From "The Empty Chair"choreographed by Jonathan Phelps
My friend Jonathan always dreamed of dancing on Broadway. I learned at his tribute, “A Celebration in Song and Dance” at Symphony Space at 95th & Broadway, that he also dreamed that WalkerDance, a dance company of which he was a founding member, would perform in New York.
On Monday, April 6, his dreams came true. Jonathan danced on Broadway—albeit on a video screen—but his choreography was performed live by several dance companies. And WalkerDance made their New York City debut.
Sadly, Jonathan was only there in spirit. He would have turned 43 on Easter Sunday.
The tribute to his life was joyful and, as Jonathan might say, “Super!” I shall always miss him. His spirit, however, will be with me always.
Dance companies that performed during the evening included WalkerDance, Vineland Regional Dance Company, Philadanco, Philadelphia Dance Theatre and Les Ballet Grandiva.
The artists who performed included his partner, Chet Walker, who also choreographed many of the dance pieces. Also performing (in order of appearance) were Samantha Berger, Mark Burrell, Alyssa Epstein, Drew Franklin, Eric Hoisington, Tim Kasper, Dana Moore, Kristine Bingham Nielsen, Thomas Ortiz, Anne Otto, Liz Patek, Chat Riter, Joshua Schulteis, Ariel Shipley, Gwen Baraniecki-Zwil, Kelly Bocchetti Millar, Melissa Carabrese, Jenna Dannenberger, Erin Kane, Mia Klekos, Elizabeth Tkaczynski, Juliana Buchanan, Jennifer Gruener, Evelyn Bennett, Lauren Dow, Adriana Fox, Elexus Freeman, Gabriela Navarro, Alyson Super, Stephen Bogardus, Matthew Rushing, Mercedes Ellington, Ric Ryder, Odara N. Jabali-Nash, Tracy Vogt, Tyrell V. Rolle, Michael Jackson Jr., Bonnie Langford, Emanuel Abruzzo, Tetsushi Segawa, Terri Klausner.
The tribute was produced by Beth Gittleman, who did a superb job! Jonathan, I’m sure, is beaming!
A HUGE shout out to lighting designer Ariel Pierce: “Thank you for all of your work! These images would not have been possible without you.”
Click here to visit the gallery.
233 images.
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[...] Photo of the Week Last week, I attended a life tribute to a dear friend of mine, Jonathan Phelps. This image is from “Peter Gunn” performed by WalkerDance, with choreography by Chet Walker. For more images from the tribute, click here. [...]