Community Engagement

Kyle Marshall Company Photo by Kelsey Riner

ADF’s Samuel H. Scripps Studios

After two years of mostly virtual gatherings, ADF’s Samuel H. Scripps Studios offered in-person classes, camps, residencies, and master classes in 2022. These year-round activities are for all ages and all levels. In the summer, we welcomed youth ages 6-17 to exciting camp offerings including the popular Shadow Camp with Pilobolus which culminated with a special performance before the Pilobolus performance at Page Auditorium. Through generous foundation and individual support, ADF was able to offer 41 scholarships to NC youth to attend camps and weekly classes at the studios. Scripps Studios hosted an intergenerational workshop with Ronald K. Brown/EVIDENCE, A Dance Company. The students had a once-in-a-lifetime opportunity to learn from about the company’s unique fusion of African dance with contemporary choreography and storytelling.

As part of her collaboration with ABT Studio Company during their weeklong residency at Duke, choreographer Hope Boykin led a free movement workshop for dancers at all levels of ability. Durham native and former Alvin Ailey American Dance Theater Company dancer Hope has a long relationship with ADF as a student and assistant to the choreographer Talley Beatty. We also welcomed dance artists and companies for residencies opportunities to focus on creating new work. This past year, ADF wecomed Helen Simoneau Danse, Rosie Herrera Dance Theatre, ShaLeigh Dance Works, Kyle Marshall, Jody Kuehner (a.k.a. Cherdonna Shinatra), and artists performing as part of our Made in NC program. Many of the residencies culminated with a free informal showing of their work to the local community. Helen Simoneau Danse, Rosie Herrera Dance Theatre, ShaLeigh Dance Works, and the four choreographers featured in the Made in North Carolina showcase—Justin Tornow, Ramya Sundaresan Kapadia, Taryn Griggs & Chris Yon, and Jose Velasquez—were

all given the time and space to work on pieces performed during the 2022 season.

Additionally, the ADF Studio Subsidy Program offered rehearsal space at affordable rates to 7 North Carolina dance artists. These artists created new work and explored new ideas thanks to the generous support from the Robert and Mercedes Eichholz Foundation.

Parkinson’s Programs

The Parkinson’s Movement Initiative (PMI), offered in collaboration with Poe Wellness Solutions and NC Dance for Parkinson’s, had another successful year with cost-free movement classes for people living with PD and their caregivers. These weekly classes were offered virtually via Zoom. In fall 2022, an in-person class option was added.

This program is supported by a community grant from the Parkinson’s Foundation with additional support provided by RTI International.

ADF Project Dance

Developed in 1998 in collaboration with the Durham Parks and Recreation Department, ADF Project Dance, under the direction of Creative Movement Program Director Gaspard Louis, is a special program designed to expose the Triangle community to dance.

ADF Project Dance provides creative movement classes with professional teaching artists and guest performers. In 2021-2022, ADF offered classes to more than 400 participants in the Triangle area. Students at Durham’s Central Park School for Children and Hillside High School participated with Gaspard Louis in the spring semester and artists Rodney Hill and McDaniel Roberts hosted programs at Marbles Kids Museum (Raleigh) and Kidzu Children’s Museum (Chapel Hill) in the summer.

ADF Project Dance is made possible with major support from the SHS Foundation. Additional support provided by Scripps Family Fund for Education and the Arts, the Durham Merchant Association Charitable Foundation, and Susan & Michael Hersfield.

Ticket Programs

ADF Go

ADF Go is designed to make modern dance more accessible and affordable to young adults. Audience members ages 18-30 had the opportunity to purchase $15 tickets to ADF performance. Over 140 ADF Go tickets were sold this year.

Kids Night Out

ADF’s Kids Night Out program provided 312 youth ages 6-17 the opportunity to attend season performances for free with the purchase of a regular-priced adult ticket. Kids Night Out is made possible with support from The Durham Merchants Association Charitable Foundation.

Children’s Saturday Matinee Series

The Children’s Matinee series presented performances by three of the celebrated professional dance companies from the season: Rennie Harris Puremovement, Pilobolus, and Paul Taylor Dance Company. These one-hour shows were curated to evoke curiosity and inspire the imaginations of children. Additionally, each performance was followed by a FREE Kids’ Party, complete with live music, face-painting, fairy hair, snacks, and other kid-friendly activities. The 2022 Children’s Matinee series reached 815 youth and families.

$12 Children’s Matinee tickets were made possible with support from Jody and John Arnhold/Arnhold Foundation.

Pilobolus Shadow Camp

Get Out 4 Dance

Golden Ticket for Dance Educators

In 2022, ADF launched a new ticket subscription titled “Get Out 4 Dance,” inviting diverse audiences to come together and experience five internationally acclaimed dance performances in their “backyard” at an affordable price of $10 each. The goal is for new, diverse audiences to experience modern dance’s incredible range and vibrancy so these individuals can find what resonates with them. Get Out 4 Dance is made possible with support from PNC Bank and Consulate General of Israel to the Southeast.

This season, ADF launched a “Golden Ticket for Dance Educators” program to appreciate the amazing individuals contributing so much to training and education in the Triangle dance community. All current dance educators are eligible for this pass at the rate of $150. This pass includes one ticket to seventeen performances in total. Golden Tickets for Dance Educators are made possible with support from the Robert and Mercedes Eichholz Foundation.

Experience Dance

In an effort to make the performing arts accessible to as many groups as possible, ADF distributes complimentary performance tickets to nonprofit organizations that work with individuals, families, youth, and seniors in need who otherwise could not attend performances. ADF staff reviews applications from local nonprofit organizations and determines how Experience Dance tickets will be distributed.

In the 2022 performance season, 250 Experience Dance tickets were given out to local community groups such as Village Hearth Cohousing, Durham Nativity School, and InterExchange/Au Pair USA.

Experience Dance is made possible with support from Duke Energy, Trinity Avenue Presbyterian Church, and Pamela and Issac Green.

Photo from Landfall by Kate Ware and Jack Flame Sorokin

Movies by Movers

Under the direction of Cara Hagan, ADF’s Movies By Movers is an annual film festival dedicated to the conversation between the body and the camera. This year the festival screened 67 films including 10 student works at the Durham Public Library.

Photo from No Man Is an Island by Jamie Carabetta

International Reach

ADF commissioned and virtually presented short dance films from Israeli choreographer Dafi Altabeb and Taiwanese contemporary dance company Hung Dance. The films, When r u coming back home? by Altabeb and collaborator Nini Moshe and Hung Dance’s Equilibrium, could be streamed for free for a limited time and also featured companion conversations with the artists.

Memory for Movement

Dr. Ruth Day, Duke Professor and ADF’s Cognitive Scientist in Residence, continued ADF’s Dancers & Audience Memory Program throughout the 2022 season. The program, based on both dance and cognitive science principles, used post-performance check-ups, structured class observations, lab experiments, and other methods to answer questions such as, “How do dancers learn and remember?” and “How do audiences perceive and remember?”