Find NYC with Spark Movement Collective

Spark Movement Collective will premiere its fourth full-length evening dance performance titled Finding New York on September 18 and 19 at 8 p.m. at the Actors Fund Arts Center in Brooklyn. Featuring choreography by Artistic Director Chelsea Koenig and Assistant Director Matt Dittes, Finding New York will be accompanied by an eclectic collection of music by various artists.

Finding New York will explore how the Big Apple shapes the twenty-somethings who call it home. Nicknamed “The City that Never Sleeps” and known as the world’s biggest urban playground, New York can swallow you up and spit you out, or it can inspire and motivate you with its endless opportunities. The performance follows young New York archetypes as they search, learn, adapt and settle into themselves and the city.

The work’s focus is the lives of everyday people and the dynamic ways in which their strands of individuality are woven together into the tapestry of life and its appurtenant grace, joy, disappointment, sorrow and triumph. The company delivers this narrative through the medium of dance with its own unique style. Spark thrives on the energy of its performers – their ability to convey emotion, the commitment to connecting with the audience and the synergy with music. The grace, athleticism and desire manifest in the performers, tempered under the watchful eye of Koenig and Dittes, who expertly and deftly incorporates you into a world that reflects and echoes your own journey through New York. This culminates in the ultimate experience for an audience member; namely, being drawn into a world that is familiar yet seen through the novel eyes and hearts of others.

Koenig pushes herself to embrace this theme and approach in developing Finding New York. The result is a performance that draws upon the strengths Spark has exhibited in past performances and the ever growing arsenal of Koenig as she continues to mature and evolve into a master storyteller capable of connecting and challenging an audience to explore not only the work, but also themselves along the way.

In Finding New York, Dittes seamlessly blends gestural movement, intricate phrasings and surprising patterns together to create three unique yet complementary works alongside Koenig’s choreography. Finding New York pushes the limits of what Spark has previously presented and concurrently continues to draw upon its bedrock strength to once again provide a provocative performance that resonates with audience members from every walk of life.

Visit SparkMovementCollective.org for more information about Finding New York and the company. Tickets may be purchased in advance for $18 online or at the box-office 30 minutes prior to the show for $25.

Photo courtesy of Spark Movement Collective.