Inman Park Dance Festival: Be Part of the Fun of This Unique Event

Did you know that Atlanta has the Southeast’s only free admission dance festival that presents both classical ballet and modern dance? This unique dance program is the Inman Park Dance Festival. This event is part of the Inman Park Festival and Tour of Homes a program of the Inman Park Neighborhood Association. It it curated and managed by the Director of Movement Arts Atlanta, Carolyn Stine McLaughlin.

For the 2023, there will be five dance organizations presenting; Ballethnic, Full Radius Dance, Georgia Ballet, ImmerseATL and Movement Arts Atlanta. Ballethnic is a professional ballet company which has a unique vocabulary that blends classical ballet and West African. Full Radius Dance is a internationally recognized leader in the modern dance specialty of physically integrated dance. The Georgia Ballet was founded in 1960 and includes a professional company, a school and extensive outreach programing. Movement Arts Atlanta will present both historic and new dances that are a part of our major project, A Time with Isadora.

The Inman Park Dance Festival will present two performances. The first on Saturday, April 29 and the second on Sunday, April 30. Both performances are at 4:00 pm, are free and open to the public and will take place in The Trolley Barn, 963 Edgewood Avenue NE, Atlanta GA 30307. The same program will be presented at each performance.

The Inman Park Festival and Tour of Homes is the major fundraiser for the Inman Park Neighborhood Association and the funds raised are used to do such things as beautify the neighborhood and to fight legal battles to protect the neighborhood’s historic zoning regulations. It is run entirely by volunteers. It take more than 800 volunteer hours to put on the event. Both neighbors and non-neighbors are welcome to join the fun. The dance festival needs help setting up, greeting the audience, and cleaning up. Here is a link to sign-up.

A Time with Isadora – A Major Project for MAA

Movement Arts Atlanta is happy to announce the beginning of its inaugural major project, A Time with Isadora. The project will present conversation and performance around the phenomenon of the “Mother of Modern Dance,” Isadora Duncan with original Duncan work, excerpts from José Limón’s Dances for Isadora and new works by Atlanta dance artists.

The first event of the project will be two Limón master classes with Natalie Desch. These will take place while Ms. Desch is in Atlanta to set the excerpts from Limón’s Dances for Isadora. The classes will take place Saturday, April 2 and Sunday, April 3 from 1:00 pm until 2:30 pm at Dance Foundry. Further information about the classes and registration is available here. The cost of each class is $30, a package of two classes is $45.

The preliminary performance of the project will be the performance of two of Limón Dances for Isadora as part of the 20th Anniversary Inman Park Dance Festival which is a program of the Inman Park Festival and Tour of Homes. The dance festival’s two free performances will take place Saturday, April 23 and Sunday, April 24 at 4:00 pm in The Trolley Barn. The performances will include dances spanning more that 350 years of dance history with performance by Atlanta Historic Dance, Ballethnic, Full Radius Dance, The Georgia Ballet, ImmerseATL and Movement Arts Atlanta.

During the period of May 2022 and September 2022, the project will continue with the reconstruction of an original Duncan work from the early 20th century and the commissioning of new works with the themes of one artist’s influence on another, how artists are inspired to make work and the misconceptions around how the creation of this work happens.

The second performance of the project will be a salon style performance that will include the Duncan selection, three excerpts from Dances for Isadora, the new works by Atlanta area choreographers and a moderated discussion on Thursday, September 29 at 7:00 pm at The Trolley Barn. Tickets are available here.

Fundraising for this project is underway. Friends of Inman Park has agreed to be the fiscal agent for the project so that donations are tax deductible. The project is also looking for in-kind support such as hosting at the performances and organizing refreshments. Please visit the Support page for further details.