Chanel and Lincoln Center hosted the opening night of the BAAND Together Dance Festival on July 30, featuring performances by five New York dance companies.
The sixth edition of the festival opened with a pre-show gathering at Tatiana, chef Kwame Onwuachi’s Afro-Caribbean restaurant at Lincoln Center. Guests including Isolde Brielmaier, Thelma Golden, Tyler Mitchell, Coco Baudelle, and Luke Meagher mingled over Champagne Louis Roederer before crossing the plaza to the David H. Koch Theater.
Lincoln Center chief creative officer Shanta Thake highlighted the event’s collaborative spirit. “To have institutions collaborate in this way and say our city deserves to be able to explore and experience these five dance companies on one night, it’s so magical,” she said.
The program included the world premiere of Zephyr by American Ballet Theater, Jodie Gates’s Passage of Being by Dance Theater of Harlem, Lar Lubovitch’s Each In Their Own Time by New York City Ballet, Judith Jamison’s A Case of You by Alvin Ailey American Dance Theater, and Cassi Abranches’s Trança by Ballet Hispánico. Dancers from the companies described the shared stage as a rare chance to build community across institutions.
Principal dancer Adrian Danchig-Waring of New York City Ballet noted the strong audience response. “This week, anyone in New York can choose what they pay, with tickets starting at just $5,” he said.