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Credit: Courtesy photo

Alt: Group sitting on theater stage listening to two people standing (Courtesy of Emad Salem, Battery Dance Company)

Students and dancers receive a stage safety briefing before their performance in the historic Theatro da Paz in Belém, Brazil. They are participants in Dancing to Connect, an initiative of the Battery Dance Company of New York, which visited Suriname and Brazil in May, bringing together young people from diverse backgrounds and inspiring them to create their own choreography with a series of dance workshops.

Battery Dance Company held weeklong workshops for 80 participants in Paramaribo, Suriname, 100 participants in Belém, and 100 in Fortaleza, Brazil. Each week ended with a public performance featuring both the local and the New York dancers.

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Credit: Courtesy photo

Alt: People dancing on stage (Courtesy of Alessandra Serrão/Ag. Pará)

Students perform the first of five Dancing to Connect pieces they choreographed for a performance at the Theatro da Paz in Belém. The young dancers pictured here participate in Pró Paz, a social project run by the state of Pará that offers cultural and educational programs for at-risk youth.

Battery Dance Company has taken Dancing to Connect to 30 countries in Africa, the Middle East, Europe and Asia. This was the first program in South America, and it was sponsored by the U.S. Department of State.

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Credit: Courtesy photo

Alt: People dancing on stage (Courtesy of Alessandra Serrão/Ag. Pará)

Public school students from Belém perform the choreography they created with Battery Dance Company’s Sean Scantlebury on stage at the Theatro da Paz.

“I learned how to deal with my body, improving my technique and my body movements. With Sean we learned a lot, mainly how to get along as a group and come together as a family.”
– Joyce, Dancing to Connect participant

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Credit: Courtesy photo

Alt: Dancers performing in pairs (Courtesy of Alessandra Serrão/Ag. Pará)

Students from Pró Paz and dancers from the Ana Unger Dance Center perform in pairs during “Unveiled,” the piece they choreographed with Battery Dance Company’s Robin Cantrell.

“Dancing to Connect was certainly one of the best experiences I have ever had, both in dance and art in general. It was an incredibly enriching experience, both personally and artistically. It will be a memory that I will always carry with me, and makes me believe that art can have meaning and add to or even change the reality of a place and its people. … All of you will stay in our hearts. You made us proud to be dancers and see that dance is inside of us, regardless of our styles, origins, or position in society.”
- Nigel, Dancing to Connect participant and teacher trainee

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Credit: Courtesy photo

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Ballet dancers from the Ana Unger Dance Center and street dancers from Pró Paz pose with Sonia Massoud of the Instituto de Artes do Pará and Robin Cantrell of Battery Dance Company.

“What I saw this week was a really strong link between the teacher and their students, and I think I will carry that with me for the rest of my life. It's a new way of interacting with youth and other people I don't know. … I think it created a new way of looking at dance — that dance is plural, not singular, and that dance speaks many languages.”
– Ismael, Dancing to Connect participant and teacher trainee

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Credit: Courtesy photo

Alt: Art nouveau building with sign saying Theatro José de Alencar (Courtesy of Barry Steele, Battery Dance Company)

After a week in Belém, Battery Dance Company traveled to Fortaleza, Brazil, for more workshops and performances. The final Dancing to Connect performance was held in Fortaleza’s beautiful and historic Theatro José de Alencar, an art nouveau masterpiece.

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Credit: Courtesy photo

Alt: Dancers exercising in front of mirror (Courtesy of Emad Salem, Battery Dance Company)

Battery Dance Company held workshops for about 100 young dancers from Bailarinos de Cristo Amor e Doações (Bcad), which offers cultural programs to disadvantaged young people in Fortaleza.

Sean Scantlebury (in white pants, standing close to mirror) leads students in warm-up exercises at the beginning of a workshop.

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Credit: Courtesy photo

Alt: Dancers sitting in front of mirror (Courtesy of Emad Salem, Battery Dance Company)

Carmen Nicole Smith of Battery Dance Company (lower right) explains a workshop exercise to students from Bcad. Each dancer is given a picture of a famous painting to interpret and turn into a solo choreography performance.

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Alt: Dancers stretching on floor in front of mirror (Courtesy of Emad Salem, Battery Dance Company)

New York dancer Bafana Matea (in head scarf) warms up with students from Bcad before beginning their workshop.

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Credit: Courtesy photo

Alt: Dancers performing on stage (Courtesy of Emad Salem, Battery Dance Company)

During the final Dancing to Connect performance in the Theatro José de Alencar, students from Bcad perform “Long Journey,” one of the five pieces they choreographed themselves.

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ALT: Five dancers from Battery Dance Company posing inside ornate theater (Courtesy of Barry Steele, Battery Dance Company)

Battery Dance Company in Belém’s Theatro da Paz. From left: Bafana Solomon Matea, Robin Cantrell, Carmen Nicole Smith, Mira Bai Cook, Sean Scantlebury.

Back in New York City after a whirlwind 3 weeks in Suriname and Brazil: 4 sold-out Dancing to Connect performances, 4 mini-performances, 85 local technicians trained, 175 single workshop participants, 250 Dancing to Connect participants, 300 hours of total workshop time, 2,430 audience members……Countless new friends and partners.
- Battery Dance Company blog

Related items: U.S. Embassy Paramaribo photo gallery and Battery Dance Company’s website.