The CUNY Dance Initiative (CDI), an expansive program providing New York City choreographers and dance companies with creative residencies on CUNY college campuses, announces a performance from Kizuna Dance, set for May 2, 2026 at 7PM at the Gerald W. Lynch Theater at John Jay College (524 West 59th Street, New York, NY). Tickets start at $20 and can be purchased at https://www.eventbrite.com/e/kizuna-dance-2026-nyc-season-gerald-lynch-theater-tickets-1984648467993?utm-campaign=social&utm-content=attendeeshare&utm-medium=discovery&utm-term=listing&utm-source=cp&aff=ebdsshcopyurl.

 

Kizuna Dance, led by Artistic Director Cameron McKinney, is an innovative ensemble blending streetdance styles with contemporary floorwork. The company presents a repertory concert featuring works from across the company’s 12-year history, all inspired by different aspects of the Japanese language and culture.

 

The performance will include BREAD AND CIRCUS, a surreal dream sequence inspired by Oscar Oiwa’s visual installation DREAMS OF A SLEEPING WORLD; E.X.P.L.O.D.E, a dramatic solo created in response to the 30th anniversary of the classic animated film AKIRA; and the NYC premiere of SAFE HARBOR, a new collaboration between McKinney and Japanese choreographer Toru Shimazaki. 

 

Performers include Emily Aslin, Eric Blovits, Jennifer Burlage, Rachel Calabrese, Juan Ospina, Isabele Rosso, Lesar Stepputat, and other guest performers. Lighting Design by Michael Abbatiello and costumes by Zhenya Dolgova. 

 

SAFE HARBOR (2024) was created as part of a United States - Japan Friendship Commission Creative Artist Fellowship in collaboration with Japanese choreographer Toru Shimazaki. Through a two-week residency in Japan, the work was created by exchanging movement and ideas with Japanese artists.

 

BREAD AND CIRCUS (2025) is a hyperphysical exploration of the paradox of boundless imagination constrained by individual perspective. When we find ourselves lost at sea, our dreams become a lens for self-discovery. Inspired by the surreal progression of dreams and the fantastical works of Japanese artist Oscar Oiwa and Tomokazu Matsuyama – which can veer from familiar yet uncanny beginnings to vibrant, chaotic depths – the work asks: will we remain victims of our imagination? Or trust in those trying to guide us back to shore?

 

E.X.P.L.O.D.E (2019), a solo by Artistic Director Cameron McKinney, is inspired by the seminal 1988 Japanese animated film AKIRA, explores how themes of construction/destruction, death/rebirth, and a fear of the unknown can lead to dissent, madness, and loneliness. 

 

Founded in 2014, Kizuna Dance is an international repertory ensemble that blends streetdance with contemporary floorwork, using dance as a medium to connect American and Japanese cultures. The company has performed nationally and internationally at prestigious institutions and festivals such as The Japan Society, Performatica, the Let's Dance International Frontiers Festival, Gibney Dance, and Middlebury College's Japanese Language School, among many others. Artistic Director Cameron McKinney has received fellowships from the U.S.-Japan Friendship Commission, The School at Jacob’s Pillow, Princeton University, the Alvin Ailey New Directions Lab, and the Asian Cultural Council. In 2020, McKinney performed company repertory alongside a new collaborative work with Japanese choreographer Toru Shimazaki at the U.S. Ambassador's Residence in Tokyo, Japan. In July 2019, the company had its French premiere at the International Choreographic Festival of Blois on the National Stage. In 2024, Kizuna Dance celebrated its 10th anniversary season with the world premiere of the evening-length work FATHER ABSENCE | MOTHER MA, presented by CUNY Dance Initiative at John Jay College. That same year, the company also traveled to Japan to create SAFE HARBOR, a performance collaboration between five American dancers, Japanese choreographer Toru Shimazaki, and five Japanese dancers from Kobe College in Japan. 

 

Committed to outreach, the company engages with every tour location it enters, connecting with community members through post-show discussions, lecture demonstrations, open rehearsals, masterclasses, student performances, and professional workshops. Kizuna Dance has led workshops and residencies in over twenty states and internationally in Japan, Mexico, Germany, Belgium, Canada, France, Spain, Ireland, and the UK. Since 2021, the company's annual Open Intensive program has provided free training to 150 artists in the NYC community each year. 

 

 

THE CUNY DANCE INITIATIVE

The CUNY Dance Initiative (CDI) marked a decade of supporting the NYC dance field in 2024. The program was developed in response to the Andrew W. Mellon Foundation’s 2010 report, “We Make Do,” which cited how destabilizing the shortage of affordable rehearsal space in New York City is to the dance sector. A successful pilot supporting residencies on four CUNY campuses in 2013 led to CDI’s formal launch in 2014. Since then, CDI has become a key player in New York City’s performing arts ecosystem, leading a consortium of 14 CUNY colleges and four arts organizations to host 20+ residencies for NYC choreographers and dance companies each year. In the past 11 years, CDI has granted 275 residencies to emerging and established choreographers, providing invaluable resources to artists, while enhancing CUNY students’ education and cultural experiences.

 

The CUNY Dance Initiative receives major support from The Mertz Gilmore Foundation and Howard Gilman Foundation. Additional support is provided by the SHS Foundation, Rockefeller Brothers Fund’s Charles E. Culpeper Arts & Culture program, the Gladys Krieble Delmas Foundation, and the Harkness Foundation for Dance. CDI is spearheaded by The Kupferberg Center for the Arts at Queens College. www.cuny.edu/danceinitiative

 

GERALD W. LYNCH THEATER at JOHN JAY COLLEGE

John Jay College of Criminal Justice of The City University of New York, an international leader in educating for justice, offers a rich liberal arts and professional studies curriculum to upwards of 15,000 undergraduate and graduate students from more than 135 nations. In teaching, scholarship and research, the College approaches justice as an applied art and science in service to society and as an ongoing conversation about fundamental human desires for fairness, equality and the rule of law. www.jjay.cuny.edu.

 

Since opening its doors in 1988, the Gerald W. Lynch Theater has been an invaluable cultural resource. The Theater is a member of CUNY Stages, a consortium of 16 performing arts centers located on CUNY campuses across New York City and the CUNY Dance Initiative.

 

The Theater has been home to the Lincoln Center’s Mostly Mozart Festival & White Light Festival, as well as the New Yorker Festival, Mannes Opera, the World Science Festival, and the revival of Mummunschanz. The Theater has hosted live and recorded events including David Letterman’s My Next Guest Needs No Introduction, Inside the Actor’s Studio, Carnegie Hall Neighborhood Concerts, Comedy Central Presents one-hour specials, the American Justice Summit, the NYC Mayoral Democratic Debates, and the launch of Jay-Z’s REFORM initiative. The Theater welcomes premiere galas, conferences, international competitions, and graduations. www.GeraldWLynchTheater.com.