To celebrate the 80^th anniversary of the American Dance Festival, Bessie and OBIE award-winning choreographer Mark Dendy premieres a new site specific work, Ritual Cyclical, at Lincoln Center in New York City this summer.  ADF and Lincoln Center Out of Doors are co-commissioners of the work that will engage 80 dancers from New York and across the country and occupy different locations throughout Lincoln Center’s Hearst Plaza and its grove of trees, reflecting pool, and sloping lawn.  

Performances are free and open to the public.

Raffle  ADF is sending one lucky patron and a friend to New York City to attend the world premiere of Mark Dendy’s newest site specific work at Lincoln Center Out of Doors. To enter to win airfare and hotel accommodations visit the merchandise table in the DPAC or Reynolds Industries Theater lobbies to purchase your raffle tickets.

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About Mark Dendy

OBIE and Bessie award winner, Mark Dendy, is a master of grand scale site specific work. His Golden Belt was a surprise hit of the 2009 ADF season. He makes work that deftly weaves autobiographical narrative and deeply mines his southern Appalachian heritage, dance history and his experience as a post-modern dance theater artist in New York City. Throughout his career, he has steadily defied the expectation to work in defined categories and in standard ways. Without apology or caprice, Dendy has traveled from edgy East Village drag to high-end Broadway productions to prominent ballet companies to site specific works, refusing to capitulate to the dance hegemony that often dictates artists’ choices.   He has had a rich and varied career in experimental dance theater, grand scale site specific work bringing together diverse dance communities, performance, opera, improvisation, cabaret, night clubs, Broadway, off-Broadway and regional theater. His work is known for its wit, searing social commentary, intense physicality and tour de force acting. Recent productions include choreography for Orpheus for New York City Opera. Of his commercial credits, he is most proud of his work on The Wild Party (OBIE) and TABOO! (with Boy George). This past year his group has been in residence at Silo in PA, Barking Legs Dance Theater in Chattanooga, Dance Place in DC, and the Actor’s Fund Theater in Brooklyn.  In June he choreographs the opera, Rappaccini’s Daughter for Gotham Opera. His company premieres Labyrinth, a full length evening work at Abron’s Arts Center in spring 2013.

His company founded in 1983, has performed at PS 122, The American Dance Festival, Bates Dance Festival, The Joyce Theater, Jacob’s Pillow, Lincoln Center, Summerstage, La MaMa E.T.C., DTW, and Dixon Place, as well as numerous national and international venues. He has been commissioned for new work by many modern and ballet companies worldwide, most notably Pacific Northwest Ballet.

He has collaborated with such diverse artists as jazz composer Don Byron, directors Julie Taymor, Tina Landau, and Ellen Hemphill, Boy George and psychiatrist Ronald L. Vereen with whom he collaborated on his seminal work Dream Analysis.

His commitment to teaching and sharing his gifts with young artists, particularly in his home state of North Carolina has led him to teach at ADF, University of North Carolina School of the Arts, Garner Magnet High School, Durham High School for the Arts, The Dance Center of Chapel Hill, University of North Carolina Asheville, Duke University, Juilliard, NYU, Cal Arts, Bates Dance Festival, University of Washington, George Washington University, VCU, Oklahoma University, and Texas Women’s University. He is a master teacher of composition, improvisation, gender illusion and technique.

Dendy has also devoted considerable attention to the Diaghilev/Nijinsky repertoire as well as channeling the spirit of Martha Graham for special events.