“Your Move: New Jersey’s Modern Dance Festival” is held every October, presented by Art House Productions in partnership with DeBaun Performing Arts Center. “Your Move” presents Jersey City and Hoboken residents with the opportunity to experience high-caliber, boundary-pushing dance without crossing the Hudson.
Thursday’s opening night performance featured ten pieces, each under ten minutes in length. The works ranged from ethereal to silly, and covered a full spectrum of movement styles. The highlight was the intricate and intimate “Havas” by emerging choreographer Rohan Bhargava. There are eighteen choreographers yet to present their work in the remaining performances this weekend.
Meagan Woods and Morgan Refakis have been co-producing “Your Move” since 2010, when they first migrated to Jersey City and connected with Christine Goodman at Art House Productions. I had the chance to catch up with Meagan and Morgan to learn more about that collaboration:
What made you interested in working in the Jersey City dance scene as opposed to NYC?
Meagan: Before moving here, I met many Jersey City artists who kept expressing love for their community. I was immediately curious about that sense of support and collaboration. NYC can often feel disjointed, and overly competitive. I was interested in a place where people came together with a shared vision of expanding the arts.
Morgan: I needed to get my feet wet and build some confidence in a smaller area before jumping over the river. In doing so, I found a really strong artist community in JC. Now that I straddle both communities, I feel that the dance communities in both cities are really wonderful and supportive. You just need to start being involved and you’ll find your place.
Have you noticed any changes in the dance scene in Jersey City over the years? Where do you see it going from here?
Meagan: I keep seeing more dancers moving here, and bringing movement elements to visual art and music events. I’d love to see more spaces devoted to professional dance for performances, classes, or rehearsals. It’s still a challenge to create work and present it in Jersey City. I’m hoping for the scene to open up large, danceable and affordable venues.
Morgan: I’m going to pat ourselves on the back here and say that “Your Move” and Art House Productions have contributed to the advancement of the dance community in JC. We’re definitely not the only ones! There are really talented dance artists here.
I hear there will be a special event happening before Friday’s performance. Can you tell us more about that?
Morgan: The reality TV show “Cake Boss” is making a cake for us! We will be the subject of an episode airing soon. They are revealing the cake at the show on Friday (October 21) and serving cake during intermission to the audience. It’s been a fun experience! The production team at Cake Boss are really lovely people.
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