2022 A Year to Remember....

We are extremely grateful to our staff, board, dancers, partners, donors, students, and community. Without you, none of this would be possible! Please enjoy a look back at some of the company’s highlights from the past year.

It's always a good time in Tiffany Rea-Fisher's class! Located at Steps on Broadway through their Black Voices in Dance initiative, dancers came together in-person and through Zoom to move and groove with beats by Twelve45. 

EMERGE125 had the honor of performing at the Spiraling Round The Promise of the Right to Vote. Through our collaboration with Karen “Ren” Davidson Seward, the company danced on the Memorial Field for Black Lives Installation at John Brown Farm State Historic Site.

Executive Artistic Director Tiffany Rea-Fisher was awarded “The Spirit of John Brown Freedom Award.” 2022 marked the 100th Anniversary of the first “John Brown Day,” when Black leaders from Philadelphia made their first pilgrimage to lay a wreath on Brown’s grave. We are extremely proud of our leader and cannot think of a more deserving person to have received this award.

This year marked our FIRST NYC Season as EMERGE125!! Tiffany Rea-Fisher presented world premieres of Behavioral Synchrony and Poly String Theory, works-in progress John Brown Lives and Rights of Renaissance, and a revised revival of the company favorite Spirit Celestial.

Over three joyful days, company members Kat, Sarah, Madelyn, Nikaio, and Erik had the opportunity to teach dance to students attending Newcomb Central School in Newcomb, NY. As a part the Artists in Education Dance and Drumming Residency, each grade level spent time learning both technique and movement from the dancers of EMERGE125.

In May, the Lake Placid School of Dance had its first in-person Recital since the pandemic and it was a wonderful success. The program has continued into the fall season with new EMERGE125 faculty on board: Erik Osterkil, Tiffany "2T" Terry, and Serena Brown. We are so proud of the growth and passion our Lake Placid students bring to the studio!

Our NYC educational programming has successfully continued throughout 2022 with the Repertory Company High School for Theatre Arts and Stars of Tomorrow Project. 

EMERGE125 performed at the Bryant Park Contemporary Dance Series alongside Ayodele Casel. Tiffany Rea-Fisher has been curating shows at Bryant Park for 8 years and within the last few summers, she began to oversee the Contemporary Dance series which has now become part of the Picnic Performances. 

Tiffany Rea-Fisher presented an immersive audio-visual performance at the National Sawdust with dance from EMERGE125 and music from Twelve45's last project, Hello Dear. This piece was a collaboration with the Center for Ballet and the Arts at NYU which was made possible by the Virginia B. Toulmin Foundation. 

Classical Theatre of Harlem continues to be our most notable and dedicated collaborator with 7 incredible years of partnership. In July, EMERGE125 kicked off the 2022/23 season with Twelfth Night. The production had over 17,000 audience members in attendance and was named Critic's Pick by the New York Times!

Fashion Designer, Paola Hernández and Tiffany Rea-Fisher reunited to collaborate on their 4th project together to promote Paola's newest line of handmade designs. Company members had the opportunity to be a part of this promotional video and filmed with EMERGE125 resident videographer, Moti Margolin in Central Park. 

This year's Emerging Artist Summer Series performance was held on-site at The Wild Center for the Arts for Climate celebration day. Tiffany Rea-Fisher collaborated with the Summer Series Ambassadors and EMERGE125 Company to create a site specific piece at the Stickworks installation.

EMERGE125 had an amazing time volunteering at the third annual Juneteenth 5K, co-organized by the company, James Felton Keith, and Harlem Run. We are proud to be a part of an event that celebrates the recent proclamation to make June 19th both a Federal and State holiday.

EMERGE125 partnered with Classical Theatre of Harlem, St. Ann's Warehouse, and Little Amal at Bryant Park as part of the #LittleAmalWalksNYC - a festival of art and hope to amplify the voices of marginalized people worldwide. The company performed alongside master drummer, Baba Don Babatunde.

EMERGE125 performed at the Adirondack Experience FallFest this fall. Company members Nikaio, Mikayla, Erik, and 2Ts danced for the Adirondack community and taught fun movement classes to kids of all ages. We are grateful for this partnership with ADKX and look forward to many more collaborations in the future!

EMERGE125 participated in The Wild Center's Plug In: A Celebration of Electricity, which took place in Tupper Lake, NY. This was such a wonderful and fun collaboration at the Stickworks installation and we are excited to see where it takes us in the future!

In October, Sounds of Hazel had its first look at Guggenheim Museum's Works & Process Series and then went on to make its world premiere in D.C. with Washington Performing Arts. Choreographed by our very own Tiffany Rea-Fisher and performed by the Dance Theatre of Harlem company, Sounds of Hazel is a new ballet inspired by the life of virtuoso classical and jazz pianist, singer, and civil rights activist, Hazel Scott. 

On October 16th, the company performed Poly String Theory in Dance Theatre of Harlem's FIRST Sunday Matinée of the season. We are grateful to Virginia Johnson for this amazing opportunity!