DANCENOWNYC kicks off its 20th anniversary season with the world premiere of NEWYORKnewyork@AstorPlace, a new dance-theater work by Obie and Bessie Award-winning choreographer Mark Dendy.

NEWYORKnewyork@AstorPlace mines the rich history of the Public Theater building, the original Astor Library, whose collection eventually made up the lion’s share of The New York Public Library’s holdings. The stage at Joe’s Pub in the Public Theater becomes a portal through which we meet a shape-shifting cast of time travelers, habitués from past and present Astor Place and the surrounding area. The piece looks at gentrification through the specifics of one New York neighborhood and asks: What is change? Does history merely repeat itself? The piece explores race relations and violence, the never-ending conflict between the 99 percent and the 1 percent, the role of tabloid news now and then, and is a meditation on the book and its place in our ever-changing culture through dance and text.

NEWYORKnewyork@AstorPlace is written and directed by Mark Dendy. The work is choreographed and performed by Dendy in collaboration with Christopher Bell, Dante Brown, Leslie Cuyjet, Stephen Donovan, Abigail Levine, Alice Klugherz, and Mei Yamanaka. Lighting design is by Lauren Parrish. Video, costumes, and props by Stephen Donovan.