DanceAction Garden Series 2025 #3

is a performance event that combines artists from diverse disciplines (Dance, Music, Theater, & more!) to showcase short works rooted in improvisation and spontaneous composition practices. This event will showcase short performance pieces on Friday evenings in June, July, August, and September at its new garden performance venue in the Upper West Side of Manhattan. Artist Carmen Caceres and her husband open their home for an evening of improvisation, performing arts, and summer celebration!

The evening starts at 8:30 pm with live performances by Carmen Caceres and guest artists. In addition, this event features the work dancers created over the DanceAction Summer Workshop: Contemporary Pathways & Architecture. We will conclude this event with a dance party!

Friday, August 8*, 2025 at 8:30 pm

Doors open at 8 pm

BYOD or ACCESS THE BAR BY MAKING A DONATION!

Tickets: General Admission $20 | Student/Artist $10 | Pay what you wish Donation Option

Purchase your Tickets HERE

ONLY 25 SEATS ARE AVAILABLE!

*Dates are subject to change for inclement weather.

**The address will be disclosed after making a reservation.

Artists Lineup

Aryanna Allen (she/they) is a Brooklyn-based dancer, choreographer, educator, and arts administrator. They attended Emory University, where they performed works by Kendra Portier, Dafi Altabeb, George Staib, and Gregory Catellier. Throughout her freelance career, Aryanna has performed works by Mark Caserta, Marco Palomino, Yoshito Sakuraba, and Christian Denice. They have also choreographed and performed in festivals like the Austin Dance Festival, Alabama Dance Festival, and Modern Moves NYC. Currently, they dance with Kinesis Project, RogueWave, and KTCO Company. They serve as Administrative Manager for MBDance, Administrative Director for Lyrric Jackson Dance Company, and work as Research Assistant for T. Lang Dance. As a movement artist and choreographer who focuses on athleticism and embodied storytelling, Aryanna’s practice combines improvisational, theatrical, and collaborative approaches to creating dance. Their work draws on personal narratives to explore broader themes like performativity, transition, and queer intimacy.

"Matching Lower Back Tattoo is a choreographic scrapbook of girlhood, memory, and becoming. Set to 90s R&B, it unfolds like a sleepover VHS—looping, intimate, and a little messy. It feels like making up routines in a friend’s basement, whispering secrets, and laughing until you cry.”

Carmen Caceres is a dance artist originally from Buenos Aires, Argentina. Her works have been presented in renowned venues in New York and abroad. DanceAction, her company, serves as a creative platform to produce performing arts works in collaboration with musicians, dramaturges, and visual artists. She worked with artists such as Lisa Parra, Sarah Berges, and Elia Mrak as a performer and collaborator. Carmen received a BA in Dance and Education at SUNY Empire, deepened her studies in dance at the former Merce Cunningham Studio, and is currently pursuing an MA in Dance Education at Hunter College. In her native city, she graduated from the National School of Dance and studied Dance Composition at UNA. Carmen also works as a dance educator and consultant in different organizations in New York City. https://www.carmencaceres.com/carmen-caceres

“Our bodies are pathways of energy in time and space. Our architectural design is unique and full of asymmetries, but we build our world in straight, symmetrical shapes. How do we fit in? Pathways & Architecture explores this dichotomy, navigating the energy traveling through the body in movement with designs created in space.”

Faride Henaine is a dynamic modern-based dancer, multidisciplinary artist, and cultural creator with roots in dance and sideshow circus arts. Drawing from Modern, Contemporary, House, Voguing, Burlesque, and Sideshow, her work embodies the bold, experimental spirit of NYC’s underground scene. A proud member of the International House of Elle, she has performed across Mexico, Sweden, and New York at venues like The Joyce Theatre and Coney Island USA. Faride is also a faculty member with Limón4Kids, where she teaches the Limón technique and mentors young dancers. Her collaborations span music videos, live shows, and photoshoots, and her solo work merges sideshow and dance to challenge movement and storytelling norms. As an emerging Latinx artist, she is dedicated to representing diverse cultural voices and pushing boundaries in contemporary performance.

“Tribute solo explores Faride’s diverse dance DNA and artistic lineage.”

Catherine Messina has performed across New York, Atlanta, Richmond, Connecticut, Vermont, New Jersey, Oklahoma, and Philadelphia. She has been commissioned for original works by Sacred Heart University, Nazareth University, Suttle Dance, and Open Dance Ensemble. Her company, Rogue Wave, uses neuroscience as a jumping-off point for creation. Messina has a continued partnership with The Tank Theater and was the 2024 Co-Op Residency Recipient at HERE Arts. She is a recipient of grant support from The Puffin Foundation, the City of Atlanta, Atlanta Science Festival, Metuchen Arts Council, New Haven Council for the Arts, and Indie Space. Messina has also received residencies from Everwood Artist Retreat, Hambidge Cross Pollination Lab, and Dragon’s Egg.

"Topophilia is defined as the bond with one's environment, the love one has for a place or space. This is a newer term coined by a psychologist, but it has been studied to deeply affect the quality of life. I feel topophilia strongly with New York.”

Sarah Blake received her BA in Dance & Theatre (DTH) from Manhattanville College and graduated from Baruch College with her MA in Arts Administration, where she conducted research on funding for emerging artists and building arts centers outside of major cities. She has performed works by Shawn Bible, Brad Beakes, Sarah Housepian, Michaela McGowan, Michael Trusnovec, as well as many others. She has performed professionally with Chutzpah Dance and SarAika movement collective. While dancing with Chutzpah, she also served as the company's social media coordinator. In addition to performing, she has presented her own choreography around NYC since July 2022 while also teaching and coaching dance at studios and schools across Northern New Jersey.

“The year is 1692. The time is unknown, but the location is Salem, Massachusetts. You are witnessing the very infamous Salem Witch Trials. Keep in mind that this was a true event and very much about control of the body in the form of looking different from those around you. Similar to certain ideals in today's society. Forget what you know, and only look at the now, as these bodies are being controlled by forces we can’t quite name. Some guess Satan and “Witchcraft”, others the very men that led this village. That, however, is up to you to decide.”

DanceAction is a contemporary dance company based in New York, led by Argentinian dance artist and educator Carmen Caceres. With a culturally diverse team of artists, we create educational opportunities and artistic experiences that foster collaboration, inclusion, and promote critical thinking. Together, we develop performing arts works that reflect social realities that concern people, relationships, and social justice. Our primary purpose is to interpret these issues and use our work to propel change. DA participated in numerous festivals and performance series in New York and abroad, including Take Root at Green Space, Under Exposed at Dixon Place, Women Center Stage Festival at Teatro SEA, Festival FIDCDMX in Mexico City, and Ticino in Danza in Switzerland. DA has self-produced and presented several full-length works, such as BLINDSPOT at the Mark Morris Dance Center and Game Night at the Center for Performance Research. DA's awards include the City Artist Corps and LMCC Creative Engagement Grants. Most recently, DA developed and presented their latest work, Welcome to Imagi*Nation, as a Resident Artist at the Center at West Park.

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