62 East 4th Street
(Btw 2nd & 3rd Aves)
New York, NY 10003
MAP & DIRECTIONS
.
Ph#212-674-9066
Fax 212-674-9068
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rodrodgers.dance
@verizon.net
September 26th, 2009
FAB! Festival & Block Party
Featuring RRDC and
the RRDC Youth Ensemble at 2pm
Outdoors 1-5PM, Indoors 3PM-7PM
Fourth Arts Block (4th Street btw. 2nd & 3rd Ave.)
Experience the best of the East Village and the Lower East Side with multiple indoor and outdoor stages, classes and activities for all ages, gourmet food vendors, a flea market and more. After workshops open to the community beginning at 11AM the outdoor festivities kick-off at 1PM. FREE! www.fabnyc.org
To Directors of Cultural Organizations in New York City:

I'm writing to make sure you are aware of the Alliance's new study on the economic impact of the arts, which has very positive numbers about jobs, taxes and the arts industry's contribution to the local economy.

We would very much appreciate your help in getting the word out to the public and public officials by including this brief statement in your publications, Web sites, or any other communication which might be appropriate.

Economic Impact of NYC Culture Grew 61 Percent since 1992

Nonprofit cultural organizations generated more than 40,000 jobs and $170 million in taxes to New York City, producing an economic impact of $5.8 billion in 2005, according to a newly-released study by the Alliance for the Arts. This represented strong growth—61 percent—since the Alliance's last study in 1992. When nonprofit groups are combined with TV and film, Broadway theater, galleries and auction houses, and arts-motivated visitors, the total economic impact of the arts industry was $21.2 billion in 2005. The overall industry generated 160,000 jobs and contributed more than $900 million in taxes to the city.

The Arts as an Industry: Their Economic Impact on New York City and New York State can be downloaded at www.allianceforarts.org.


Thank you.

Randall Bourscheidt
President
Alliance for the Arts

Dance Review | Rod Rogers Dance Company

Rod Rodgers Dance Company Carries the Torch for His Distinctive Style

Jonathan Slaff

The Rod Rodgers Dance Company performing "Fredome! Freedom ...," a signature piece.
By: JENNIFER DUNNING
Published: June 13, 2006

The Rod Rodgers Dance Company has had its triumphs in the four years since the death of its founder, including buying its longtime headquarters on East Fourth Street in the East Village. But money must now be raised for additional renovation and preservation, and there is also the struggle to keep performing and teaching Mr. Rodgers's distinctive style and repertory.

A fluidly staged program on Saturday night at the Henry Street Settlement suggested that the troupe, under the direction of Kim Grier, a longtime Rodgers lead performer, and Jason Rodgers, Mr. Rodgers's son, is managing to hold its own.

It is also keeping alive the Rodgers style, a contemplative, slightly cerebral response to jazz rhythms and African-American social themes. The dancers had a new look on Saturday: strong bodies in dynamic motion but rooted and gravity-bound in a way that recalled the powerful thrust of traditional modern dance more than the lithe, aerial look favored by Mr. Rodgers.

But it worked, in revivals of Mr. Rodgers's "Jazz Fusions" and his signature "Fredome! Freedom ... ." The flow of motion in the first piece had a coolness and a meticulous clarity that matched the thunk and calm progression of the score by Leon Parker. Playful contrast was made between the height and solidity of the two male dancers (David Browne and Jamal Greene) and the swirl of smaller female dancers.

Mr. Browne was the lodestar in "Fredome! Freedom ... ," which builds from a raised, clenched fist to a more exuberant acceptance of freedom, along with the score by Coleridge Taylor Perkinson.

The two women (Martha Tornay and Ms. Grier) in "When We Were Young," a delicate, simple duet by Michael Foley set to Rachmaninoff, might be sisters or friends. But at the end, the quality of one dancer's gentle touch on the other's back suddenly but subtly underscores that one is black and the other white.

The program closed with "She Sayings and Soul Songs," a celebration of Nina Simone by Mr. Rodgers and Ms. Grier, with standout performances from Ms. Grier, Mr. Greene and Nami Kagami, and Kara Rosales. Throughout, Thea Jones moved like the pouring of honey.