Dancewave honors Mia Michaels, Laurie Cumbo, and Wendy Evans Joseph at this year’s Spring Gala 2016

The Gala is officially less than a month away! Currently at Dancewave, we are excitedly preparing for our fundraising event of the year, Spring Gala. The Spring Gala is one of Brooklyn’s premiere cultural fundraisers and will feature performances by Dancewave Companies & Ensembles, refreshments, and a Dutch auction in support of Dancewave’s Capital Campaign. Our Gala is a night to celebrate and honor prominent individuals on the forefront of the arts, business, politics, philanthropy, and education. Taking place April 20, 2016 at Roulette Brooklyn from 6:00-9:00 pm, the Gala will raise awareness and funds in support of Dancewave’s primary mission: transforming lives through dance.

This year’s Gala will honor Emmy Award-winning choreographer and former So You Think You Can Dance judge Mia Michaels, New York City Council Member and founder of Brooklyn’s MoCADA Laurie Cumbo, and architect Wendy Evans Joseph, founder of Studio Joseph, whose team is spearheading the renovation of Dancewave’s new facility. Last year’s honorees and presenters included ABT’s Misty Copeland and Paloma Herrera, New York City Council Members Jimmy Van Bramer and Stephen Levin, Rockefeller Brothers Fund Program Director Ben Rodriguez-Cubeñas and WABC-TV’s Sade Baderinwa and Saundra Thomas.

In 2015, Dancewave funded scholarships to over 50 students, providing Dancewave Company members the opportunity to train with world-renowned artists Kyle Abraham, Shen Wei, and Larry Keigwin, and to perform at Pocantico Center, Brooklyn Museum, and the Jimmy Fallon Show. Gala proceeds support Dancewave’s Scholarship Initiative and Dancewave’s arts-in-education outreach program, D-Wave in Motion.

PURCHASE TICKETS

 

---

About our Honorees

Mia Michaels
Creator, Director, Choreographer

Mia Michaels has served as the ever-popular judge and contributing choreographer for Fox’s award-winning hit TV show So You Think You Can Dance (SYTYCD). Not only has she won three Emmy awards for Outstanding Choreography for her work on SYTYD, but her role in SYTYCD contributed to the show receiving the award for “Best Reality TV Show” at the 2008 Reality TV Show Awards. Mia’s choreography has been showcased in the big screen adaptation of the hit Broadway musical, Rock of Ages, Celine Dion’s Las Vegas show A New Day, and Cirque du Soleil’s first touring show Delirium, to name a few. Most recently, Mia’s brilliant choreography was showcased in the Broadway Musical Finding Neverland. Currently, Mia is in New York choreographing for the iconic Radio City Rockets show, The New York Spectacular.

Mia’s dedication to the art of dance naturally carries a presence in the dance concert arena. Included in her diverse concert and stage work is the critically acclaimed New York based dance company, RAW, for which she is the founder, artistic director, and choreographer; the Paper Mill Playhouse’s production of “Hello Dolly!” starring Tovah Feldshuh; Les Ballet Jazz de Montreal; and Jazz Dance Chicago. Recently, Mia was honored with the prestigious Tom Adams Award for her dedication to the arts and Texas International Theatrical Arts Society. Her students and peers around the world have noted her as a memorable influence, as she has a way of touching people’s lives with passion, emotional expression and style of dance.

 

Wendy Evans Joseph
Founder of Studio Joseph, Fellow of American Institute of Architects 

Wendy Evans Joseph is the Founding Partner of Studio Joseph, an architectural practice in New York City. Her projects lie in a diverse array of public, institutional and private building types with additional expertise in museum design and art exhibition installation. She creates highly detailed, carefully crafted work that is deeply engaged with the process of building. Wendy’s beautiful and efficient buildings are based on project-specific programmatic, climatic, and financial criteria with emphasis on sustainability. Studio Joseph’s practice focuses on designing profound work, which emerges from unpretentious, pragmatic thinking. Some of her projects include: a butterfly-watching park and visitor center in Mission, Texas; a long-span pedestrian bridge for The Rockefeller University; and a large lighting installation for the Museum of the City of New York. Her firm’s current work includes a permanent exhibition at the National Museum of the American Indian in Washington DC, an addition to Snug Harbor Music Hall on Staten Island, a 200-seat auditorium at the Brooklyn Children’s Museum, and a home for the Institute for Israel and Jewish Studies at Columbia University.

Dancewave’s new facilities, projected to begin construction soon, are designed by Studio Joseph for the Department of Cultural Affairs.

Wendy has a National reputation for design and professional leadership. Wendy has been the Chairman of the American Institute of Architects National Committee on Design and President of the AIA’s New York Chapter. She was also the President of The Architectural League of New York and sits on the board of MoMA’s architectural design committee and other professional institutions. A former set designer, Wendy is interested in dance and theater and currently sits on the board of American Ballet Theatre and Second Stage Theatre both in New York City.

“I am honored to be working with Dancewave on their new space. Their ability to affect the lives of young people through movement comes through a sharing of high standards of responsibility and values. Giving to our local community through design is extremely rewarding for me”.

 

Laurie Cumbo
NYC Council Member, Founder of Brooklyn’s Museum of Contemporary African Diasporan Arts

Laurie A. Cumbo was born and raised in Brooklyn, where she attended and graduated from the Berkeley Carroll Day School in Park Slope and Brooklyn Technical High School in Fort Greene. After graduating Spelman College in Atlanta, GA with a degree in Fine Art, she returned to Brooklyn and received her Master’s Degree in Visual Arts Administration from New York University. As a cultural leader, entrepreneur, activist, college professor, educator, lecturer, and small business owner working in the not-for-profit sector, Ms. Cumbo has dedicated her life to community development and preserving the dynamic elements of diversity that make Brooklyn, New York what it is today.

At the age of twenty-two, while pursuing her graduate studies at NYU, Ms. Cumbo used her coursework and thesis to develop MoCADA, Brooklyn’s first Museum of Contemporary African Diasporan Arts. She incorporated MoCADA as a 501c3 non-profit institution with enthusiastic support from the Brooklyn community of Bedford Stuyvesant and surrounding neighborhoods. MoCADA’s programs now include, outdoor film festivals, after-school programs, mural projects, walking tours, and Bus Tours with “Braggin’ About Brooklyn”, in an effort to bring locals and tourists alike to Bedford-Stuyvesant. These efforts, along with many other dedicated individuals, have contributed to the economic revitalization of Bedford Stuyvesant.

Ms. Cumbo’s dedication to underserved communities and bringing people of all backgrounds together to discover their commonalities continues to be at the forefront of her priorities.