Downtown Brooklyn Partnership Announces Participants in its Rehearsal Residency Initiative at the Plaza at 300 Ashland

Multi-disciplinary groups and artists will use the space to rehearse and create in Brooklyn’s Cultural District throughout the fall

October 20, 2020

BROOKLYN, NY (October 19, 2020) – Downtown Brooklyn Partnership today announced the first participants in its Rehearsal Residency Initiative. The chosen artists will use the space at the Plaza at 300 Ashland to rehearse throughout the autumn, developing new work and perfecting ongoing pieces.

The 17 organizations that signed up to participate in the program represent a diverse range of cultural practitioners and arts groups, from Senegalese artist and cultural collective Babacar Top and Topdance Dance Company to the Brooklyn Interdenominational Choir to solo theater artist Kim Katzberg. This program is the first opportunity that many these groups have had to come together in months – Arturo O’Farrill and the Afro Latin Jazz Alliance’s orchestra, for example, have not played together since March.

“Downtown Brooklyn is home to some of the city’s most exciting cultural institutions and artists, many of whom have struggled to continue working through the pandemic,” said Regina Myer, President of Downtown Brooklyn Partnership. “By rethinking how we use public space, we can offer the cultural community a safe place to continue working, collaborating and producing the art that has made our neighborhood such a vibrant place to be over the years and for decades to come.”

The Downtown Brooklyn Rehearsal Residency Initiative launched in August in response to the pandemic and its deep impact on NYC’s performing arts community. The lineup of participating artists and rehearsal projects features multiple artistic disciplines, including music, theater, performance art, dance, circus, and film. See the full list of recipients here.

1. Arturo O’Farrill and the Afro Latin Jazz Alliance

2. Artichoke Dance Company

3. Babacar Top

4. BodyRa Movement

5. Brooklyn Interdenominational Choir

6. Dancewave

7. Dawn Drake & ZapOte

8. De Funes Dance

9. Emmanuele Phuon

10. Head & Company

11. HERE Arts Center with Taylor Mac and Matt Ray

12. Iris McCloughan

13. Jamal Jackson Dance Company

14. Kim Katzberg

15. Pure Samba

16. Rob & Miss Jane

17. ZCO/DANCEPROJECT

The site also hosts safe outdoor programming, including the Chelsea Piers fitness classes and Mark Morris family dance classes. More information about current and upcoming events can be found here.

About Downtown Brooklyn Partnership:
The Downtown Brooklyn Partnership is a not-for-profit local development corporation that serves as the primary champion for Downtown Brooklyn as a world-class business, cultural, educational, residential, and retail destination. Managing three Business Improvement Districts (BIDs) that cover Downtown Brooklyn - the MetroTech BID, Fulton Mall Improvement Association, and Court-Livingston-Schermerhorn BID - the Partnership’s diverse activities include attracting new businesses and improving the environment for existing companies, facilitating the construction of public spaces and streetscapes that promote an active and cohesive community, supporting and promoting Downtown Brooklyn’s cultural assets, and encouraging a sense of place and an engaged civic community