DANSPACE PROJECT PRESENTS Food for Thought curated by Jason Rodriguez Friday, March 1 | 7:30PM Dahlia Khair/Barr Bodies, Rinor Zymberi, Jason Rodriguez Saturday, March 2 | 7:30PM Dahlia Khair/Barr Bodies, Rinor Zymberi, José Lapaz Rodriguez
A NOTE FROM THE CURATOR These 3 artists are special to me due to their talent, expression, identity, and success. They have been nourished, challenged, and shaped by their past, present, and now carry a clear image of their future. What makes them radiate power is their clarity, care, and intent in dance. None of these artists are limited to dance as they are fountains of art. Making dance their fraction. Nothing has deterred them to create, moving forward with excellent expression. I’m immensely grateful for each of them to be in my life and to be given the opportunity to share them at Danspace. -Jason Rodriguez
Food For Thought collects canned food donations to support local food distribution programs. Canned goods will be donated to Metropolitan Community Church of New York: a church of LGBTQI people and allies.
Jason Anthony Rodriguez (@thejasonrodriguez)is a Dominican-American actor/dancer. Born and raised from Washington Heights in New York City. Went to SUNY Purchase where he received a BA in Arts Management while also studying dance. Found voguing through Benny Ninja and began training under him. He also received mentorship from Dorit Koppel and Kevin Wynn. Trained at Susan Batson Studio in New York City. He was a Series Regular in Ryan Murphy’s Emmy and Golden Globe-nominated series Pose as “Lamar”. He was Movement Coach for all 3 seasons of Pose and choreographed for season 2. He guest-starred in the Season Finale of The Deuce on HBO as “Enrico”. He has been featured in the NY Times 5 times by Siobhan Burke, Gia Kourlas and Illise S. Carter. “Mr. Rodriguez is a subtle scene stealer as Lamar on the FX show “Pose,”- Gia Kourlas NY Times. He has taught vogue in various institutions throughout the states. He has taught internationally in Dominican Republic, Vienna and Japan. Recently co-founded Arraygency with Ricardo Sebastian which supports in managing BIPOC Queer & Trans folks and brings them to the forefront of all creative industries. Bev and Dahlia (@bev.vega & @dahlia.khair), founders of Barr Bodies, are movement artists based in New York City whose work aims to push boundaries of performance, installation, and movement. Over the past three years, Barr Bodies has continuously put out work in various mediums that have contributed to their mission of celebrating trans bodies and using outside tools to expand movement presentation. They began their combined movement journeys through films that Bev directed and premiered in collaboration with Dahlia, Portals and Te Extrano, which explore her personal experiences as a trans Chicana and her journey coming into her current body. These films have been screened at the Museum of Modern Art in New York City and The Gallery in Austin, Texas. Their debut project, Gender Deviants, was presented at Bridge For Dance at the works in progress showcase, Uptown Rising. Voted as the “audience favorite” of the evening, the performance featured projected livestreams from Bev and Dahlia’s phones as they moved through the space, placing the cameras in different perspectives and encouraging audience members to film them as well. They hope to continue creating multi-sensory storytelling experiences that incorporate movement, visuals, and any other medium that feels complementary to the stories they tell. José Lapaz-Rodriguez (@josesitolapaz) (pronouns: He/Him) is a freelance movement artist and model from the Dominican Republic currently residing in Brooklyn. José is a Hanya Holm award recipient and he graduated from Mason Gross School of the Arts at Rutgers University with a BFA in Dance performance. José researches the interconnection of contemporary dance and voguing in concert dance in queer bodies as he is part of the ballroom scene. He has performed works by Matthew Rushing, Pam Tanowitz, Jordan Lloyd, Stefanie Batten-Bland, Roderick George, Maleek Washington, Rashaad Newsome for ‘Assembly’ and Kyle Marshall. Aside from concert dance, he has performed as a cameo artist in the Off-Broadway ‘Hercules’ by Chase Brock in 2019. Amidst the pandemic, he collaborated with Mandy Moore for the Facebook Messenger commercial, principal dancer and choreographer for ANANAS by Tyler Pope, danced in Chad Lawson’s ‘Prelude in D Major’ VEVO music video and debuted in his first feature film called ‘Playland’ by Georden West. Rinor Zymberi (@fairyrinor) is a multidisciplinary artist and Albanian immigrant raised in the Bronx, New York. Rinor has always had a passion for dance, from traditional folk dances in the village she grew up in to starting her training in Ballet at the age of 17 through the Steps on Broadway Work and Study program. There she trained religiously under Elena Kunikova and Karin Averty. Rinor continued her training with schools such as French Academie of Ballet, Manhattan Youth Ballet and Washington Ballet. She transitioned into the art of vogue in 2022 through her mentors Jason A. Rodriguez and Stanley Devaughn, founder and overall father of the International House of Elle. Rinor has vogued for Opening Ceremony x UGG during Fashion week, private event with CeCe Peniston, The Leslie Lohman Museum Gala and a crowd sensation at The Stranger, a NYC nightclub. Rinor has such a deep and profound love for voguing, different mediums of art, her house and family members, and community she has found.
Danspace Project pays respect to Lenape peoples. We acknowledge that this work is situated on the Lenape island of Manhattan (Mannahatta) in Lenapehoking, the Lenape homeland. We pay respect to Lenape land, water, and ancestors past, present and future.
ABOUT DANSPACE PROJECT
Danspace Project presents new work in dance, supports a diverse range of choreographers in developing their work, encourages experimentation, and connects artists to audiences. For almost 50 years, Danspace Project has supported a vital community of contemporary dance artists in an environment unlike any other in the United States. Located in the historic St. Mark’s Church in-the-Bowery, Danspace shares its facility with the Church, The Poetry Project, and New York Theatre Ballet. Danspace Project’s Commissioning Initiative has commissioned nearly 600 new works since its inception in 1994. More about our staff, our mission, and values FOLLOW US @danspaceproject danspaceproject.org