The State Government of Ceara provided very generous and comprehensive support for the program in Fortaleza: A large van was provided and dedicated to the Company throughout its stay; Carla Tauscheckt from the State Government acted as BDC’s official city guide; and hotel accommodations were provided for the entire Company.

Unlike the previous programs in the tour, workshop groups in Fortaleza were organized with one main local partner: BCAD, a non-profit organization that works to assist the most disadvantaged communities in Fortaleza. BCAD hosted 3 workshop groups at two locations, while another local partner closely associated with BCAD, Ballet Lucymeire Aires, hosted two workshop groups at one location. Each workshop venue location presented a structural problem. The floor in the three larger venues was problematic – in one case, it was laid directly on top of concrete; in the other, an old dance mat (Marley) was so thin that it folded and twisted as dancers turned or pivoted. The other two venues had excellent flooring but were too small for the workshop groups. Understanding that this was a result of local limitations, the BDC teaching artists accommodated and worked together to alternate rooms.

Five Dancing to Connect groups held workshops for 4 hours per day for 5 days with approximately 18 students in each group. Participants were low-income disadvantaged youth and young adults. Melanie Brooks, a Senior English Language Fellow with IFCE/IBEU, coordinated all of BDC’s translation needs for the program. Once again, the translators were essential to the success of the program, and Melanie was able to coordinate teams of two to three translators dedicated to each teaching artist.

The Dragão do Mar performance on Wednesday May 16 coalesced around an innovative artistic collaboration which saw Battery Dance Company’s dancers creating choreography in response to poetry read by the American poets, who were also visiting Fortaleza as a part of a separate ECA-funded program. The collaboration with the American poets from the Iowa writing program was the brain-child of BDC’s Artistic Director Jonathan Hollander, Embassy Brazilia’s IRO Carol Brey-Casiano, and Consulate Recife’s PAO Heidi Arola.

While the original plan called for each dancer to be paired with a poet, two of the visiting poets were unable to obtain visas in time, leaving Sean and Robin without partners. Production designer Barry Steele projected translations of the poetry onto the side of a building while the dancers made use of the surrounding architecture around the stage for their performances. In the second part of the performance, BDC performed an excerpt of ‘Perceptual Motion’, a series of three duets that showcased the artistry of the Company. The event was rather sparsely attended compared to BDC’s other performances but the inclusion of print media and television coverage amplified the impact. ‘Bom Dia’ Ceara, the State’s most widely viewed morning show, carried a feature on BDC and the poetry/dance event the next morning. FSN Edvaldo Amorim was a great asset: he was able to secure a private dressing room for the dancers at the location, acted as MC for the program, and at one point requested that nearby businesses turn down their music volume so to not disturb the performance.

Barry Steele presented two technical workshops at the Jose de Alencar theatre attended by approximately 30 theater technicians and designers. Andres, the technical manager on loan from BCAD, provided translation for the workshops and was key to Barry’s negotiation of the production schedule with the manager of the theatre. Andres, an extremely knowledgeable stage technician and excellent translator was of tremendous help to Barry up until 2 days prior to Barry and his technical trainees at the Theatro Jose de Alencar performance, when, without notice, he disappeared. In his place, FSN Edvaldo Amorim took over essential communication between Barry and the local theatre technical crew helping to prepare for and carry out the final performance.

Tickets for the final performance, held at the Art Nouveau Theatro Jose de Alencar, were all claimed within 5 hours. The performance was attended by U.S. Principal Officer Usha Pitts, who gave opening remarks and presented local partner Janne Ruth with flowers at the end of the performance. FSN Edvaldo Amorim acted as MC and managed to secure a speaker’s podium from the Brazilian Army Ministry before the show. The audience responded to the show with thunderous applause and cheers, at one point expressing their approval in the middle of Sean’s group piece, and at other times shushing the workshop students who continuously screamed out their teaching artist’s name as the BDC dancers performed ‘Perceptual Motion’.

The BDC team hit the ground running with PAO Susan Ross and FSN Ingrid Hill from the first day in country. After a press conference held by Ambassador Nay, Emad Salem, and local partners at Sana Budaya, BDC’s dancers performed an excerpt of ‘Perceptual Motion’ and responded to questions from the media. The event was covered by representatives of numerous television and print media. Afterwards local partners welcomed BDC with a Javanese lunch. Later that night the dancers performed for Ambassador Nay and representatives of foreign embassies, Surinamese government officials, and international arts leaders at the Ambassador’s residence. In closing remarks, the Ambassador lauded BDC’s diversity comparing it to the ethnic diversity in Suriname. In a program designed to unite the divided arts community in Paramaribo, three local partners were selected by the Embassy to host the workshops and select participants and teacher trainees:

-NAKS Wan Rutu, an Afro-Surinamese cultural organization

-Sana Budaya Dance Company, a Javanese dance and culture organization

-Ballet School Marlene, a classical ballet dance company

Mixed gender Dancing to Connect (DtC) workshops were held for 5 hours per day for 4 days and included participants from different ethnic groups and from various socio-economic backgrounds. Although 80 participants had been selected prior to the workshop, a number of low-income participants were unable to juggle the time required with other commitments such as school and multiple job positions. Despite this, there was still an even mix of low-income/high-income students. Bafana Matea led one mixed workshop group at NAKS, Mira Cook led another group at Marlene’s Ballet. Due to a low number of participants in one of the two planned workshop groups at the venue Sana Budaya, the two groups were combined into one and jointly led by Sean Scantlebury and Robin Cantrell.

Battery Dance teaching artist Carmen Nicole held two 1.5 hour workshops at Kennedy High School for the Deaf, NATIN High School, Mulo Ellen High School, and one workshop at the International Academy of Suriname (IAS). With the help of local partner Moira Morroy’s Movement studio, a dance education organization that works with disabled children, Carmen worked with deaf youth at Kennedy High School. During the first day, school teachers and Dutch summer interns joined together with the students to participate in the workshop. In the second workshop, Carmen, working with older deaf students, was able to have the students create their own 3-minute choreography in the short time with the help of a sign language interpreter. Also on the second day, television media including Youth Journal and Apintie Television interviewed Carmen, Emad, and participants. Over two days, workshops at the Kennedy School were held with 40 youth and 9 local teachers/interns.

At the Mulo Ellen School, located in the rural outskirts of Paramaribo, students had not been exposed to an American dancer before nor participated in a dance program. Having never been exposed to a person like Carmen before coupled with the lack of music due to a lack of electricity in the gymnasium, the students were mostly giggles on the first day. On the second day, Carmen was prepared with battery operated speakers and a new plan on how to work with the students. Over two days, workshops were held with a total of 50 youth. At NATIN technical school, Carmen held 2 workshops on the same day with a total of 70 students. At the International Academy of Suriname, one workshop was held with 15 children who also displayed the choreography they were preparing for the upcoming show.

BDC’s Production Designer Barry Steele held two technical workshops at Marlene’s Ballet studio. Attendees to the workshops included technicians, arts administrators, television crews, and local Embassy technicians, who provided technical support to Barry throughout the program. At the conclusion of the first workshop,representatives from Apintie television were so impressed and eager to learn that they requested a follow-up technical workshop to take place at their television and radio station, which Barry agreed to. Total number of participants at Barry’s technical workshops was 35.

Due to the extensive media coverage surrounding BDC’s workshops in Suriname, all tickets for the final 8:00pm performance at the Cultural Center Suriname, a venue with capacity of 350 persons, were claimed in less than two hours. Additional seats were added in the aisles and in a balcony section, leaving no room to spare. However, due to the overwhelming demand for tickets, the Company agreed to conduct an earlier performance at 5pm. All tickets for the earlier performance were again claimed within a few hours’ time. The audiences for both performances expressed their approval enthusiastically, sometimes yelling out in approval during the performance, and afterwards sought out BDC members and Embassy staff to express their gratitude for conducting the program in Suriname. The 8pm performance was videotaped by Apintie television.

During BDC’s last day in country, Deputy Director Emad Salem and Carmen Nicole held a roundtable discussion with local arts administrators. The meeting was attended by Dweight Warsodikromo of Sana Budaya, Marlene Lie a Ling of Marlene’s Ballet, and two teacher-trainees. Prior to the meeting, three of the four in attendance were separately developing plans for a large arts and culture complex to be located in Paramaribo. After discussing international funding opportunities and strategies for financial sustainability, the local arts partners realized the need to present a unified front. They jointly agreed to come together under a previously defunct collective arts organization for the benefit of all.

Upon arrival in Belém, the BDC team went straight to work alongside ACAO Justen Thomas and FSN Angelina Smid . A press conference at local partner IAP introduced BDC to local partners, teacher-trainees, and a video team that is creating a documentary of the Dancing to Connect (DtC) program in Belém. During the press conference, the dancers met and exchanged ideas with fashion designers from Industry Esperanca. In an innovative plan, inmates in prisons throughout Belém would sew custom made costumes for all the participants of the DtC program. After their meeting and the press conference, the BDC team inspected venues and received a tour of the magnificent Teatro da Paz, a historic landmark. The dancers began improvising dance on stage much to the delight of the video and photography crew. Through a multitude of local partners who worked in sync with one another, five DtC groups with approximately 20 students in each group held workshops for 4 hours per day for 5 days. The organizing local partners were:

-IAP (Institute of Art for the Para State): A government-supported arts organization

-Ana Unger Dance Studios (provided participants but no workshop space)

-ProPaz: A government-supported organization dedicated bettering the lives of the poorest and most disadvantaged communities

-UFPA: The Federal University of Para State

-UEPA: State University of Para State

At IAP and a fifth workshop space located in the very large rehearsal room at the top of the Teatro da Paz, workshops were led by Robin Cantrell and Bafana Solomon, respectively. Carmen Nicole and Mira Cook led the university student workshops at UFPA and UEPA. Sean Scantlebury led a ProPaz student workshop at their campus on the outskirts of Belém. Many of the ProPaz students came from disadvantaged backgrounds and some had been victims of abuse.

In Brazil, where class divisions are extreme, the DtC workshops broke down barriers and introduced students to areas of their own city where they had never been before. Some of the participants in Bafana’s group expressed their worries over interacting with the wealthier students, an interaction they had not experienced before. They also informed Bafana that this was their first time being in that part of the city or seeing the historic theater other than in photographs or television. Many of the students dreamed of one day performing in the theater, but never thought that their dreams would be realized.

Production Designer Barry Steele was attacked by two thieves one block from the theater, which was situated across the street from BDC’s accommodations at the Hilton Hotel. In the process of fighting off his attackers so they would not take essential technical equipment stashed in his backpack, Barry suffered a deep gash wound above the eye and was rushed to the hospital. ACAO Justen Thomas, FSN Angelina Smid, and a representative from local partner IAP were on hand at the hospital to oversee Barry’s medical care, and to guide him through the hospital and police processes. Angelina also enlisted the help of the former Minister of Justice for the State, who expedited the police process and offered armed security for the duration of the program. As a result of the excellent care provided to him from the hospital and the Embassy staff, and his own resilience, Barry was ready to go back to work in the theater the next day.

While Barry and the Embassy staff were busy in the hospital, the BDC team met with the Industry Esperanca fashion designers who presented their conceptual drawing for the costumes. A Hilton desk receptionist kindly provided translation for the meeting. The dancers were thrilled with the costume concepts and the designers offered to have suits made for them as souvenirs.

In an effort to increase awareness for the final performance, the dancers performed an excerpt of ‘Perceptual Motion’ at CCBEU. CCBEU, an English language institute funded by the Department of State, is the last remaining American institutional presence in Belém. The much needed translators required for the DtC workshops and for Barry’s work in the theater were also being provided in-kind by CCBEU. As a result of a city-wide transit workers strike, much of the expected public audience was unable to attend the show. In their place, the employees and students of the institute filled the audience and eagerly asked questions after watching the performance. Media in attendance published a review of the performance while giving the public advance notice of the final performance to be staged at the Teatro da Paz.

The U.S. Embassy Brasilia hosted a group lunch on performance day at the Hilton-Belém for all participants, local partners, and the BDC team. During the reception, Ana Unger’s professional dancers conducted a short performance, and shortly after everyone in attendance spontaneously rushed to the front of the room to dance together.

SIDE NOTE: On a quick visit to the local zoo and botanical garden, Carmen became the main attraction for a group of visiting high school students, adding new meaning to the term ‘people-to-people diplomacy’. As the team and ACAO Ramona Sandoval left the zoo two heavily armored security officers began to ask us questions. Minutes later we began to understand that these were our ‘assigned’ security officers. They provided us the address for our next destination and then said goodbye.

Tickets for the final performance at Teatro da Paz, which has a capacity of nearly 800 persons, were given out within 2 hours. Male and female dressing rooms were provided for each group and the dancers were each assigned their own dressing room where they changed into their custom-made costumes. A few alterations were necessary for Carmen’s group and the Industry Esperanca designers worked quickly to make the adjustments. The dancers made full use of the theater, using two workshop spaces to continue rehearsals throughout the day. During Carmen’s group rehearsal, two hours before performance start and before her group’s on-stage rehearsal, one of her participants dislocated his big toe. More distressed about the prospect of missing the performance than his toe, he begged someone to ‘pop’ it back in. The participant was instead driven to the local hospital as Carmen’s group hurried to the stage to prepare the necessary changes to their choreography.

A half hour prior to performance start, a problem with the speakers manifested, creating a loud buzzing sound, probably as a result of reduced electrical power when all the theater lights were turned on. Production designer Barry Steele worked quickly to reduce the annoying sound, and the performance was able to begin on time. Remarkably, the participant who was rushed to the local hospital made it back in time to perform with his DtC group. The audience thoroughly enjoyed the performance, at one point clapping in rhythm to the singing of Bafana’s group.

After the performance, a reception was hosted on the grand balcony of the theater, where the BDC team and Embassy officers interacted with local partners and government officials.

Through the financial and facilitative support of the U.S. Embassy Madrid, Battery Dance Company brought its heralded Dancing to Connect project to Madrid, introducing the art of choreography and a major performing experience to youth who would otherwise lack such access. The participants were low-income students from 10 of Madrid's public schools and a residence for children who have no parents or have been deemed to be unsafe in their home environment.

The Battery Dance Company teaching artists were paired up for the project with young Spanish dance teachers-in-training, who served as both translators and collaborators in leading the workshops. The Spanish dance teachers are members of Alas Abiertas, a non-profit arts organization in Spain that is directed by Mercedes Pacheco and whose mission is similar to Battery Dance Company's. The excellent results of this project have opened many doors for future collaborations.

Extensive work was done in advance of the project to inform the Spanish partners of the ways and means of Dancing to Connect (DtC). Battery Dance Company prepared a teachers' manual, translated into Spanish, to lend structure and clarity to the process. The goal of teaming up with local artists was based upon Battery Dance Company's practice of sustaining the value and impact of Dancing to Connect in each country where it is introduced by training local dance teachers who can carry it forward after the Americans return home.

Six days of 6-hour workshops took place including a Saturday. From the first moment, it was evident to the Battery Dance Company teaching artists that the youth were excited to have such an unusual opportunity and were proud to have been selected. At the same time, there was some anxiety when faced with the need to communicate in English and to work in an artistic medium that was unfamiliar. The facilities at the Centro de Danza Canal are state-of-the-art, including 10 beautifully designed dance studios, three of which were made available to the DtC project for the duration of the workshops. Centro de Danza Canal's Director, Marcial Rodriguez Otero, was very present during the program and made the teachers and students feel very welcome.

Due to a last-minute medical emergency, several adjustments were made, none of which compromised the quality of the project: Mira Cook, a BDC teaching artist, was unable to participate in the project and Sean Scantlebury was substituted. Sean was involved in a DtC project in Israel that reached completion on the evening of the first day of meetings in Madrid. He traveled overnight and arrived the next morning, in time to lead his group of students in its first workshop session. Carmen and Bafana took responsibility for handling the first meeting with the Spanish dance teachers and for running a combined warm up on the morning of Day 2 with all of the students.

The Spanish dance teachers were hand-picked and supervised by Marcedes Pacheco, a former ballet dancer turned arts educator with a wealth of experience. Each of these young teachers-in-training brought good energy and very open minds to the process. They jumped into the process, bonded with their American mentors and quickly became inextricable partners in the process. We feel that they will be able to carry the project further on their own in Spain, thereby sustaining and amplifying the meaning and value of the Dancing to Connect project.

Jonathan had designed and planned the DtC project from New York over the course of many months in close cooperation with the Embassy team of Laura Gould, Elizabeth Martin, Macarena Moreno. He arrived three days into the project (from Israel) and engaged in outreach activities, coordinating with Marcial Rodriguez Otero, Sol Llopez of the Education Department and Macarena Moreno, as well as supporting the dancers and Barry Steele (who arrived on Day 5 of the project to handle all technical responsibilities for the final performance in the Sala Verde.)

Hollander met with directors of three of the four dance conservatories in Madrid, visiting two of them and observing a performance by the graduates of the Conservatorio de Danza Mariemma. He also met with Diego Hidalgo, a Board Member of El Pais, Spain's primary daily newspaper and escorted him to the Centro de Danza Canal to observe the workshops. Jonathan attended a press conference with representatives of the radio, television and print media of Madrid. Through the good offices of the Consulate General of Spain in New York, he met with Paz Santa-Cecilia Aristu, Director of the Department of Music and Dance (INAEM) in the Spanish Ministry of Culture and Antonio Garde Herce, Deputy Director for Music and Dance of the INAEM.

The Dancing to Connect program received considerable positive press. DtC was featured on Telemadrid, Telemadrid Nightly News, and Antena 3. In print and online, DtC was covered by ABC, El-Mundo, Terra Noticias, and with feature articles in El-Pais and Elpais.com.

A Spanish language survey was administered at the start and end of the DtC program to measure the program’s effectiveness with the teenage participants. The questionnaire was composed of a mix of qualitative and quantitative close-ended questions, developed by Emad Salem, Battery Dance Company’s Deputy Director for International Programs. Most students completed pre- and post-program questionnaires resulting in a paired sample size of 55. In addition, a qualitative questionnaire was given to the local dance teachers who received training. Data analysis will follow.

Battery Dance Company is extremely grateful for the support and full cooperation of the U.S. Embassy Madrid, including Ambassador Alan Solomont, Public Affairs Officer Thomas Genton and above all, the hands-on leadership and vision of Cultural Affairs Officer Laura Gould, and the program design and implementation meticulously carried out by ACAO Elizabeth Martin-Shukrun and Cultural Affairs Specialist Macarena Moreno and the media relations effectively handled by Marta Garcia.

By way of anticipated long-term results, Battery Dance Company hopes to continue building collaborations with both Centro de Danza Canal and Alas Abiertas in Spain, as well as the dance conservatories in Madrid, and to feature Spanish dance at one of its future editions of the Downtown Dance Festival.

Battery Dance Company’s teaching artists worked with 60 students – from Israel, West Bank and Germany -- in two series of workshops earlier this year. Using the universal language of dance, these students of 16 – 18 years old built teams that crossed religious, social and geographic boundaries. Together, they created choreography that spoke to the issues of inclusion and exclusion. As the process went forward, the differences between the students melted away.

The first session of 5 days took place in the working-class city of Bochum in the German State of North Rhine Westphalia (for more on the Bochum program, see Bochum, Germany). The students from Israel and the West Bank had flown to Germany a few days earlier and had toured Berlin before coming to Bochum.

Over the course of the next several days, they worked with Battery Dance Company teaching artists and were introduced to the craft of choreography. Given the fact that only a few of the students had taken formal dance classes in the past, everyone was on a similar level – they knew very little about the medium of dance and choreography. The professional teaching artists coaxed the students into creating movement by giving them a variety tasks that built from individual creative movement phrases into group choreography. The workshops completed, the students took part in a grand performance in the auditorium of the Pestalozzi Realschule, attended by dignitaries from the state government, U.S. Consul General and German recording artist Peter Maffay whose foundation, Encounters, provided support for the project.

During the second session, the migration was reversed: the German students traveled to Israel, stayed in Jerusalem and commuted each day to Kfar Menachem, a rural town to the South West. The students were accompanied by representatives of the Peres Center for Peace and of Encounters (Germany) as well as Jonathan Hollander, and two BDC teaching artists. Each day, they worked at the Savit Regional High School with its excellent facilities, once again using the language of dance to build teams and trust. A performance was held at the high school, attended by Israeli and Palestinian families, government officials and community members. The emotion was palpable on the part of the students as well as the families who saw something they never would have believed possible – young people of three societies between which historical events have created seemingly impenetrable barriers working physically and artistically towards a unified goal.

Post-reactions:

"As Project Manager at the Peres Center for Peace, I have seen a lot of projects with teenagers. But this time is special. It is so hard for youngsters at the age of 16 or 17 to express themselves in words or in other ways and the work of the (dance) company made them all connect and express themselves in a way that I think amazed every one of the adults involved. You have to remember that Israeli and Palestinian kids are unable to connect with each other in everyday life; they are coming to the meeting with each other with a lot of stereotypes and a lot of misconceptions and to see them dancing together and creating something that is joint project -- they are realizing that they are all teenagers and human beings first and foremost" ~Libby Lahar, Project Manager, Peres Center for Peace

"I had the great chance to see and to feel what happens between the students (in the Dancing to Connect project.) First they were alone and didn’t touch each other and had problems based on their identities as German, Israeli and Palestinians; but then they began to be open, to open their hearts and to realize that each one’s contribution is important to the group; “I am part of the group; and if I am to succeed, then everyone must succeed.” ~Silvia Zens, Headmistress, Pestalozzi Realschule, Bochum

Having attempted to build Indonesia into its Asian itineraries for several years, Battery Dance Company was thrilled to have the opportunity to work with the U.S. Embassy, designing a program that started with a high-visibility performance and two subsidiary programs in Jakarta, the nation’s capital, and continued with an intensive series of interactions in the provincial capital of Makassar, a maritime city of 1.5 million people. Ramli Ibrahim, the great choreographer and dancer based in Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia, helped BDC establish contact with two of Indonesia’s leading dance entrepreneurs. By connecting these local contacts with the U.S. Embassy, the shape and dimension of BDC’s program was developed in a way that satisfied everyone’s desire to make the most of the Company’s time and talents.

To start things off, BDC had the honor of performing at the Teater Jakarta, Indonesia’s most modernized theater and part of the Jakarta Art and Cultural Center, Taman Ismail Marzuki, with an audience notable for the range of ages from young students to senior citizens. U.S. Ambassador Scott Marciel gave a welcoming speech and introduced Battery Dance to a full house of over a 1,000 people. The Company performed, Autobiographica, a new work choreographed by the five company members, and Layapriya, a revival with Indian and modern Western components. A leading Indonesian newspaper Kompas declared of the performance “It was a presentation of flawless techniques and prime stamina of its dancers, as well as a show of music, multimedia and lighting that were nicely done.”

On the second day in Indonesia, five Battery Dance teaching artists traveled to Makassar, while Jonathan Hollander and Barry Steele remained in Jakarta to conduct seminars on fundraising and lighting/production respectively. The dancers were divided and given different assignments for the week. Two dancers visited government schools each morning and engaged in media interviews during the afternoon. The other three ran Dancing to Connect workshops that lasted for four days, simultaneously training local teachers so they could lead their own DtC workshops in the future.

The program culminated in a final performance held at the Gedung Mulu, a historic Dutch community hall, transformed into a dance theater through the skilled and imaginative exertions of Barry Steele and his local counterpart, Andi Muhammad Redo, executive director of Yayasan Kesenian Batara Gowa. Jonathan led a talk on Fundraising and Arts Management for Rumata, a house for art and cultural interaction that had just been inaugurated in Makassar. Jonathan also addressed the local Ministry of Tourism and Culture on the role the Arts can play in civic development. A follow-up meeting with the Minister provided the opportunity to converse on how best the city of Makassar could support its budding local arts community. Battery Dance’s Indonesia trip, the final leg of BDC’s 2011 Southeast Asia Tour, left the Company hoping for more such opportunities in the future.

See the narrative for Jakarta, Indonesia 2011

A one-week program in Singapore offered Battery Dance an exceptionally intense immersion and high impact introduction to the city-state. Singapore’s high standard of living and the dominance of the English language made it appear more like a Western rather than an East Asian city to the crew. The program was supported by the United States Embassy Singapore and the United States Department of State Bureau of Educational and Cultural Affairs.

In traditional BDC fashion the crew engaged a diverse selection of secondary and tertiary educational institutions, working with teenagers and young adults. The brevity of the Singapore trip required creative planning to satisfy the many requests received by the U.S. Embassy. The company was split into two independent units to achieve maximum outreach. The program week kicked off with a day-long residency at LaSalle College of the Arts with a performance, question and answer session followed by lunch with the faculty and a lecture on arts management. Three teaching artists ran Dancing to Connect (DtC) workshops for four days with 60 students at Republic Polytechnic, a public university that serves over 20,000 students from diverse backgrounds from across Singaporean society. Meanwhile, the other four company members visited schools and conservatories, teaching master classes, delivering lectures and giving mini-performances.

At Republic Polytechnic, the company met Ganesh Kalyanam and Zaini Tahir, the two inspirational leaders of the arts program at the institution. While Republic Polytechnic does not offer majors in the arts, the participating students were members of dance clubs ranging from hip hop to Malay and modern dance. The three Dancing to Connect workshops provided the students with the necessary techniques and skills to support the creation of 3 original works. Republic Polytechnic furnished three amazing dance studios for the DtC workshops and a magnificent theater for the final performance, which was packed with students whose response was raucous.

At Nanyang dance department director Caren Cariño organized a series of master classes on ballet and hip-hop for dance majors. Additionally, the Raffles Institution, an elite Singaporean high school, was host to a duet performance by Robin and Sean, a master class for 80 students, and a panel discussion on the topic of “Lives in the Arts”.

The final component of the Singapore program consisted of a joint performance and sharing session with Madame Som Said and the Sri Warison Performing Arts Group, a premier Malay dance company, at the Goodman Arts Centre. The peer to peer experience with the Sri Warison Performing Arts Group allowed the company to display their own work and appreciate the fascinating art form that is classical Malay dance. Battery Dance extended the invitation to Sri Warison to come to New York in August to take part in the Downtown Dance Festival. This bilateral interaction is a vital competent to the company’s mission.