscape and provides artistic advisement, development support, rehearsal space and opportunities for public performance. For more information, visit www.performancespacenewyork.org. Photo: Andrew Lee Imaging |
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Up-and-Coming Black Artists to Have on Your Radar
Melanie Greene, Dance Magazine, February 21, 2018 Choreographer Davalois Fearon brings high energy and tenacious virtuosity to all her work. Photo: Andrew Lee Imaging |
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Dancing, Talking, and Fighting to be Seen
Christine Jowers, The Dance Enthusiast In excerpts of the autobiographical Time to Talk, Fearon travels from her familiar Jamaican dance-hall, reggae-ease to the more bound, shape-oriented classical forms in which she's come to excel. She addresses prejudice as she moves. Experiencing racist attitudes, she found “art to be a wonderful way to deal with it.” Photo: Mark Frohna |
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Documentary IF THE DANCER DANCES Launches KickStarter Campaign
Broadway World, 2018 The film offers up a cast of rich characters, from dancer Davalois Fearon-faced with the weighty prospect of becoming the first black female to ever perform Cunningham professionally-to Stephen Petronio, one of this generation's leading choreographers, who is bringing RainForest into his company. |
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If the Dancer Dances
IMBd, 2018 If a dance is not danced, it vanishes. If the Dancer Dances follows a group of New York City's top modern dancers as they reconstruct an iconic and mysterious work by the legendary Merce Cunningham, revealing what it takes to keep a dance alive. Timed to coincide with Cunningham's centennial, the film confronts one of the most urgent issues facing the dance world today: how do we prevent the loss of masterworks to time? Starring Davalois Fearon, Gino Grenek, Meg Harper, and more! |
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Cultural Diplomacy and Professional Development
By Davalois Fearon, Dance Motion USA Travels, August 13, 2018 DMUSA PDP was exactly what I needed at this juncture in my career to realize the goals I have set out to achieve...It inspired a new outlook on the possible directions DFD could take. One new direction that emerged is the possibility to form an ongoing collaboration with the international artists...I was paired with Addisu Demissie Kifle from Ethiopia as my partner in learning. Two ideas we both rallied around were artistic development and improvisation. I see this as an opportunity to empower young students to be their full selves by fostering their individual creativity through improvisational dance. The opportunity for me to cultivate and inspire future generations not only here in America, but abroad as well, is a very exciting possibility for me. Photo: Meghan Rose Murphy |
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The Bessies Announce Recipients of the 2017 NY Dance and Performance Awards
Broadway World Ensemble of the skeleton architecture, or the future of our worlds for a history-in-the-making performance that dismantled improvisational dance norms to create a robust, disruptive, and dynamic world. For a cast of individuals who used a full range of movement styles to take the audience from Dakar to Kingston, the Bronx to Bushwick, in a fluid dance of connection. Photo: AK47 Division |
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The Bessies Announce Winners of 2017 New York Dance and Performance Awards
Artforum Ensemble of the skeleton architecture, or the future of our worlds: Maria Bauman, Sidra Bell, Davalois Fearon, Marjani Forté-Saunders, Melanie Greene, Kayla Hamilton, Jasmine Hearn, Marguerite Hemmings, Nia Love, Paloma McGregor, Sydnie L. Mosley, Rakiya Orange, Grace Osborne, Leslie Parker, Angie Pittman, Samantha Speis, Charmaine Warren, Marýa Wethers, Ni’Ja Whitson, and others, curated by Eva Yaa Asantewaa for Danspace Project’s Platform 2016: Lost and Found Photo: AK47 Division |
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Your List of the 2017 Bessie Recipients
InfiniteBody Ensemble of the skeleton architecture, or the future of our worlds for a history-in-the-making performance that dismantled improvisational dance norms to create a robust, disruptive, and dynamic world. For a cast of individuals who used a full range of movement styles to take the audience from Dakar to Kingston, the Bronx to Bushwick, in a fluid dance of connection. Photo: AK47 Division |
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Arts fest embraces Warwick's 150th
New Jersey Herald "Davalois holds audiences in the moment, promising to deliver a bold engagement with their picturesque surroundings through a combination of choreographed entrancing movements and improvisational inspiration." Photo: Argenis Appolinario |
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Goings On About Town
The New Yorker As part of “Theater of the Resist,” an eight-week series of politically edged performances, Davalois Fearon, known for her bold dancing with Stephen Petronio’s company, presents excerpts of her piece “Time to Talk.” It’s a multidisciplinary solo that confronts racial bias in academia and in the dance world, using autobiographical evidence. Photo: Andrew Lee Imaging |
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The Best NYC Shows This Week
The Village Voice As part of a series of "pointedly political performance," Jamaican-born Davalois Fearon presents excerpts from her multimedia dance piece Time to Talk, inspired by her personal experiences of racial bias within academia and the dance world. Photo: Andrew Lee Imaging |
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America Hurrah
Mary Cargill, DanceViewTimes "Fearon's movements are both gymnastic and natural, as the dancers combined crouching and running with sudden bursts of dynamic, leg-thrusting energy, and the work was a haunting reminder that Americans are so lucky to be able to take our water for granted, turning on a tap without effort." Photo: Charles Rice-Gonzalez |
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How Many Choreographers Does It Take to Create a Duet? 16
Jack Anderson, The New York Times Starting on Tuesday, Jan. 3, the American Dance Platform will gather eight companies from around the country that have a range of influences: jazz, ballet, salsa, modern, Indian and Afro-Cuban dance. The week, curated by Alice B. Adams, of the Kennedy Center in Washington, includes events like an epic duet by 16 choreographers; a dance comparing human relations to a chess game; a tribute to cosmic energy; a satirical depiction of comic book superheroes; and evocations of water — both its grandeur and scarcity. Photo: Argenis Appolinario |
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Dance artist Davalois Fearon premieres new work at UW-Milwaukee
Wisconsin Gazette Davalois Fearon, founder and artistic director of New York-based Davalois Fearon Dance, premieres her new work, Time to Talk Milwaukee, in which dance, original music, poetry and visual arts are used as tools to bring attention to today’s important issues surrounding race as it relates to identity, dance education and American history. Photo: Piotr Redlinski |
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Acclaimed Dancer Davalois Fearon Brings Performance About Race to UWM
Elisabeth Wallock, Milwaukee Magazine Now, an acclaimed Jamaican-born dancer and former University of Wisconsin-Milwaukee MFA student hopes to add to the conversation. Davalois Fearon, founder and artistic director of New York-based Davalois Fearon Dance, is bringing a performance called “Time to Talk Milwaukee” to a studio at UWM. Using dance, music, poetry and other visuals, the artist says she’ll tackle issues relating to racial identity and “the overall lasting effects of colonialism and slavery as it relates to racism within academia.” Photo: Mikael Walter |
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"skeleton architecture, or the future of our worlds" Danspace Project's Platform 2016: Lost and Found, Eva Yaa Asantewaa-Curator
Nicole Loeffler-Gladstone, The Dance Enthusiast, November 5, 2016 "It's unusual for an evening-length performance to be comprised entirely of improvisation. skeleton architecture was so profoundly moving and complex that perhaps more choreographic evenings should be replaced with improvisation." Photo: Ian Douglas/courtesy Danspace Project |
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20 Dancers Build, Shape, and Share a World for Themselves
Alexis Clements, Hyperallergic, November 1, 2016 "Curated by Eva Yaa Asantewaa, the dance piece the skeleton architecture, or the future of our worlds incorporated structured improvisation, a deep sense of play, a bold engagement with the audience, and a particular permission given to watch and witness." Photo: Ian Douglas/courtesy Danspace Project |
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Congregation of Survival – Lost and Found Platform continues
Maura Donahue, Culturebot, October 28, 2016 But, on Saturday night, the excessively dry analysis of academic scholarship burned away in the face of one of my most joyous dance viewing experiences ever. There was so much range, so many vocabularies, so many dynamic counterpoints and convergences, choreographic and performative choices, internal and external foci, somatic and entertainment driven choices, so much exploration, research and play." |
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Harlem's "E-Moves" spotlights emerging dancemakers
Eva Yaa Asantewaa, InfiniteBody Davalois Fearon--actually a frequent critics' favorite for her dancing with choreographer Stephen Petronio--is not new to the spotlight. But as she ventures out more as her own dancemaker, we can see a personal, introspective focus that tempers crowd-pleasing, quirky agility. Photo: Marc Millman |
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"Davalois Fearon made an electrifying Bay Area debut as a choreographer..."
Andrew Gilbert, The Mercury News Davalois Fearon made an electrifying Bay Area debut as a choreographer last December at the Berkeley Arts Festival performance space with her solo piece, “Consider Water,” performing a ritualistic piece to a live score by reed expert Mike McGinnis. Photo: Courtesy of Between Classes |
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Dance Listings for April 1-7
The New York Times This Harlem Stage series pairs choreographers with mentors in the creation of new work. The 17th edition features Desiree Godsell, Laurie M. Taylor, Davalois Fearon — whom audiences may know from her fearless dancing with the Stephen Petronio Company — and the renowned hoofer Jason Samuels Smith, who will be joined by his fellow tap stars Dormeshia Sumbry-Edwards and Derick K. Grant. Photo: Charles Rice-Gonzalez |
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Davalois Fearon To Co-Headline E-Moves 17 At Harlem Stage Will Perform ‘Water’, ‘Thirst’, & ‘Storm’ From ‘Consider Water’
Harlem One Stop, March 31, 2016 Professional performer and choreographer Davalois Fearon will be performing commissioned works Water, Thirst, & Storm as part of E-Moves 17 at The Harlem Stage Gatehouse (150 Convent Avenue, Manhattan). The New York Times Featured Artist will Co-Headline the performances with fellow choreographers Jason Samuels Smith, Laurie Taylor, and Desiree Godsell. Photo: Argenis Appolinario |
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Piece by Bronx Raised Choreographer Tours Across the U.S.
Madeline Anthony, Bronx Times Davalois Fearon, dancer, teacher and winner of a 2014 Bronx Council on the Arts BRIO fellowship, has used her grant towards the initial choreographic endeavor of her piece ‘Consider Water’ which she now performs across the U.S., most recently in Seattle, WA. Photo: Argenis Appolinario |
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Two for the road: Mike McGinnis and Davalois Fearon
Andrew Gilbert, Berkeleyside, December 3, 2015 “This piece has turned into a life changing thing for me,” says Fearon, 31, who goes by Dava (day-va). “I was inspired to make it out of passion and wrote grants to fund it with the intention that my goodwill would make some kind of wave in the universe, but I was never really thinking that it would become a career changer. Consider Water has given me multiple choreographic opportunities, and I can see myself becoming a full-time choreographer.” Photo: Piotr Redlinksi |
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Consider Water highlights sustainability message through the arts
Kendra Langlie, 83 Degrees, October 27, 2015 “It isn’t just about arts and dance, but getting in front of some of the current issues going on right now,” says Angela Walters, HCC’s Community Relations and Marketing Manager. “We live in Tampa Bay -- and our available, clean water is something that we have to start thinking about.” Photo: Davalois Fearon |
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Finding Their Rhythm After Improvising
Emily Rueb, The New York Times, August 16, 2015 The pair began collaborating when Mr. McGinnis mentioned he was looking for a choreographer. “Over my dead body someone else is going to choreograph my man’s music,” she said. They are now in rehearsal for “Consider Water,” which will be performed this fall at the Bronx Academy of Arts and Dance. Mr. McGinnis wrote the music and will make a cameo on stage with his clarinet. Photo: Piotr Redlinksi |
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Professional dancers come to UWM to enhance their careers
Kathy Quirk, UWM Report, July 17, 2015 Dancing is a lifelong passion for Davalois Fearon, a New York-based dancer, teacher and choreographer who has performed around the world.She is now also a student in UWM’s Master of Fine Arts in performing arts: dance – a degree designed for professionals such as Fearon, who promises: “I plan on dancing until I die.” |
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A season of celebration for dance artist Davalois Fearon
Eva Yaa Asantewaa, InfiniteBody, March 22, 2015 Consider Water, her first full-length piece--was inspired by a talk with a UN ambassador working on issues of water-related disasters and scarcity of safe drinking water in many regions of the world. He happened to read about Fearon in a New York Times article and reached out to her. She told him of water shortages in Jamaica and how her family paid to get water shipped to her grandmother's house. The ambassador simply challenged her, "Well, what are you going to do about it?" "I was thinking, Wow, I don't have much money. I can't save the world. But I have dance." Photo: Argenis Appolinario |
