Korea Art Forum (KAF) is inviting emerging artists and performers to submit proposals for presenting short outdoor dance and movement performances, up to 20 minutes in duration, as part of KAF’s 2024 Woodside Dance Project (WDP). The events will take place from 2 to 4 p.m. on April 20, 21, 28, May 5, and 12, 2024, at the 62nd cul-de-sac on the north side of Woodside Avenue to the LIRR Woodside Station.
Curated by brandon king, the project explores eclectic, diverse, and dynamic dance practices that promote racial justice through intra- and intercultural connections. In light of increasing anti-Asian, anti-immigrant, and anti-Black sentiments nationwide and in New York City, the project seeks to bridge disconnected communities by sharing visual and sonic languages through music and dance. Through these universal forms of expression, the project seeks to foster deeper cultural and social understandings, strengthening community connections.
Woodside, Queens, with its high Asian and Asian Immigrant population, provides an ideal backdrop for this initiative. As the largest continent by land area and population, Asia encompasses many religions, cultures, and languages. The project aims to foster deeper understandings between culturally diverse communities that often have limited access to one another. Sound and dance are communicators and translators between different cultures and communities, especially in overcoming language barriers. The project seeks to promote solidarity among marginalized communities, including AAPI communities, countering dominating narratives of separation and isolation among BIPOC communities.
No elevated stage or special platform will be erected for the performances. Instead, performers are encouraged to freely use the street environment to convey conflict and connection through movement and sound, demonstrating art’s transformative ability to integrate into ordinary life situations. Interested artists should submit:
- A brief description, no longer than one page, outlining the proposed performance, including implementation requirements, performance dates, durations, dance genre, elements of symbolic forms, and their represented contents.
- If available, up to three images of the performance to aid in understanding the proposed work.
- Artist’s CV, brief bio, and headshot.
Please submit all components in one PDF document by email to info@kafny.org by April 6, 2024, with the subject line stating “WDP Proposal.” Decisions will be announced by April 10, 2024.
Accepted performers will receive an artist fee of $200 per performance, along with equipment and sound support within KAF’s capacity. They will present a community-engaging dance performance involving movement and sound at an outdoor community hub. The work shall be community-friendly, appropriate for young children, inclusive, and respectful of all community members. It may not involve any forms and activities of sales, fundraising, nudity, or promotion of specific opinions, factions, or beliefs, including religions and ideologies. The site may not be used as an open market, nor can it serve as a libertarian or utopian art space promoting unlimited freedom of individual creativity. This work condition aims to avoid any dance form that could be unintentionally perceived as anti-democratic and anti-liberal if shown in the project’s specific setting of an outdoor community hub open to all people.
For questions, please send an email to info@kafny.org.
