FREEPLAY with The Playground NYC

Free at the Factory

FREEPLAY with The Playground NYC

Wednesday, January 17, 2024: 10:00am-12:00pm

Thursday, January 18, 2024: 10:00am-12:00pm

Friday, January 19, 2024: 10:00am-12:00pm

Ages 18+

FREE

As part of Chelsea Factory’s Free at the Factory community series, The Playground NYC hosts three dance playtime sessions for movers at all levels!

Dancers are invited to experience various choreographic styles and ideas, engage with a creative community, and gather resourceful information and inspiration from the array of choreographers leading these sessions.

FREEPLAY choreographers will include:

Wednesday, January 17 | Kayla Farrish
Thursday, January 18 | Norbert De La Cruz III
Friday, January 19 | Omri Drumlevich

About The Playground NYC:
Founded in 2011 by Loni Landon and Gregroy Dolbashian, The Playground NYC is an initiative designed to give choreographers a place to experiment while allowing professional dancers to participate affordably. Functioning as a pivotal platform and network dedicated to fostering the growth and development of professional dancers and choreographers, The Playground serves as a vital hub, connecting individuals, facilitating idea exchange, and empowering career advancement within the dance community.

ABOUT THE JANUARY 17-19 CHOREOGRAPHERS

About Kayla Farrish:
Kayla Farrish is an NY-based dancer, choreographer, director, and photographer. She is a North Carolina native born into a dance-loving family. In 2013, she graduated from the University of Arizona summa cum laude, and was awarded the Gertrude Shurr Award for excellence in modern dance and passionate dancing. Since moving to New York, she has freelanced with various artists and companies including Punchdrunk Sleep No More NYC, Kyle Abraham/Abraham. In. Motion, and Kate Weare Company. Both independently and through companies, she has worked as a rehearsal assistant and teaching artist, instructing at various programs including University of NC School of the Arts, and local dance organizations and studios, and beyond.

About Norbert De La Cruz III:
Norbert De La Cruz III was born in Bayombong, Nueva Vizcaya, Philippines and raised in Los Angeles, CA. He is a NY and LA-based freelance contemporary dance artist. Trained classically in Cecchetti and Vaganova, his movement practice is shaped by his contemporary sensibilities, an eclectic training background, performance experience, and learned embodiments from Gabriella Foundation in LA, LA County High School for the Arts, Marat Daukayev School of Ballet, and at The Juilliard School where he received his BFA in dance. He has performed professionally as a soloist in the Metropolitan Opera production of Aida, Aszure Barton & Artists in Germany & Austria (Blue Soup & Busk), Balletto Teatro di Torino (Italy), and more. His choreographic career was further recognized through the kind support of the Jerome Robbins Foundation’s NEW Essential Works Grant (2012), commissioning his first large-scale ballet, “Square None” (2012) with ASFB. He has since been commissioned to create and premier new works for companies such as Aspen Santa Fe Ballet, Hubbard Street 2, and Joffrey Academy of Dance.

About Omri Drumlevich:
Omri Drumlevich is a movement artist, creating dance for the stage and for the screen, currently based in New York City. Omri Drumlevich was born near Jerusalem, Israel. He graduated from The Jerusalem Academy of Music and Dance High School in 2010 and joined the Batsheva Ensemble in 2010 and was invited to dance for The Batsheva Dance Company between 2012-2017, during this years he produced and created for the annual “Batsheva Dancers Create” Projects. Omri Is a certified Gaga teacher and has been teaching Gaga and repertoire by Ohad Naharin and Sharon Eyal internationally. In 2017, Omri was invited to be an Israeli Visiting Artist in Princeton University as a Junior lecturer in dance by The Israel Institute. In Princeton, he created and performed his solo performance “Far” in support of the Lewis Center for the Arts.

Health and Safety Protocols
Chelsea Factory will be implementing the following procedures to help ensure the health and safety of our patrons, staff, and artists:

• Masks are optional.

• While Chelsea Factory strongly recommends vaccination against COVID-19, proof of vaccination is not currently required for audience entrance to performances and public programs.

Click here for our full Health and Safety Protocols.