Contemporary Dance: Terk Lewis + Kayla Farrish
Major dance companies and rising stars perform over four evenings of Contemporary Dance in June currated by Tiffany Rea-Fisher.
Kayla Farrish is a Black American Director merging dance-theater, filmmaking, narrative, and sound score. She captures ranging identity, the mythical dualities of history and present survival, and powerful dreaming lending to liberation. Her commissions include Gibney, Louis Armstrong House Museum, Danspace, Pepatian, Little Island, Harlem Stage, Blacklight Summit and beyond. Some works formed: Black Bodies Sonata, The New Frontier: My dear America, Sunny Side/Inside the Laughing Barrel, December 8th, Martyr’s Fiction, and others. She creates live works, films, site-specific/immersive, and collaborations. She recently shared Choir (Carrie Mae Weems Exhibition), To Dream A Lifetime (BlackLight), Roster with Melanie Charles, MIXTAPES with Alex MacKinnon and site-specific Broken Record (Little Island) with Brandon Coleman, and Rinsing and Harbor films. Presenting spaces include Lincoln Center, Park Avenue Armory, Symphony Space, and National Sawdust, among receiving support from Watermill Center for the Arts, Armstrong Now, Brooklyn Filmmakers Collective, Baryshnikov Arts Center, La Mama Theater, and others. She received the Sundance Uprise Grant for Emerging BIPOC Directors, Bessie Awards for NYLA’s Motherboard Suite and December 8th-Gibney, NY Times Top 2021 Dance Performances - Roster and Breakout Star. She is a recipient of the Harkness Promise Award for 2022. During 2022, she was a Rehearsal Director for Punchdrunk Sleep No More, and adjunct faculty for NYU Tisch Dance.
Terk Lewis began his formal ballet training at the age of 17 with Tony Calucci at The Dance Extension in Columbus, OH. He then went on to earn his BFA in Dance from Western Michigan University. He then went on to join Eisenhower Dance Detroit where he performed in works by Laurie Eisenhower, Stephanie Pizzo, Eddy Ocampo, and Joel Hall. Lewis went on to join Complexions Contemporary Ballet under Artistic Directors Dwight Rhoden and Desmond Richardson. While with the company for seven years he had the opportunity to perform works by both directors, as well as Jae Man Joo, William Forsyth and Marcelo Gomes. Lewis became an artist in residence with the company in 2017. Lewis went on to dance in “Jesus Christ Superstar Live” on NBC (Choreographed by Camille Brown) and perform in “Peter Pan” and “Rock of Ages” at Pittsburgh Civic Light Opera. Most recently, Lewis danced in the Lin Manuel Miranda Feature Film “In The Heights”, at the Met Gala (Choreographed by Andy Blankenbuehler), and in the Musical Series “Up Here” on Hulu (Choreographed by Sonya Tayeh). As a choreographer, Lewis assisted Jae Man Joo while creating “circular” for Ailey II and also assisted Jill Johnson on choreographing the opera “Crossing” that premiered at the Brooklyn Academy of Music. He has choreographed his own commissioned works for The National Dance Theatre Company of Jamaica, The Steps Conservatory, The Joffrey Ballet School, Black Boys Dance Too (Presented by Bryant Park NYC), and Western Michigan University.
Bryant Park Picnic Performances presented by Bank of America is a free outdoor festival that welcomes all New Yorkers to experience the city’s vibrant arts and culture. The series provides a platform for extraordinary artists and serves as a vital outdoor venue for a wide array of New York’s cultural institutions.
On the lawn
Bring your own picnic or purchase food and drinks from tents on the east side of the lawn. Attendees can enjoy cuisine from the five boroughs with a rotating line-up of artisanal vendors curated by Hester Street Fair.
Stout NYC also offers giant pretzels, gourmet popcorn and other light bites as well as a selection of beer, wine, and non-alcoholic beverages for purchase.
Bryant Park lends out hundreds of free blankets on a first-come, first-served basis, or bring your own cotton or fleece blanket. To protect the lawn, please do not sit on waterproof materials such as plastic tarps, yoga mats, or inflatable chairs.
Take a seat in one of the pre-set chairs on the lawn or grab a chair from the gravel. You can use a chair anywhere in the park except for the center lawn "blanket zone".
Find a parachute, giant Jenga, and more fun on the east side of the lawn at select events.
We love dogs, but dog urine can leave the lawn with bald spots. Dogs are welcome on the gravel and bluestone, but please do not bring dogs on the lawn.
Performances are cancelled when it is unsafe to be outdoors. In some cases, the lawn may be too wet to open but the performance may continue. Follow @bryantparknyc on Twitter and Instagram for day-of event updates. You can also check the lawn status on the bryantpark.org homepage.