The Yard - Affiliate Artist Program

Affiliate Artist Program

The new Yard Affiliate Artist program has been created to provide substantial support to companies and mature artists in a mutually beneficial arrangement. The appointment is for three years and the relationship with each company is fluid. Yard Affiliate Artists collaborate with The Yard by performing for benefits and presenting informal showings, lecture demonstrations, and open rehearsals, and by maintaining a reflective relationship with Yard artistic staff. The Yard is proud to announce the premier group of Affiliate Artists:

CAROLYN DORFMAN DANCE COMPANY
Now in its 22nd season, the Carolyn Dorfman Dance Company is at the forefront of dance in New Jersey. CDDC ’s nine members compose a uniquely talented contemporary dance ensemble that is a respected member of the extended New York City dance community. The Company is highly acclaimed for its artistic excellence and range as well as its extraordinary ability to communicate to audiences about dance and the creative process. CDDC appears at major theaters, dance festivals, and universities regionally, nationally and internationally.

From the New York Times:
“Ms. Dorfman’s exploration in dance of the human experience both reflects and engenders a profound humanity. Because her dances are about people and life experience, often moving from the autobiographical to the universal, they hold immediate appeal”

MARGIE GILLIS
Internationally acclaimed modern dance artist Margie Gillis has been performing her solo dance concerts for thirty years. As choreographer and performer of more than eighty original solo dance works, she has earned rave reviews throughout the world for her intimate, emotional, and intelligent portrayals of the multiple facets of the human soul. Ms Gillis, arguably the most renowned soloist of her time, is cherished by colleagues, artists, and the public for her heart-felt choreography, her daring stage presence, and her uncompromising honesty.

From the New York Times:
“One doesn’t come across the flamelike intensity of a dancer like Margie Gillis too often. The heart jumps when she flips through the air like an exhilarated dolphin. The eye follows her regal beauty gliding through waves of fabric; the gut is touched by her confessional displays of pain. In short, this dancer from Montreal is a knockout.”

PAOLA STYRON
Paola Styron has been a leading performer and collaborator with choreographer/director Martha Clarke for over twenty years. She has toured worldwide with these award-winning productions: Off Broadway—The Garden of Earthly Delights, Lincoln Center Great Performers Series—Vers la Flamme, New York City Opera—Orfeo ed Euridice, and Munich Biennale—Marco Polo. During her ten-year tenure as Associate Artistic Director of the critically acclaimed Faustwork Mask Theater, Ms. Styron choreographed and toured here and abroad. On Martha's Vineyard she has particularly enjoyed her work with Jules Feiffer at The Vineyard Playhouse.

From The New York Times:
“Ms. Styron ... gifted, ... hilarious, ... owing more to Bugs Bunny than any other performer I can think of.” From The Boston Globe: “Paola Styron, with her porcelain beauty and grave expression, is Clarke's Lillian Gish.” From The New Mexican, Santa Fe: “ Styron...[has] the soul of a poet. Such skill arises from one's artistic core, and cannot be counterfeited. “

URBAN BUSH WOMEN: JAWOLE WILLA JOE ZOLLAR
Urban Bush Women is a Brooklyn-based performance ensemble that engages a diverse audience by producing bold and life-affirming Dance Theater based on women’s experiences, African American history, and cultural influences of the African Diaspora. From its inception, Urban Bush Women has been dedicated to encouraging cultural activity as an inherent part of community life. The company has taught and performed throughout the world, and is recognized as a pioneering arts organization that effectively engages communities in art making.

From Dance Magazine:
“Telling it with sass and style: Urban Bush Women. Jawole Willa Joe Zollar’s choreography combines text, musical accompaniment, and motifs inspired by African, pedestrian, modern, and social dance techniques. The result is a repertory of heart wrenching, soul-searching works that communicate the ecstasy and agony of the human condition.”