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INSITU Site-Specific Dance Festival to take place in LIC parks

INSITU Site-Specific Dance Festival to take place in LIC parks
Courtesy of INSITU Site-Specific Dance Festival
By Angelica Acevedo

For the first time in Long Island City, the INSITU Site-Specific Dance Festival will take over four waterfront parks on July 8-9 with performances by a diverse lineup of 24 New York City-based professional dance companies.

The outdoor festival is free and open to the public, offering audiences a unique way to experience dance shows as performers, who range from soloists to groups of up to 35 dancers — will use their surroundings to create dynamic and immersive displays. Residents of the area who participated in a three-month community dance workshop, co-hosted by Jacob A. Riis Neighborhood Settlement at Queensbridge Housing Community, will also perform.

The performances will take place in Hunters Point South Park, Gantry Plaza State Park, Socrates Sculpture Park and Queensbridge Park. For each park there will be three performance rounds, the first ones kicking off at noon and ending at 7 p.m.

Svea Schneider, the director of the KINEMATIK Dance Theater, organized the event with the help of NYC Parks, NYS Parks and Socrates Sculpture Park.

“As the organizer of INSITU, we are extremely excited to bring this festival to life and activate the LIC waterfront through dance,” Schneider said. “It’s a vision coming true and I am full of gratitude for all the support we have received in making INSITU happen.”

The KINEMATIK Dance Theater is an urban-contemporary dance company that creates and produces national and international large scale site-specific performances and facilitates dance education, among many other endeavours.

Some of the dance companies that will be showcasing their work alongside the KINEMATIK Dance Theatre include: BS Movement, Carte Blanche Performance, Christopher Unpezverde Verde, Lucy Kerr, Project 44, Parcon NYC and Hivewild.

One of the dance groups, Hivewild, a contemporary movement initiative, said it is looking forward to the event “with bright eyes.”

“At a time where differences and boundaries are highlighted, we believe public art is completed by the people, allowing visitors to feel a sense of unity and ownership in relation to the work,” said Katherine Maxwell, artistic director of Hivewild. “INSITU’s mission pairs well with our own as we care deeply about bringing people together, sharing intimate moments as strangers, artists and humans.”

INSITU is supported by the Queens Council on the Arts with funds from the city Department of Cultural Affairs in partnership with the City Council and the Decentralization Program.

Other community partners include Hunters Point Parks Conservancy, Jacob A. Riis Neighborhood Settlement, Friends of Queensbridge Park and LaGuardia Performing Arts, among others.

For more information about the lineup, or to receive a special LYFT discount to travel to and from the different venues as well as a festival map with exact times and locations, visit the INSITU Site-Specific Dance Festival website at insitudancefestival.com.