Virtual Salon Performance Series for Social Change 2026
Company:
Mark DeGarmo Dance
Mark DeGarmo Dance will Present in 3 Live 90-Minute Zoom Broadcasts its 16th Annual Virtual Salon Performance Series for Social Change 2026 with 12 Choreographers and 4 Alternate Artists Exploring the Theme of Dance and Social Change on Thursdays, February 5, March 5, and April 2, 2026.
New York, November 2025 - Mark DeGarmo Dance will present in 3 live 90-minute Zoom broadcasts its 16th annual Virtual Salon Performance Series for Social Change 2026 on 3 Thursdays at 7:00 PM ET: February 5, March 5, and April 2, exploring the theme: Dance and Social Change. MDD will present the works-in-progress of 12 performing artists in total with 4 Artists programmed as Alternates and Honorable Mentions. VSPS is a curated transcultural transdisciplinary sharing of original work this year from Cameroon, China, Colombia, India, Peru, and the United States, as well as California, Florida, Michigan, New York, North Carolina, Pennsylvania, and Vermont.
Carolyn Pampalone Rabbers, from Stevensville, MI, will present THAW, a piece about the global water crisis and melting ice caps, featuring five dancers performing with live music in front of an LED wall. Alexis Restrepo, (of Otredanza compañia artística LGBTI de Medellín) in Medellín, Colombia, will share Mi Vida es un Torbellino, blending Colombian folkloric dance with queer and experimental movement to explore identity, resilience, and collective transformation. Yan Longdan, from Chongqing, China, will perform Chattering Lover, Aphasic Responder, a duet examining the challenges of communication and connection in modern life.
MDD’s 2026 VSPS line-up includes:
February 5th - Andrea Agostini (FL), Barbara Mahler (NYC), Carolyn Pampalone Rabbers (MI), Tanu Sharma (NC)
Alternate Artist: Kara Brems (MI)
March 5 - Audrey Baran (NC), Nick Daniels (PA), Marianna Koytsan (NYC), (Otredanza compañia artística LGBTI de Medellín) Alexis Restrepo (Antioquia, Colombia)
Alternate Artist: Jo Pearson (VT)
April 2 - Sudeshna Dey (West Bengal, India), Yan Longdan (Chongqing, China), Brighit Leonella Mercado Vera (Lima, Perú), Yuri Ogasawara (NYC)
Alternate Artists: Paramita Bhattacharyya (CA), ADJI ADJI Charlotte Manuella (Yaoundé, Cameroon), and Jo Pearson (VT).
Tickets on Eventbrite: By donation; If it is impossible for your economic situation, contact us at least 24 hours in advance: info@markdegarmodance.org with the reason for your request so you can join us. Suggested donations: Salsa -- $10; Step -- $15; Break -- $20; Improv -- $50; Aerial -- $100
Eventbrite: https://www.eventbrite.com/cc/virtual-salon-performance-series-2026-4784553
About MDD’s Virtual Salon Performance Series for Social Change
Founded in 2010, MDD's Virtual Salon Performance Series for Social Change supports performing artists in New York City & State, U.S., and globally with a focus on Asian American, Pacific Islander, Black, Indigenous, People of Color, Latinx, and others, people with disabilities, LGBTQIA+, seniors, and others. Since February 2019, MDD presented in 42 salons, including 2 Virtual International Arts Festivals, featuring 566 total artists from 23 states: Alabama, Arizona, California, Connecticut, Georgia, Illinois, Kansas, Kentucky, Massachusetts, Nebraska, New Jersey, New York, New Mexico, North Carolina, Ohio, Oklahoma, Pennsylvania, Tennessee, Texas, Utah, Virginia, Washington, Wisconsin and 31 countries: Australia, Brazil, Canada, China, Democratic Republic of Congo, England, France, Germany, Guatemala, Haiti, India, Iran, Israel, Italy, Japan, Latvia, Malaysia, Mexico, New Zealand, Norway, Russia, Scotland, Spain, Switzerland, Taiwan, Trinidad and Tobago, Turkey, Uganda, Ukraine, United Kingdom, & USA.
About Mark DeGarmo Dance
Mark DeGarmo Dance began operations in 1982, incorporated in 1987, and celebrates its 39th anniversary in 2026 as a leading New York City nonprofit dance organization located in Manhattan’s Lower East Side at NYC-owned The Clemente Soto Vélez Cultural & Educational Center (The Clemente). President Barack Obama commended DeGarmo and MDD for your service to your community and the nation. The National Endowment for the Arts deemed MDD’s NYC dance education program for under- resourced public elementary students living under the federal poverty rate a national model. National Dance Education Organization research shows that 1-7% of USA elementary schools have such a program as our Partnerships in Literacy through Dance & Creativity.
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Our programs are supported, in part, by private and public funds from American Online Giving Foundation; Jody and John Arnhold; Benevity; Frances and Benjamin Benenson Foundation; Bernheim Foundation; Blackbaud Giving Fund; Lisa and Dick Cashin; PJ and Dawn Dearden; Rev. Dr. Lindley DeGarmo and Sarah Finlayson; Marianne Egri and David Thomas; Friends of Mark DeGarmo Dance; Jill Ganey; The Harkness Foundation for Dance; Lara and Darius Mehraban; The Kyle J. Mulrooney Foundation; Mental Insight Foundation; National Endowment for the Arts; Network for Good; New York City Department of Cultural Affairs in partnership with the City Council; New York City Department of Education; New York State Council on the Arts with the support of the Office of the Governor and the New York State Legislature; Lindsay O'Reilly; PwC Charitable Foundation; Religious Society of Friends; The Rothfeld Family Foundation; Ruth and Seymour Klein Foundation; and Barbara Sherman.
