A Harlem Based Modern Dance Company
Collective Thread
Photo Caption: An African American woman facing away from the audience reaching up to the ceiling with her right arm.
MODArts Dance Collective (MADC) is elated to announce its ninth annual dance festival, Collective Thread, on March 22-23, 2024 7:30 PM at The Riverside Theatre, 91 Claremont Avenue, New York, NY 10027 + Livestream & On Demand Option. The purpose of Collective Thread is to provide a voice and a platform for artistic self-impression to those women identifying artists of underrepresented ethnic groups within the medium of dance. ***PLEASE NOTE: MADC uses the term “women” to encompass all those that self-identify as women including cisgender, transgender, nonbinary, or gender non-conforming. We honor and respect all identities.*** The goal of Collective Thread is to instill artists with the necessary tools to take on leadership roles in an effort to increase diversity, inclusion, and gender equality in the dance field.
MADC’s Collective Thread Dance Festival is made possible in part with funding from the West Harlem Development Corporation (WHDC) Community Benefits Grant; Lower Manhattan Cultural Center (LMCC) Creative Engagement Grant; Upper Manhattan Empowerment Zone (UMEZ) Arts Engagement Grant; and by public funds from the New York City Department of Cultural Affairs in partnership with the City Council.
2024 Presenting Artists, Collaborators, & Dance Companies
Ashlyn Christina/Purpose Performing Arts Collective | Brooklyn, NY; Sloka Iyengar/The Aseemkala Initiative | New York, NY; Shani Arazy | Haifa, Israel; Shachi Phene / Noor Dance Company | Rego Park, NY; Karina Mehta | White Plains, NY; Audrey Hubbard Madison/MoJazz Dance | Brooklyn, NY; Kiara Paige/CarNYval Dancers | Jamaica, NY; Alondra Galvan | London UK; Nathalie Reynoso / Ceremony Cerebellum | Yonkers, NY; Allyson Ross/ SouthernBelleStories | New York, NY; Aika Takeshima & Sara Pizzi/sarAika movement collective | Queens, NY; Leah Tubbs/MODArts Dance Collective (MADC) | Harlem, NY; Sivgin Dal | New York, NY; Janelle Gilchrist/Janelle Gilchrist Dance Troupe | Dedham, MA; io Ermoli, Emma Edy Morris, Sky Barnes, Callee Egan, Rachel Fontenot | Brooklyn, NY; Nyah Malone | Brooklyn, NY; Rachel Harris | New York, NY; Taylor West | Saint Paul, MN; Monica Shah/The Aseemkala Initiative & Emily Candaux | New York, NY; and Julia Ramirez | Jersey City, NJ.
2024 CREATE | SHARE | INSPIRE LEGACY AWARD Recipient: Dyane Harvey-Salaam
2023 Presenting Artists, Collaborators, & Dance Companies
Andrea Vazquez-Aguirre | Cedar City, UT; Yu Fujiwara & Tsubasa Nishioka | Elmhurst, NY; Jalyn Gill & Tashae Udo | Brooklyn, NY; Sloka Iyengar/The Aseemkala Initiative | New York City, NY; Joan Liu/Axons Dance Theatre | Astoria, NY; Audrey Hubbard Madison/MoJazz Dance | Brooklyn, NY; Kiara Paige/CarNYval Dancers | Jamaica, NY; Shreya Ramanathan/The Aseemkala Initiative | Austin, TX; Carolina Rivera/SUR Dance | New York City, NY; Allyson Ross/ SouthernBelleStories | New York City, NY; Aika Takeshima & Sara Pizzi/sarAika movement collective | Queens, NY; Leah Tubbs/MODArts Dance Collective (MADC) | Harlem, NY; and Kayla Yee | New York City, NY.
2023 CREATE | SHARE | INSPIRE LEGACY AWARD Recipient: Mary Barnett
2022 Presenting Artists/Dance Companies
Rhoda Moise/Aseemkala Initiative, Kristina Diaz, Monica Shah, Aika Takeshima & Sara Pizzi/sarAika, Makayla Peterson/Monét Movement Productions: The Collective, Megan Curet/Curet Performance Project, Leah Tubbs/MODArts Dance Collective (MADC), Jenny Oliver/Modern Connections Collective, Melissa Garcia Velez & Sebastian Angel/Meldanzando & Dancers, Audrey Madison/MoJazz Dance, Jurne Smith, Shoko Tamai & Zen Takai / Ninja Ballet, Saraswathy Lakshmivaraham, Chien-Ying Wang/OcampoWang Dance, Violeta De Leon Davila, Jennifer Chin/JENNIFERCHINdance, Ankita Sharma, Leslie Alston/ The Angels of Transformation, Suwodi Dutta Bordoloi, Allyson Ross/ SouthernBelleStories, Ann Francis Ang, Jamison Curcio, & Linda Steele II - HUMA/lingual Cafe for the Arts
2021 Artists/Dance Companies
Makayla Peterson/Monét Movement Productions: The Collective, Monica Shah, Fang-Ting Yeh, Ashley Pierre-Louis, Arielle "seria" Crook, Basma Arfaoui, Mimi Liu, Andrea Smith/Revolutionary Artistic Productions, Jessica Gabrielle Thomas/Selah Gabrielle, Beatrice Capote, Jamison Curcio, Gelline Guevarra/GG Projects, Allyson Ross/SouthernBelleStories, Audrey Madison/MoJazz Dance, Chien-Ying Wang/OcampoWang Dance, Bre Seals/BREathe Dance Project, Mushtari Afroz, Cheri Stokes, & Leah Tubbs/MODArts Dance Collective (MADC)
2021 CREATE | SHARE | INSPIRE LEGACY AWARD Recipients:
Sheila Rohan & Ella Thompson Moore
2020 Artists/Dance Companies
Preya Patel/Vivarta Arts, Shekoya Gordon, Audrey Hubbard Madison/MoJazz Dance, Chatiera Ray/The CRay Project, LLC, Sahana Madabhushi /SnD Productions, Winter Bosanko/Winter Dance Projects, Shachi Phene/Noor Dance Academy, Akane Koizumi & Yu Fujiwara/A&Y duo, Jenny Boissiere/DanceBoissiere, Andrea Smith/Revolutionary Artistic Productions, & Allyson Ross/SouthernBelleStories
2020 CREATE | SHARE | INSPIRE LEGACY AWARD Recipient: Hope Clarke
2019 Artists/Dance Companies
Shoko Tamai/Ninja Ballet Dance Company (New York, NY), Sabrina Wong (White Plains, NY), Candace Tabbs (New York, NY), Audrey Madison/ MoJazz Dance (Brooklyn, NY), Yamini Kalluri (Queens, NY), Allyson Ross/ Southern Belle Stories (New York, NY), Malaika Holder (The Bronx, NY), Shachi Phene/Noor Dance Academy (New York, NY), Samantha Chapa (New York, NY), Angela Patmon/Patmon Dance Project (New York, NY), Jenny Oliver/Connections Dance Theater (Boston, MA), Sunae Hwang/ SUNPROJECT (Queens, NY), Beverly Lopez/REDi Dance Company (The Bronx, NY), Chatiera Ray/The CRayProject (Long Beach, CA), Kayla Yee/Kayla Yee Choreography (New York, NY), Nyama McCarthy-Brown/Bent Knee (Columbus, OH), Shekoya Gordon (The Bronx, NY), Arla Scott/Taratibu Youth Association (Mt. Rainier, MD), & Nithya Subramaniam (Sunnyvale, CA)
2018 Artists/Dance Companies
Malaika Holder (The Bronx, NY) Lindsay Renea Benton (Montgomery, AL) Julianne Cariño (Brooklyn, NY) Sunae Hwang/SUNPROJECT (Queens, NY) Shilpa Darivemula/The Aseemkala Initiative (Delmar, NY) Italy Bianca (New York, NY) Jenny Boissiere/Dance Boissiere (New York, NY) Melissa Villarreal/Lotus Contemporary Performing Arts (Austin, TX) Lauren C. Smith/The Elsie Project (Fairborn, GA) Brianna Anderson (The Bronx, NY) Kacei Womack (Philadelphia, PA) Akane Koizumi & Yu Fujiwara (New York, NY) Chien-Ying Wang/OcampoWang Dance (Monmouth Juction, NJ) Beverly Lopez/REDi Dance Company (The Bronx, NY) Audrey Hubbard Madison/ MoJazz Dance (Brooklyn, NY) Ayako Takahashi | Ayalis in Motion (Queens, NY) Jenny Oliver/Connections Dance Theater (Boston, MA) Allyson Ross/Southern Belle Stories (New York, NY) Anuradha Naimpally (Austin, TX)
2017 Artists/Dance Companies
Anuradha Naimpally (Austin, TX) Chatiera Ray/The CRayProject (Long Beach, CA) Alyssa M. Parnell (Birmingham, AL) Audrey Hubbard Madison/MoJazz Dance (Brooklyn, NY) Kaoru Ikeda/MoustacheCat Dance (New York, NY) Melissa Escano (formerly Melissa Garcia Velez)[The Bronx, NY] Leah Moriarty (Brooklyn, NY) Angel Chinn/NonaLee Dance Theatre (Brooklyn, NY) Cyrian Reed/Creative Discipline (Riverside, CA) SunAe Hwang/SUNPROJECT (Queens, NY) Chien-Ying Wang/OcampoWang Dance (Monmouth Junction, NJ) Sadé M. Jones/Ashé Arts (Austin, TX) Natasha Natraj (New York, NY) Beverly Lopez/REDi Dance (The Bronx, NY) Jessica T. Pearson (Providence, RI) Allyson Ross/Southern Belle Stories (New York, NY) Courtney J. Cook (Brooklyn, NY) Francine E. Ott (Brooklyn, NY) Clarice Young (Brooklyn, NY) Courtni Poe (Hermitage TN) Robyn Ayers (New York, NY)
2016 Artists/Dance Companies
Brianna Anderson (New York, NY) Robyn Ayers (New York, NY) Jenny Boissiere/Jenny Boissiere and Dancers (New York, NY) Angel Chinn/NonaLee Dance Theatre (Brooklyn, NY) Shauna Davis/Shauna Davis Dance (New York, NY) Chieh Hsiung (New York, NY) SunAe Hwang/SUNPROJECT (Queens, NY) Darnetha Lincoln M'Baye/Roots In Revolution (New York, NY) Jessica T. Pearson (Providence, RI) Lauren C. Smith (Jacksonville, FL) Chien-Ying Wang & Paul C. Ocampo (Monmouth Junction, NJ) Brittany Wilson (Queens, NY)