Local Dancers Invited to Participate in "Dance for Peace" Performance

The Gold Coast Dance Festival, Long Island’s largest dance festival, returns to Morgan Memorial Park* in Glen Cove on Saturday August 3 at 6pm [Rain date: Saturday, August 10]. The fourth annual free event is presented by Commack-based New York Dance Theatre (NYDT), celebrating 50 years as a leading arts institution on Long Island.

This year’s Gold Coast Dance Festival features five world premieres including works by world renowned choreographers Keerati Jinakunwiphat, Fadi Khoury, Da’ Von Doane, and Skyla Schreter, and the collaborative performance “Dance for Peace” produced by NYDT Executive Artistic Director Nicole Loizides Albruzzese, bringing together professional and amateur dancers including children and adults from across Long Island, a first of its kind experience for the festival. Professional, amateur, and student dancers (ages 10 and older) interested in joining “Dance for Peace” can still register at www.ohmanballet.org to participate.

Launched by longtime Glen Cove resident Loizides Albruzzese in 2021, the Gold Coast Dance Festival brings some of the country’s top talents to Long Island. Past events have included dancers from Broadway, New York City Ballet, STOMP, Pilobolus, NBC’s World of Dance, Fox’s So You Think You Can Dance, American Ballet Theatre, Miami City Ballet, Alvin Ailey, Dance Theatre of Harlem, Parsons Dance, Moving On, MOMIX, Leggy Bones Dance Theatre, East by North, Buglisi Dance Company, Martha Graham, Salt Lake City Ballet, FJK Dance, Ballet Nepantla, and Forces of Nature Dance Company. The event showcases a variety of cultural dances and influences from around the world including Mexico, Spain, China, Japan, India, Africa, and the Middle East. Follow @newyorkdancetheatre for updates about the festival’s 2024 lineup.

The Gold Coast Dance Festival (GCDF) is offered free to the public to provide an equal opportunity to experience dance. This year’s event expands NYDT’s Long Island repertoire, joining the beloved annual production of The Nutcracker at Hofstra University’s John Cranford Adams Playhouse (December 21 and 22, 2024). New York Dance Theatre is a 501 (c)(3) not for profit serving the New York Metropolitan area through dance classes, workshops, community outreach, and performances. Plans are underway to expand GCDF with a second location in Suffolk County for 2025.

Voluntary donations at the event support NYDT’s Développé outreach program, which presents workshops, performances, and merit-based dance scholarships to underprivileged and at-risk youth, including those in Long Island foster families, offering exposure to the arts and diversifying the Long Island ballet community. Additional support is made possible by patrons and generous local sponsors and small businesses.

*Morgan Park overlooks the harbor at Germaine Street between Landing Road and McLoughlin Street in Glen Cove. Attendees are welcome to bring chairs or blankets and a picnic.