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Danspace Project For nearly 50 years, Danspace Project has supported a vital community of contemporary dance artists in Located in the historic St.

For 45 years, Danspace Project has supported a vital community of contemporary dance artists in an environment unlike any other in the United States. Mark’s Church in-the-Bowery, Danspace shares its facility with the Church, The Poetry Project, and New York Theatre Ballet. Danspace Project’s Commissioning Initiative has commissioned over 570 new works since its inception in 1994. Danspace Project’s Choreographic Center Without Walls (CW²) provides context for audiences and increased support for artists. Our presentation programs (including Platforms, Food for Thought, DraftWork), Commissioning Initiative, residencies, guest artist curators, and contextualizing activities and materials are core components of CW² offering a responsive framework for artists’ works. Since 2010, we have produced twelve Platforms, published twelve print catalogues and five e-books, launched the Conversations Without Walls discussion series, and explored models for public discourse and residencies.

💫 In a feature on our Online Journal titled “Constellations & Lineages”, we invite our artists to think about the follow...
10/30/2026

💫 In a feature on our Online Journal titled “Constellations & Lineages”, we invite our artists to think about the following questions:

Who is in your art/dance/cultural history constellation? Who are some of your artistic influences?

Kyle Marshall writes, “My dance constellation is formed by the many Black choreographers (Bill T. Jones, Bebe Miller, Jawole Willa Jo Zollar and others) who expanded the expectations of our dancing body. My time embodying the compositionally rigorous work of Trisha Brown and polyglot Doug Elkins informed my reading of post-modern, Black/Latinx social forms and their intertwining influence on contemporary dance. My childhood in tap, liturgical and marching band informs my sense of rhythm, spirit and musicality, evidenced in collaborations with contemporary chamber ensembles and musicians for original works for film and stage. My dance making is also forever linked to the visually poetic work of my husband/collaborator, Edo Tastic.”

Read here: https://danspaceproject.org/2026/10/27/constellations-influences-kyle-marshall/

Don’t miss performances of “Bound” by Kyle Marshall Choreography” from November 5–7 at Danspace Project!

📷: Photo by Lisa Hibbert

NEXT WEEK! Join us from November 5–7 for the world premiere of “Bound” by Kyle Marshall Choreography. 🎟️ Tickets startin...
10/27/2026

NEXT WEEK! Join us from November 5–7 for the world premiere of “Bound” by Kyle Marshall Choreography. 🎟️ Tickets starting at $10 for Danspace Project members!

Moving beyond the 250th anniversary of the American Revolution, “Bound” is a dance choreographed by Kyle Marshall to manifest a new destiny recalling Black Americans’ history of covert strategies for liberation. Using text by Fredrick Douglass and visual design by KMC Creative Director Edo Tastic (set, costume, and projection), this cast of five performers; Justin Daniels, Khalid Dunton, Kyle Marshall, Kellye Smith and Syd Worthy, will explore (sub)text and subversive actions by embodying words, gestures, and rhythms that examine American ideals and realities. Live sound design by Cal Fish and Kwami Winfield will blend traditional western instruments with electronics to encode the sonic pulse and cultural legacy of the USA.

Kyle Marshall is a choreographer, performer, and artistic director of Kyle Marshall Choreography (KMC). Since 2014, KMC has performed at The Joyce Theater, Barbican Centre (UK), FringeArts (PA), BAM, The Shed, and PS21. Choreographic and film commissions include: Philadelphia Museum of Art, Baryshnikov Arts Center, “Dance on the Lawn” Montclair’s Dance Festival, and the Isabella Stewart Gardner Museum (Boston). Recognitions: two NY Dance and Performance Bessie Awards, a 2020 Dance Magazine Harkness Promise Award and fellowships from Princeton U, UIowa and NYU Ballet and the Arts. A Trisha Brown alum (2017-2022), Kyle also danced with Doug Elkins and Tiffany Mills.

📷: Photo by Sabrina Palko // Creative Director Edo Tastic

Danspace Project is thrilled to present the premiere of DonChristian Jones’ “I’ve Been Waiting for This Moment for the R...
10/25/2026

Danspace Project is thrilled to present the premiere of DonChristian Jones’ “I’ve Been Waiting for This Moment for the Rest of My Life” from November 19–21!

Ten years after Jones’ Danspace debut as a part of the Eiko Otake guest curated Platform 2016: “A Body in Places”, the artist comes full circle with this new work. “I’ve Been Waiting for This Moment for the Rest of My Life”, with dramaturgy by Morgan Bassichis, will begin as a staged reading, dissolving into a performance of Black Quantum Physics—a non-linear chronicling of a life of art making, addiction, and attempts at repair.

📷: Photo by Mason Blake

THIS SATURDAY! Join us for DraftWork on Saturday, October 24 at 3PM—it’s free to RSVP.DraftWork presents work-in-develop...
10/22/2026

THIS SATURDAY! Join us for DraftWork on Saturday, October 24 at 3PM—it’s free to RSVP.

DraftWork presents work-in-development showings by artists at all stages of their career. This afternoon features performances by Victoria Lynn Awkward and JOYBOY.

JOYBOY, also known as Joy-Marie Thompson, is a Bessie Award nominated performing artist, writer, and educator from a small town in Western Pennsylvania. Melding physical theater, clowning, and comedy together, they aim to create stories that explore themes surrounding identity and power dynamics. By blending comedy, physical theater, and surreal imagery, JoyBoy transcends and challenges narrative norms while offering a more imaginative and emergent future.

As a performer, they have worked with choreographers such as Sidra Bell, Staycee Pearl, Shamel Pitts, Stephanie Batten Bland, Maxine Doyle, and Damani Pompey. They have appeared in The Mckittrick Hotel’s Sleep No More, The Public Theater for Erika Dickerson-Despenza’s shadow/land, The Metropolitan Opera’s El Niño and Aida and Geoff Sobelle’s HOME. Their commercial credits include performing in music videos for Chloe Flower and The Kills. JOYBOY has performed dance comedy shows in night life venues throughout Brooklyn and Manhattan, NY.

As a choreographer and creative director, they have presented work for PRISMA Festival, Derida Stage, PearlDiving Movement Residency, Arts on Site, The Brick Theater, Triskelion Arts, Brooklyn Arts Exchange, The August Wilson Center for African-American Culture, and The Performing Arts Center at Purchase College. As an educator, JOYBOY teaches improvisation and contemporary dance as an adjunct lecturer at SUNY Purchase’s Conservatory of Dance. Their writing has been published by thINKingDANCE and Imagining: A Gibney Journal. Awards include the 2018 Vert Terborgh Award presented by the Conservatory of Dance at SUNY Purchase and the 2019 Investing in Professional Artist Grant presented by The Pittsburgh Foundation.

📷: Photo by Whitney Browne

Get your tickets for performances of “Bound” by Kyle Marshall Choreography at Danspace Project!❗️Thursday, November 5 at...
10/20/2026

Get your tickets for performances of “Bound” by Kyle Marshall Choreography at Danspace Project!

❗️Thursday, November 5 at 7:30PM
❗️Friday, November 6 at 7:30PM
❗️Saturday, November 7 at 7:30PM

Kyle Marshall writes, “There is something special about the sanctuary in St. Mark’s Church. Whether it is the legacy of dancers who have stepped onto its honey-colored wood floor or the touch of the enslaved Americans who more than likely built its walls in 1799, the space resonates with a quiet spirit and provides a fertile ground for creation.

‘Bound’ is a cryptic work, one layered with subtext, coded movement and subversive sound. It spans time through the words of Fredrick Douglass, voices of today and declarations for a future yet to be seen. Danspace Project at St. Mark’s Church provides a timeless space for ‘Bound’’s world premiere.

During the tense week of our country’s midterm elections, may this dance be an opportunity for us to witness our shared humanity and may Danspace Project at St. Mark’s Church continue to be refuge for our community to harness the power of our assembly into movement, fellowship, and action.”

📷: Photos by Edo Tastic

🗞️ Read about Sreelakshmy Govardhanan’s performance at Danspace Project, co-presented with FourOneOne, in Brian Seibert’...
10/19/2026

🗞️ Read about Sreelakshmy Govardhanan’s performance at Danspace Project, co-presented with FourOneOne, in Brian Seibert’s Critic’s Notebook for The New York Times!

Nrityagram Dance Ensemble at the Joyce Theater and Sreelakshmy Govardhanan at Danspace exemplified clear storytelling in two forms of Indian dance.

Thank you to everyone who joined us last night for “The Journey of Kuchipudi: From Yakshaganam to the Solo” with Sreelak...
10/16/2026

Thank you to everyone who joined us last night for “The Journey of Kuchipudi: From Yakshaganam to the Solo” with Sreelakshmy Govardhanan!

Co-presented by Danspace Project and FourOneOne, Govardhanan presented a solo performance interspersed with historical and cultural context, followed by a conversation with dance critic and writer Marina Harss and the audience.

📷: Photos by Rachel Keane

Join us for a 🆓 DraftWork next week on Saturday, October 24 at 3PM! RSVP here: https://danspaceproject.org/calendar/draf...
10/15/2026

Join us for a 🆓 DraftWork next week on Saturday, October 24 at 3PM! RSVP here: https://danspaceproject.org/calendar/draftwork-oct-fw26/

DraftWork presents work-in-development showings by artists at all stages of their career. This afternoon features performances by Victoria Lynn Awkward and JOYBOY.

Victoria Lynn Awkward is a multidisciplinary creator, educator, producer, and the Director of VLA DANCE. She pursued her multiple interests at Goucher College and graduated with high honors in Dance, Visual Art and Secondary Education. As the Director of VLA DANCE she is currently directing projects: “For Nina” – a multidisciplinary show celebrating the lineage of Nina Simone, “In The Space Between” – a production where dance, textile, and audio brings audiences into a world of q***r imagination, and “Harnessing our Gardens” – a book celebrating the stories of Black femme movement artists. Notably, Victoria is a Brother Thomas Fellow as well as a recipient of the Q***r (Re)public Theater Offensive Residency. Additionally, Victoria is a producer of Performance and Live Art for MoMA.

📷: Photos of Victoria Lynn Awkward by Steven Pisano

Address

St Mark's Church In-The-Bowery, 131 East 10th Street (At Second Avenue)
New York, NY
10003

Opening Hours

Monday 10am - 6pm
Tuesday 10am - 6pm
Wednesday 10am - 6pm
Thursday 10am - 6pm
Friday 10am - 6pm

Telephone

+12126748112

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