Announcing the Panelists for the 2020-21 Redtail Artist Residencies

New York, NY - February 18, 2021 Redtail is pleased to announce this year’s group of panelists for the first round of the 2020-21 Redtail Artist Residencies in partnership with Jamaica Center for Arts & Learning (JCAL)! The panel met on May 12, 2020 virtually and chose two collaborative teams of choreographers and composers and two individual choreographers to create and develop new work. Artists will present one free public program in coordination with JCAL later in 2021 either virtually or in person pending city regulations. Each artist receives workspace at Jamaica Center for Arts & Learning plus a $2,000 stipend. Click here to find out who this year’s 2020-21 resident artists are.

Panels met over Zoom at the height of NYC’s shutdown and as Exploring the Metropolis(EtM) was beginning to close their doors. As applications were coming to a close for the EtM Choreographer + Composer Residencies, at this time, many artist were losing work as residencies, tours, and opportunities were cancelled. “It was clear to me that we needed to find a way to keep this program going.” said Katie Cox, former EtM Program Manager and now Executive/Program Director of Redtail Artist Residencies. “I didn’t want to see all the work EtM had done over the years be lost particularly at a time when artists needed our support more than ever.”

EtM began to think creatively about how to continue the legacy and the vital work they had done over the past 38 years. Thanks to the support of EtM’s Founder Eugenie C. Cowan, previous resident artists, EtM staff, and our continued partnership with the Jamaica Center for Arts and Learning (JCAL), EtM was able to save one of its most impactful programs rebranding the former EtM Choreographer + Composer Residencies as Redtail Artist Residencies.

“Our creative time at JCAL under the EtM program was a fantastic experience in every way,” said Doug Varone, former EtM Choreographer-in- Residence and panelists for Redtail. “Not only to have rehearsal space afforded to us for 3 months, but also to be engulfed by Jamaica’s diverse culture was a gift everyday. I am so pleased that Redtail Artist Residencies will continue this important work in collaboration with JCAL in supporting dance artists with much needed creative environments to explore our imaginations.”

This year’s panelists are:

KIMBERLY BARTOSIK

Kimberly Bartosik’s work has been commissioned and presented by New York Live Arts, BAM Next Wave, Lumberyard, Gibney, Abrons, The Yard, Danspace, FIAF’s Crossing the Line, Rencontres Choregraphiques Internationales, The Kitchen, La Mama, Mount Tremper Arts, among others. Recent support includes: 2019 Guggenheim Fellowship; 2020 Toulmin Women Leaders in Dance Fellowship at Center for Ballet & the Arts; EtM Choreographer/Composer grant; Jerome Foundation; FUSED; Mid-Atlantic Arts Foundation, USAI; MAP Fund; New Music USA, Live Music for Dance; Foundation for Contemporary Arts, Grants to Artists and Emergency Grants. I received a Bessie Award for Exceptional Artistry dancing in Merce Cunningham’s company.

JOYA POWELL

A native Harlemite, Joya Powell is a Bessie Award winning Choreographer and Educator passionate about community, activism, and dances of the African Diaspora. Throughout her career she has danced with choreographers such as Paloma McGregor, Katiti King, Nicole Stanton, and Neta Pulvermacher. In 2005 Joya founded Movement of the People Dance Company, dedicated to creating Socially Conscious Contemporary Dance Theater. Her work has appeared in venues such as: BAM, Lincoln Center, SummerStage, La Mama, The Bronx Museum of the Arts, The Dance Complex (Cambridge), Jamaica Performing Arts Center, Movement Research @ Judson Church, The School of Contemporary Dance & Thought (Northampton), BAAD! Joya has taught and studied internationally in Brazil, Puerto Rico, Cuba, and Israel. Awards and recognition include: Dancing While Black Fellow, Women in Motion Commissioned Artist, EtM Choreographers + Composers Residency. She is a collaborating member of Dance Caribbean Collective, Radical Evolution and a Visiting Assistant Professor at Wesleyan University.

PAUL SINGH

Paul Singh earned his BFA in Dance from the University of Illinois, USA. He has danced for Gerald Casel, Molissa Fenley, Jane Comfort, Risa Jaroslow, Will Rawls, Douglas Dunn, Christopher Williams, Kathy Westwater, Faye Driscoll, Doug Varone, and was featured in the inaugural cast of Punchdrunk’s American debut of “Sleep No More”. While abroad, he was a dancer in Peter Sellars’ opera “The Indian Queen,” as well as for Peter Pleyer (with collaborators Meg Stuart, Sasha Waltz and Jeremy Wade) in a large-scale improvisation work in Berlin. Paul has had his own work presented at the Judson Church, New York Live Arts, Joe’s Pub, Dixon Place, La Mama E.T.C, Center for Performance and Research, Dock 11 (Berlin), and in 2004 his solo piece “Stutter” was presented at the Kennedy Center. Paul has taught contact improvisation around the world, leading intensives and advanced workshops for teacher training purposes and beginner studies. He currently teaches varied technique classes (partnering, floor work, contemporary technique, contact improvisation) for Movement Research, Sarah Lawrence College, and The Juilliard School.

DOUG VARONE

Doug Varone is a choreographer and director of contemporary dance for the concert stage, as well as opera, Broadway, regional theater, and film. He is the Artistic Director of Doug Varone and Dancers, which he established in 1986 as an opportunity to explore and process his particular choreographic vision. His company has been commissioned and presented to critical acclaim by leading international venues for over three decades. On tour, the company has performed in more than 100 cities in 45 states across the U.S. and in Europe, Asia, Canada, and South America. In addition to his own company, Varone has created a body of works globally. Commissions include the Batsheva Dance Company, Paul Taylor’s American Modern Dance, The Limón Company, Hubbard Street Dance Chicago, Rambert Dance Company, Martha Graham Dance Company, among others. Varone received his BFA from Purchase College where he was awarded the President’s Distinguished Alumni Award in 2007. Numerous honors and awards include a John Simon Guggenheim Fellowship, an OBIE Award, two individual Bessie Awards and the Doris Duke Artist Award in 2015. He is also the recipient of the American Dance Guild’s Lifetime Achievement Award.

NAMI YAMAMOTO

Nami Yamamoto, from Matsuyama, Japan, holds an MA in Dance Education from New York University and a BA in Physical Education from Ehime University. She received The New York Dance and Performance Awards, (the Bessies) for outstanding production of Headless Wolf in 2018. She has been an Artist in Residence at Movement Research, Brooklyn Arts Exchange, and Maggie Allesee National Center for Choreography, Gibney DiP Resident Artist and Center for Performance Research. Her work has been funded by Creative Capital, Jim Henson Foundation and others. She teaches at New York City public school through Movement Research’s Dance Maker’s program.