After a year off, the American Dance Festival will be back, but at just one venue

The American Dance Festival, a Triangle favorite, will be back this fall with a post-COVID facelift and a temporary new name, Together We Dance.

Together We Dance, produced in conjunction with the North Carolina Museum of Art, will be held Sept. 9-16 at the outdoor Joseph M. Bryan Jr. Theater in the Museum Park. It will feature eight dance companies with hour-long performances.

“In reimagining a dance festival in a post–COVID-19 world, ADF looked to bring performances outside, so audiences could spread out in fresh air,” ADF organizers said in a news release.

The single outdoor location will provide a very different atmosphere to the dance festivals of the past, which were typically hosted in multiple venues across Durham. The festival will also be the largest hosted at NCMA so far, which has hosted several smaller dance and music concerts at the Museum Park Theater.

In the past, ADF has presented at the NCMA select performances from dance companies like Shen Wei Dance Arts, Monica Bill Barnes & Company and Dana Ruttenberg Group.

“While this event came about because of the pandemic, we have loved working with the museum,” said Sarah Tondu, the director of communications and marketing in an email to The News & Observer.

“Who knows what will happen in the future, but normally our events are held indoors, but because of COVID, we’ve had to pivot,” she said.

The festival, which generally features classes and opportunities for young performers, will be more limited this year. ADF has been holding limited in-person classes in their studios in which participants are required to show proof of vaccination.

8 companies to perform

The eight companies featured at the festival will be A.I.M., Pilobolus, State of Darkness, Reggie Wilson/Fist and Heel Performance Group, BODYTRAFFIC and the Paul Taylor Dance Company.

▪ A.I.M. is a Black-led dance contemporary company that will be presenting five pieces focusing on intimacy, dialogue and teamwork. The group is known for its strong emphasis on music, text, video and visual art. Their performance will take place Sept. 9 at 7:30 p.m.

▪ The two performances from Pilobolus on Sept. 10 and 11 at 7:30 p.m. will feature four pieces on themes of chasing love, reversal of roles, humor and the natural world. The company has been performing since the early 1970s.

▪ Although Stravinsky’s “Right of Spring” was originally choreographed and performed as a ballet, State of Darkness will reimagine the work as an intense solo. Performances will take place on Sept. 12 at 3:30 and 7:30 p.m. featuring Annique Roberts and Michael Trusnovec. Each performance will be followed by a Q&A with the choreographer, Molissa Fenley, and the performer.

▪ Coming from Brooklyn, Reggie Wilson/Fist and Heel Performance Group will present three pieces, including a series of solos asking questions about belonging; an experimental theater performance and solo sharing Wilson’s personal religious account; as well as a duet investigating the nature of duets. The performance will be at 7:30 p.m. on Sept. 14.

▪ BODYTRAFFIC will be returning to ADF to highlight the choreography of Brian Brooks, Matthew Neenan and Micaela Taylor. The performance will take place Sept. 15 at 7:30 p.m.

▪ The final performance on Sept. 16 at 7:30 p.m., will be a presentation of three pieces by the Paul Taylor Dance Company. The company was founded in 1954, and will feature diverse themes of love, drugs, rebellion, simplicity, beauty and purity.

“After a difficult year and a half, we are thrilled to bring the community together again at our first-ever outdoor festival for eight performances by some of the finest dance companies dazzling audiences today,” said Jodee Nimerichter, executive director of ADF, in the press release.

Details

What: Together We Dance

When: Sept. 9-16

Where: Joseph M. Bryan Jr. Theater in the Museum Park at the N.C. Museum of Art, 2110 Blue Ridge Road, Raleigh

Tickets: Available for ADF and NCMA members Aug. 4. General public tickets will be available Aug. 5.

Info: americandancefestival.org or ncartmuseum.org/adf2021