Liberty Hall Museum at Kean University will be hosting its second Liberty Hall Dance Festival in partnership with Buggé Ballet Saturday, Sept. 29 from 1 to 4 p.m. This event consists of professional dance performances that are inspired by significant moments in history and will take place all around the Liberty Hall Museum property.
“The Liberty Hall Dance Festival allows visitors to the museum to see a wide variety of dance styles in a short period of time, all while being outside and enjoying the beautiful museum grounds,” said Nicole Buggé, the artistic director of Buggé Ballet who is organizing the dance festival.
This is the second year Dance Fest will be taking place in partnership with Liberty Hall Museum and Bugge Ballet.
Taking place at Liberty Hall, the dance festival will explore unique historic dances from different cultures produced by 15 dance companies based in New Jersey and New York. In addition to experiencing the performances, attendees can participate in informal movement lessons themed around Baroque court dances and early modern dance.
“I am excited by new ways of experiencing dance. The unique format of this festival allows each dance work to create its own world through the site-specific location and individualized historical contexts,” said Erin Carlisle Norton of the Montclair-based dance company, The Moving Architects. “In performing my work Canon, which brings the act of public protesting to the foreground, I look forward to how the work changes in an outdoor setting and how the dancers’ strength, chaos, conflict and ultimate hopeful determination is perceived by all experiencing the work.”
The festival will consists of many different types of historic dances performed by many dance companies and choreographers.
Performances will be held throughout the Liberty Hall grounds to experience history in motion while being surrounded by history in scenery. As a university who prides itself on diversity, Kean University offers this program to expose students to diverse cultures and performances.
Buggé Ballet is a ballet company based in New Jersey that performs all over the world as well as locally in New York and New Jersey. It was founded by artistic director Nicole Buggé. Along with Buggé Ballet, dance companies and choreographers performing include Angel Kaba, Armada Dance, Bryce Dance Company, Carolyn Dorfman Dance, Cranford High School/Emily Donahue, Dance Visions NY, General Mischief Dance Theatre, Heather Harrington/Academy for Performing Arts, The Kennedy Dancers Repertory Company, Luminarium Dance Company, MoustacheCat Dance, Schoen Movement Company and Yamini Kalluri.
“Last year’s dance festival was a complete success,” said Bill Schroh, the director of museum operations at Liberty Hall. “The audience loved the experience, so we knew that we had to bring it back this year. There is nothing like this in the area.”
Tickets for the Liberty Hall Dance Festival are available for $15 for students and seniors, $20 for non-student adults and $12 for children 3-17. Tickets can be purchased by phone at (908) 527-0400 or online at Liberty Hall Events.
All of the profit gained from ticket sales will go toward both Liberty Hall Museum and Buggé Ballet. Students are encouraged to attend this event and experience performance through dance and history.
