Battery Dance celebrates the art of dance in its home community this August, in partnership with Battery Park City Authority. On Saturday, August 9, the Company celebrates the re-opening of Robert F. Wagner, Jr. Park, following a two-year pause during which it was rebuilt as part of a coastal resiliency effort to protect Battery Park City and lower Manhattan from storm surge and sea level rise. A medley of dance companies will present a 1-hour program opened by Indigenous performer Marie Poncé, followed by tap-dancer John Manzari with a live band. Battery Dance presents Frontiers by Turkish Dutch choreographer Rutkay Özpinar and Limón Dance Company caps off the evening with the classic work A Choreographic Offering created by José Limón in 1964.
The following week brings the 44th Annual Battery Dance Festival, enlivening Rockefeller Park from August 12-16, 2025, with a rain date on August 17. New York City’s longest-running free public dance festival brings together eight diverse dance companies from around the world, coupled with a dynamic roster of eight New York-based companies. The free series of events celebrates the universal language of dance with a mix of performances, workshops, and immersive experiences for audiences of all ages.
The five-night performance line-up features a plethora of premieres and several performances featuring live music. Crowds of over 12,000 in-person and over 35,000 virtual viewers typically flock to the Festival each summer, with audiences glorying in the opportunity to experience dance against the spectacular water, sky and cityscape backdrop. To learn more and register to receive reminders and bonus content, visit batterydance.org/battery-dance-festival/.
“Battery Dance stands committed to providing the enlightenment and transcendence of dance free to the public despite the shattering of precedents we had taken for granted. We prevailed through Superstorm Sandy's flooding of lower Manhattan, the financial crisis of the 2008/09 recession, and the attacks on the World Trade Center,” said Jonathan Hollander, founder and artistic director of Battery Dance. “Thanks to our partners at Battery Park City Authority, our sponsors and donors, and the dancers and staff and Board of Battery Dance and all the participants who join us in the timeless pursuit of community gathering and beauty, we are prevailing again!”
“For more than a decade our beautiful public spaces have played host to the beauty of the Battery Dance Festival, and we’re honored this year to host events both as part of Wagner Park’s reopening celebration, and in Rockefeller Park for five more fantastic evenings of dance,” said BPCA President & CEO Raju Mann. “A neighborhood favorite and staple of Battery Park City’s summer programming calendar, the Festival provides New Yorkers a front-row seat to world-class talent, and we thank our partners at Battery Dance for this enduring partnership.”
Performance Schedule:
Dance @ The New Wagner Park, Saturday, August 9 at 7pm
Battery Dance performs in this celebratory night of dance alongside Marie Poncé, The Limón Dance Company, choreographer Battery Dance/Rutkay Özpinar, and tap dancer John Manzari & Band in celebrating Wagner Park's reopening.
Battery Dance Festival: Tuesday, August 12 – Saturday, August 16 at 7pm
Tuesday, August 12: John Manzari & Band, excerpts of Recenter (USA); Faizah Grootens, While You’re Here (Netherlands), Battery Dance, On-still, a world premiere by Faizah Grootens (USA), Bulareyaung Dance Company, Colors (Taiwan)
Wednesday, August 13: UNARTE, Verso Roto (Spain -World Premiere); Theater Plauen - Zwickau Ballet Ensemble, Eden (South Korea/Germany); Bulareyaung Dance Company, Colors (Taiwan); Faizah Grootens While You’re Here (Netherlands), Platforma 13, Balkan Ballerinas (Romania - U.S. Premiere)
Thursday, August 14: Kar-mel Small, La Manta de Reina (USA); Theater Plauen - Zwickau Ballet Ensemble, Eden (South Korea/Germany); Platforma 13, Balkan Ballerinas (Romania - U.S. Premiere); UNARTE, Verso Roto (Spain -World Premiere); Buglisi Dance Theatre, Sospiri (USA), Battery Dance, Empty Hand by Damani Pompey (USA - World Premiere)
Friday, August 15: India Day – Shakti, Divine Energy: A mixed program featuring Nandanik Dance Troupe from Pittsburgh with choreographer and soloist Subhajit Khush Das from Kolkata in a new production on the Goddess Kali. Other works that pay tribute to the female essence by choreographers Bijayini Satpathy, Maya Kulkarni, Lata Pada, Sonali Skandan, Swathi Gundapuneedi-Atluri, Subhajit Khush Das, Renjith Babu and Malini Srinivasan for dancers and dance companies from Kolkata, Pittsburgh, New Jersey and New York in the styles of Odissi, Bharatanatyam, Kuchipudi, Kathakali, and Uday Shankar. With generous support from the State Bank of India and the Consulate General of India in New York.
Saturday, August 16: Battery Dance, On-still by Faizah Grootens (USA- World Premiere); Mofassal Alif, In Search of You (Bangladesh); Ô’tänamos Aeternus Viator (USA - World Premiere); Wan Dance, Mak Long (Indonesia - New York Debut); Dorchel Haqq, swallow (USA - World Premiere), Dalouna Events (USA).
