40 THE QUEENS COURIER • BUZZ • AUGUST 5, 2021 FOR BREAKING NEWS VISIT WWW.QNS.COM
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Jamaica Performing Arts Center to host
Making Moves Dance Festival in September
BY CARLOTTA MOHAMED
cmohamed@schnepsmedia.com
@QNS
For 12 years, the Making Moves Dance
Festival, presented by the Jamaica Center
for Arts and Learning (JCAL), has served
as a platform to promote new, emerging
and underrepresented dance companies.
Aft er pivoting to an online model in 2020
due to COVID-19, JCAL is now returning
this storied festival to the community.
Th e Making Moves Dance Festival
“To Life” is a free two-day event set to
take place on the outdoor stage of the
Jamaica Performing Arts Center at 153-
10 Jamaica Ave., on Friday, Sept. 17, and
Saturday, Sept. 18, beginning at 7
p.m. on both days.
“What a diff erence a year
makes,” said Leonard Jacobs,
interim executive director of
JCAL. “In 2020, COVID-19
forced JCAL to pivot to digital
only, suddenly turning
choreographers and dancers
into fi lmmakers. Th is
year, we’re blessed to gather
together again — and
to proudly present some
of the best dance work in
Queens and New York City
— in a moment of life to
celebrate.”
Th e festival is a testament
to the rich diversity
of Queens and New York
City as it presents both traditional
and contemporary
infl uenced
dance styles. Th is
year, JCAL will
off er its most
diverse lineup
ever with styles that
include ballet, Afro-
Latin, East Asian,
Middle Eastern, Afro-
Caribbean, East Indian
and more.
Along with the outdoor
presentation of
the festival, all southeast
Queens residents
will be able
to check out the process, as rehearsals will
be held in full sight of the community on
Jamaica Avenue.
Courtney Ffrench, JCAL’s interim artistic
director, said there’s a reason that the
title of this year’s Making Moves Dance
Festival is “To Life.”
“We’ve seen too much of not having life,
not having hope, not feeling that there’s
a future for artists. Now, we’re presenting
some of the most stunning dancers
and choreographers from Queens and
New York City. It is a moment of getting
back ‘to life’ — now more than ever,”
Ffrench said.
Following an open call for applications
in April, a panel of professional jurors
selected nine NYC-based dance companies,
which are being presented in three
sections: emerging artists, early career artists
and commissioned artists.
Th e two commissioned artists are
Renardo-Domeico Grays with VISIONS
Contemporary Ballet and Patrick Coker.
Grays is an alumnus of Th e Juilliard
School where he studied choreography
under Bessie Schonberg and Doris
Rudko, and received his BFA from the
California Institute of the Arts. He is also
an alumnus of Marymount Manhattan
College (Dance), Fordham University
(Drama) and the Alvin Ailey School.
He is a graduate of Interlochen Arts
Academy, where he attended as an awardee
of a Skillman Scholar Award from the
Skillman Foundation.
He has performed with the Juilliard
Dance Ensemble in work by Garth Fagan,
Rebecca Kelly Ballet, the La Toya Jackson
Tour, Celebrity Cruises, Sensedance, Zach
Morris and Urban Wash Dance Company
and has danced and choreographed for various
artists traveling throughout the United
States, the Caribbean and Europe. He was
choreographer/co-host of VH-1’s “Rock of
Ages.” He also was assistant choreographer
for “Hitgirls,” an off -Broadway musical.
Coker is from Chester, Virginia, and
was awarded the American Ballet Th eatre’s
National Trainee Scholarship from 2008
to 2010. In May 2014, Coker graduated
from the Ailey/Fordham University BFA
Program, where he apprenticed with Ailey
II in his fi nal year. Aft er graduation, he
danced for Cedar Lake Contemporary
Ballet and then went on to join Jessica Lang
Dance.
He has also performed with the Mark
Morris Dance Group and LA-based
BODYTRAFFIC. In 2019, Coker joined
the Alvin Ailey American Dance Th eater,
where he is currently still dancing.
For more information about the lineup
of artists for the JCAL Making Moves
Festivals, visit jcal.org/making-movesdance
festival.
Artist Renardo-Domeico Grays
Photos courtesy of Jamaica Center for Arts and Learning (JCAL)
Obituary: Bernard Schwam
It is with great sadness
that the family of Bernard
Schwam announces his passing
on July 25, 2021, at the age
of 89. Bernard died peacefully
in his home with his family
aft er a long and prosperous
life full of good deeds. He will
be remembered by his wife,
Susan; his three sons, Neil,
Adam and Jonathan; his granddaughters,
Allie and Ava; and scores of nieces, nephews
and extended family and friends.
Bernard was known to all as kind,
generous, patient and a teacher to all – a
real Mensch — and as a product of the
old world, he valued honesty and modesty.
He had a career of 47 years with the
New York City Transit Authority and
was respected by his colleagues for his
diligence and reliability.
He was a devoted husband to Susan
for just short of 57 years, raised a family
and was an active member of the
Malverne Jewish Center community
since moving to Long Island in 1968.
As a trained engineer from a generation
raised to value hard work and a
do-it-yourself mentality, Bernard could
fi x anything that had a wire
and a power source. Th ough
not adventurous in the traditional
sense, he indulged
in a motorcycle as a hobby.
In addition to leaving a family
and lifetime of memories,
his legacy includes a garage
full of tools and assorted
machinery in various states
of repair. A principle of Jewish tradition
is Tikun Olam (“repair of the world”),
and Bernard’s devotion to his faith and
his habit of constant repair embodied
this tradition profoundly. His actions
and ways are worthy of emulation.
His life was celebrated by those he
touched at the home of his son Adam
between July 27 and July 29.
Bernard was a man of modest means
who nevertheless was a lifelong supporter
of various charities. For those
interested in honoring his memory, a
donation may be made in his name to
the Jewish National Fund at jnf.org.
Bernard’s family is grateful and honored
to have enjoyed his presence in life, and
now to honor his memory. May his soul
be bound up in the bond of eternal life.
/jnf.org
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