genre buzz

The artist Mykel is currently the Artistic Director of NYC Flaggers.
The Flaggers were last seen on stage at Santos House Party for the Lift Off 2010 Dance Registration Kickoff and Fundraiser Event on Sunday, November 8th. The performance featured Mykel’s signature otherworldly vocals showcasing his dance single “Glossy Pink Nails” accented by a wildly colorful flag dancing display and featuring a guest appearance by Tina Thompson. Although his songs and performances can have a dark and brooding undertone, there is always an uplifting crescendo present and Mykel feels that by default, the flags are magnificent elevators of feeling and expression during the performance and for the music itself. Mykel and NYC Flaggers have been a part of Dance Parade since its inception four years ago and his and their involvement has grown with each year, performing at International Dance Day (IDD) prior to last year’s Parade and Mykel hopes the group will be one of the featured acts on the main stage at DanceFest, a festival housed in Tompkins Square Park featuring a wildly eccentric mix of performances by groups representing a healthy rainbow of cultures and styles and forged from an invitation only process that guarantees a diverse lineup made up of Dance Parade veterans as well as newer groups that have registered for the first time. He plans to space out the group letting the more social flaggers march down Broadway and the more performance minded members do their thing on stage with him. Flaggers need room to breathe and flow and that’s why they are a perfect staple in the Annual Parade.

Speaking of FLOW, Mykel teaches flagging classes as well and has been studying the craftsmanship of making sets of flags on his own, learning the ins and outs of fabric color, texture and material choices as well as proper weighting and has designed sets of flags specifically for particular performances...all essential factors to the art that is flagging. FLOW is the name of the flagging classes, a moniker coined by George Jagatic of Axis Danz, a dance company specializing in flag dancing and more.

Mykel has been accountable for bringing performers and non performers to participate in parades and sometimes circuit parties or private parties. In 2009, the group hit a growth spurt in being invited to many different events to perform. He is a recording artist and event producer and often incorporates the two together to full realize some of his most audacious creative dreams.
There is also a recently produced documentary revolved around the flagging movement.
Mykel says of the film, “I am featured in the documentary film called- A FLOW AFFAIR! and Wolfgang Busch has followed me around over the last 5 years and captured me performing with flags and along with NYC Flaggers. The film is produced by Art From the Heart Films and is being edited right now. Wolfgang’s goal is to present flagging and how it educates, heals and entertains. Flaggers have strong relationships with their flags. The film is scheduled to be released during NYC PRIDE MONTH-JUNE 2010.”

We also asked Mykel about the first time he witnessed flag dancing and its connection to club culture and here’s what he had to say,
”The first time I saw someone flagging was actually a performance in a dance studio a friend of mine invited me to attend. I am pretty sure it was Axis Danz! He was a featured dancer in the piece, and I thought the fabric and the dancers were pretty cool at the time. (about 10 years ago). About 4 years later, this same friend then gave me a quick lesson as he helped me put together a performance piece for one of my first performance gigs at a college in New Jersey. Going to the dance clubs in the early nineties was very much a part of my social calendar and the same friend who introduced me to flags used to make me dress up in the most outrageous outfits (kilt and combat boots with nothing but a thong under neath as an example). Flagging was always and still is a part of the events and festivals that happen year round in the club scene.”

Word Association Time!
Because flagging represents so many different things to the flagger themselves and the audience as well. We gave Mykel a list of adjectives that may describe Flagging and we asked him to elaborate on them!
Flagging is sexual- I think of Brazilians and their style of flagging
Flagging is sensual- when two people can connect in a flag dance it is very intimate
Flagging is private- I think others would agree with me that a lot of flaggers are incredibly shy and the flags provide that extra shield to keep the flagger in his/her private space
Flagging is dramatic- I love using them to perform with an audience… satisfaction is guaranteed!
Flagging is spiritual- having just flagged with the community at World AIDS Day with GMHC I really get how they have a spiritual connection with the memory of those who have passed on because of AIDS.
Flagging is silly- only when you do silly things with them beyond flagging! Children love to be silly with flags
Flagging is empowering- i am witness to how they transform a person on the dance floor.
Flagging is soulful- they are really powerful tools during an important moment or crescendo in a dj set

For more information about the group please email for more information and to be added to their growing mailing list to keep up to date on all of their upcoming events and performances! Also check out their Facebook Group Page here!
Thank you and may the flow be with you!

“united we dance”

On Saturday, May 22, 2010, over ten thousand New Yorkers will once again dance down Broadway to Tompkins Square Park…
moving to every kind of dance music under the sun and showcasing New York’s phenomenally diverse forms of dance --- world cultural, performance, club and more!!!
In its Fourth Year and amongst dozens of beautifully crafted floats, live bands, and sound systems, Country Western dancers will two-Step while UK Garage 2Steppers step, Salseros break on two, B boys break on the pavement, Swingers swing out, Burners wig out, House heads jack, and partners Jack and Jill, too!! New York City will dance together as never before.

Upon arriving in the park, Dance Fest invites New York’s dancers to realize and celebrate our unity with social dance, performances on stage and workshops and lessons...all free to the public!
The New York Dance Parade will draw thousands of participants, and bring fresh, highly positive attention to a vibrant art-form, enriching our City with the goodwill and patronage of millions of thrilled dance enthusiasts in New York and worldwide!

Thank You New York City!!
We are thrilled to announce that for the first time, Dance Parade Inc (DPI), a 501©3 non-profit organization, was awarded a grant from the New York City Department of Cultural Affairs (DCA). In previous years, DPI was granted DCA funding through the Lower Manhattan Cultural Council but this is the first time to receive support directly from the City’s Department of Cultural Affairs. Public support in this manner truley represents a milestone in the successful realization of our charitable venture to promote dance as an expressive form of art. Thank you NYC, the thousands of dancers and a special thanks to Commissioner Kate Levin and her team including Program Specialist Shruti Adhar for their committment to support “One Parade – Many Cultures!” Funding from this program will support DPI’s Educational Program, bringing dance into schools, Parade Gruop Scholarships and support for DanceFest in Tompkins Square Park.

volunteer spotlight

January 2010
DJ McDonald

How did you first stumble upon Dance Parade?
How many years have you been involved?
I forget how exactly i first stumbled on the Parade. I probably got an email. I’ve been involved since the very first year when i danced down Broadway to Washington Square with the Dance Manhattan Float. In 2008, i volunteered day of Parade as a spacer and danced behind the Bolivians in front of a ballet school from the Bronx. One of the ballet girls, i would guess about 10 or 11 years old, held the school’s banner with a slightly older and bigger boy. I kept teasing her with my dancing and she kept rolling her eyes until i finally got a smile out of her with my unrelenting foolishness. That convinced me of the irresistible nature of the parade’s mission and appeal.
Last year i joined the Outreach Committe and served as Dance Police captain on the day of the Parade, overseeing the issuing of tickets to spectators not dancing during the Parade and Festival.

What is your current role in Dance Parade?
I serve as the chair of the Staffing and Volunteer Committee and i will recruit, enlist, seduce or persuade you by puckish charm and/or persistence, as you prefer.
What is your favourite style of dance to watch? To participate in?
I like to watch any kind of dance in which the dancers fully engage themselves, no matter what their level of skill or presentation. That makes me want to participate, which i do at almost every opportunity. I have been known to be a regular at Midsummer Night’s Swing and other types of dance events around the city. I’ll try anything, and more than once, though i’ll be the first to admit that the results ain’t always pretty.
What is your dance background?
What projects are you working on in the future?
I first discovered dance as a kind down the street with the teenage Bowen girls who used to put on the Supremes and dance in their bedroom. But i didn’t really get bitten until, at the age of 19,my girlfriend at the time dragged me to my first live concert dance performance in Boston. The second show i saw included Alvin Ailey’s “The River” to music created for the piece by Duke Ellington. It blew me out of the theater and changed my life forever. Right then and there, i decided that my career as a college (jayvee) hockey player had come to an end, and pappa found a brand new bag.

Within five years i had founded my own professional contemporary dance and theater company, which i led for 15 years before going freelance. Currently, i feel honored to be working with five other performers on “Nameless forest,” http://mappinternational.org/programs/view/215 a creation of the NYC based choreographer/director Dean Moss in collaboration with the Seoul-based sculptor and poet Sungmyung Chun and with photojournalist Mike Kamber, visual artist Gandalf Gaván, composer Stephen Vitiello, and lighting designer Vincent Vigilante. The piece will be unveiled in stages before its full premiere at the Kitchen, NYC in May, 2011.

As a choreographer/director, i like to work with large groups diverse in ethnicity, age and physical discipline. So running with your fantasy i’d like to throw Sappho, Socartes, Siddhārtha Gautama, Cleopatra, Mary Magdalene, Ghengis Khan, Rumi, Caedmon, Fa Mu Lan, Eleanor of Aquitaine, Murasaki Shikibu, Hildegard von Bingen, Geoffrey Chaucer, Dante Alighieri, Caludio Monteverdi, Leonardo DaVinci, William Shakespeare, Galileo Galiliei, Sour Jauna, Saartjie Baartman, Voltaire, David Hume, Arthur Schopenhauer, Abraham Lincoln, Emily Dickinson, Sojourner Truth, Walt Whitman, Liliʻuokalani, Émile Zola, Anne Frank, Rabindranath Tagore, Gandhi, Edith Piaf, J. Robert Oppenheimer and his brother Frank, Roy Campanella (in his wheelchair), Julius and Ethel Rosenberg, John Coltrane, Martin Luther King, Jr., Che Guevara, Bobby Kennedy, Roberto Clemente, Josephine Baker, Frida Kahlo, Nina Simone, Maurice Richard, Ella Fitzgerald, Dith Pran, Mordechai Richler, Mother Theresa, Christopher Reeve, Frank McCourt, Jacques Derida, Galway Kinnell, Seamus Heaney, Leonard Cohen, Jennifer Johanos, Torvill and Dean, Yoshiko Chuma, Uchechi Kalu, Shivika Sinha, Stephen Hawking, Lorry Francois, and my mother (in her wheelchair) onstage together. Glad you asked.
If you could pick a Grand Marshall for this year’s parade....who would it be?
Among the living? Bill T. Jones, Beyonce, Rob Marshall, Michelle, Malia and Sasha Obama, DJ Rekha and/or Stephen Hawking. (we usually feature several).
A major part of volunteering has a lot to do with strong leadership skills and major teamwork skills....if you were to pick a volunteer of the month...who would you choose?
For those qualities? Mia Hamm, Hilary Clinton, Nancy Pelosi and/or Harry Reid. Within our group: Barbara Anglisz and/or Brian Austin (guess you’ve been nominated, guys).
If you could pick another country to hold a Dance Parade and Festival....which would it be?
China. Then, after they have time to recover, Haiti.
Volunteering at a non profit organization can at times be daunting and frustrating with limited personnel and limited funding....what is it that keeps you coming back for more and more?
Well, since you put it that way, it must be the challenge. And the shared sense of struggle. Not to mention the dancing.
And finally...What would you say to attract a new volunteer to help out with Dance Parade?
You’re going to meet some of the most vital and creative people you will ever meet, from every corner of the globe and all walks of life. You’re going to work hard with these new found friends and compatriots to produce something amazing. You’re going to help unfold something that celebrates the diversity, excitement and imaginative possibility of life and love as it manifests now in New York City. And you’re going to have the opportunity to dance your way to a new place in your life.

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December 2009
Shireen Dickson, Production Director

How did you first stumble upon Dance Parade?
How many years have you been involved?
i was out of town during the first dance parade, and I said that the next year no matter what i was going to be part of it in some way ( I put it in my calendar to look up the following year). DP combines two of my favorite things—spectacle and dancing—beyond the volunteering aspect. I figured taking on a leadership role (and I had the time) would get me directly into the action, and I was right, hooked for life.

What is your current role in Dance Parade?
currently, Head of Production

What is your favourite style of dance to watch?
To participate in?
favorite style to watch—authentic, when i can feel the performer in my body
favorite style to participate --- freestyle

What is your dance background?
What projects are you working on in the future?
I started with tap, danced w the National Tap Ensemble as a teen...Dolly Dingle Competition kid as a teen also, when i wanted to get more ‘dance’ experience...graduated from Goucher College w/ degree in dance history. I have worked w/ Dianne McIntyre since 1998, modern dance, theater, universities, etc. working w/ live jazz musicians and improv—all over the country—National Black theater festival, National Black Arts Festival, Lincoln Center, BAM, Kennedy Center, American Dance Festival, Jacob’s Pillow, etc.
I do too much stuff. I also am involved in lots of education also, teaching, etc. I was just laid off from Streb, as their Director of Education (crazy daredevil dance co)...since then i freelance—Company Manager for Slippage in residence @ MIT (and performing @ joyce soho dec 11-13), Company Manager for Mirashayama Music which is a collection of dance companies that preserve and present American Black Dance (in schools, universities, residencies, etc). After my show next week I’m going to be a tapper in a tap video and then workshop on a jazz musical that hopefully will get some producers and run in the Spring.

If you could share the stage with anyone in history famous or not, living or deceased, a trained dancer or not, performing a routine choreographed by yourself...who would it be?
Katherine Dunham....or Josephine Baker if she wasn’t available

What does the Dance Parade slogan “one parade, many cultures” mean to you?
What does the new Dance Parade 2010 campaign “United We Dance” mean to you?
One parade stands for a symbol of unity and a common language. How many times have i been in a foreign country where my ears don’t register a dang thing (not like in France or Portugal, but like Bulgaria or Taiwan) but you don’t have to say a thing on the dance floor?
“United We Dance” represents the whole dancing in the streets thing. It’s mass mobilization, a symbol of decisive civic action by a collective of people identified and unified by their love of dancing

Considering your efforts and position this year in Dance Parade, what would you want a brand new spectator of the magic that is Dance Parade to walk away with when they go home after witnessing the Parade and Festival that follows?
the unity thing...i invite people across the spectrum of my life to the parade—my Queen’s cousins with kids, evil financial analysts, ‘round the way teens, Flatbush Rastas, all the single ladies, city workers, kooky artists—and they all are amazed at how much they enjoy themselves and the interactions they have with others.
Beyond remembering the dedication and caliber of the dancers involved, I want people to carry that feeling with them for as long as they can.

If you could pick a Grand Marshall for this year’s parade....who would it be?
Judith Jamison, Rosie Perez, Mikhail Baryshnikov, Diplo, Tommy Tune, Shane Sparks, Deborah Jowitt, Savion Glover

A major part of volunteering has a lot to do with strong leadership skills and major teamwork skills....if you were to pick a volunteer of the month...who would you choose?
Mel, no doubt!

If you could pick another country to hold a Dance Parade and Festival....which would it be?
Brazil! or China

Volunteering at a non profit organization can at times be daunting and frustrating with limited personnel and limited funding....what is it that keeps you coming back for more and more?
I love dance, i believe in the cause, i love people for the most part

And finally...What would you say to attract a new volunteer to help out with Dance Parade?
For all of those people who like making things happen with other people who like making things happen...people who are passionate about something and self-driven...people who have an open artistic sensibility and adventurous spirit and want that to keep getting fed!

Every month, the all volunteer staff at Dance Parade New York will choose a particular volunteer to spotlight. We ask them a few questions about how they heard about Dance Parade, their background in Dance and much more. This section will give you an opportunity to learn a little bit more about one of our volunteers and understand their devotion to the group and why they keep coming back. If you’d like to become a volunteer please email DJ at for more information.

upcoming events and fundraisers

Quarterly Arts Soiree @ Webster Hall
Sunday, February 28th

Dance Parade has been invited to be part of the inaugural QUARTERLY ARTS SOIREE at WEBSTER HALL on February 28, 2010. This is a prime opportunity for you to attend a momentous occasion at one of the most renowned venues in the world, showcased alongside the city’s most innovative visual and media artists, musicians, aerialists, comedians, and designers!

May 22 2010 1pm

genre buzz

May 22 2010 1pm

“united we dance”

May 22 2010 1pm

volunteer spotlight

May 22 2010 1pm

upcoming events and fundraisers