Performance Calendar

Upcoming Performances

The Bastard's Tale

(Tentatively Scheduled for) Saturday and Sunday, August 3 and 4, 2024

HVDT and Director Matthew S. Berenbaum are proud to present their grandest work to date -

a three-act story ballet to Viking folk-metal music from Finnish band Turisas.

Set in medieval times, the ballet follows a band of Viking warriors

as they travel, in search of their destiny, to the great city of Constantinople.

Mr. Berenbaum is expecting to complete the choreography by the end of 2023,

hold auditions to complete the cast in January, and begin rehearsals shortly thereafter.

Past Performances

LaGuardia Dance Virtual Alumni Concert

First made available Tuesday, June 15, 2021

As an alumnus of the Dance Department of New York's LaGuardia High School, HVDT Director Matthew S.

Berenbaum recently joined a group of LaGuardia Dance alumni who are still active in the performing arts.

This group hopes to present a series of virtual concerts,

the first of which was released on Vimeo on Tuesday, June 15th, 2021,

and remains viewable online.
 

Mr. Berenbaum presented a new piece for this virtual concert,

featuring HVDT Founding Associate Artistic

Director and LaGuardia Dance alumna Rebecca Allen.

Studio/Apartments

or Dreams of the Outside

Saturday and Sunday, October 10 and 11, 2020

With Covid-19 shutting down theaters and studios and making it unsafe for people to congregate,

HVDT decided to try putting on a virtual performance over Zoom.

The title of this performance, a play on the common term for an apartment without a dedicated bedroom,

was chosen to acknowledge that, while some dancers were willing and able to obtain studio space,

others, as well as Mr. Berenbaum, were forced to adapt their living spaces into rehearsal and performance spaces.

For this performance, Director Matthew S. Berenbaum created a total of ten new pieces

(eight solos and two ensemble pieces), to music by various artists,

including hip-hop collective Doomtree and YouTuber bill wurtz,

as well as songs featured as weather reports in the popular podcast Welcome to Night Vale.

On the Shoulders of Giants

Saturday and Sunday, June 17 and 18, 2018

For HVDT's second full-evening performance,

Director Matthew S. Berenbaum decided to recognize two of his former teachers,

Andrea Wachholtz and Ronnie D. Carney, who had played significant parts

in Mr. Berenbaum's development as a dancer and choreographer.

Mr. Berenbaum invited them to set pieces on himself and his company as a token of his gratitude

and also to allow audiences to see the influences their teaching has had on his choreography.

For this performance, Ms. Wachholtz created a piece for five dancers

to a rock cover of Johann Pachelbel's Canon in D,

while Mr. Carney restaged a piece he had created for three male dancers

to music by Kenyan singer Ayub Ogada.

For his part, Mr. Berenbaum created a single new work (at that point his longest by far),

entitled "Theme and Imitations" and set to Modest Mussorgsky's "Pictures at an Exhibition."

This work was commissioned by Mr. Berenbaum's father, HVDT's most prolific financial supporter,

and so it was fitting that the performances took place on Father's Day weekend.

EVOLUTION

Saturday and Sunday, August 5 and 6, 2017

HVDT's first full-evening performance was, in large part, a test to see if the company could put on a full-evening performance.

Mr. Berenbaum had spent the previous three years creating new work without a performance in mind,

and it was only at the beginning of 2017 that he realized he had created enough work to fill an evening.

When all was said and done, the performance included 16 short pieces

set to music by artists of a wide variety of genres,

including British classic rock band The Who, Canadian electronic duo Dvbbs,

and contemporary classical composer Matthew Entwistle, a personal friend of Mr. Berenbaum's.

2015 Brooklyn Dance Festival

Emerging Companies

Sunday, March 29, 2015

HVDT made its official debut as an Emerging Company

at the 2015 Brooklyn Dance Festival

For the festival, the company performed a short piece entitled "Gain of e,"
set to music by American ambient music duo Loess.