The CUNY Dance Initiative (CDI), an expansive program providing New York City choreographers and dance companies with creative residencies on CUNY college campuses, presents Dancers Unlimited: REST on May 17th at 2pm at Snug Harbor Cultural Center & Botanical Garden.
Dancers Unlimited concludes their month-long CUNY Dance Initiative residency at Snug Harbor with a studio showing of Edible Tales: REST. Inspired by Tricia Hersey’s Rest is Resistance, Dancers Unlimited explores ideas centering rest as a radical act of liberation. Dancers Unlimited centers community engagement as a key part of their creative process, and this interactive work offers rest through sound, movement, and collective care. This residency is a collaboration between the College of Staten Island and Snug Harbor Cultural Center & Botanical Garden.

Dancers Unlimited
REST (studio showing)
Saturday, May 17 at 2:00 p.m.
Snug Harbor Cultural Center & Botanical Garden (Staten Island)
$10 general / $8 members
snug-harbor.org/event/pa…

ABOUT THE ARTISTS
Dancers Unlimited is a bi-coastal company based in NYC & Hawai’i. DU creates authentic moveMEANT narratives for community advancement through creative collaboration, community engagement, and social justice work. Established in 2009, the company has presented work in festivals and showings in Hawa’i, NYC and Asia, including Jazz at Lincoln Center, Hawai’i Contemporary, shanghai world expo, Battery Dance Festival and La Mama moves! Dance Festival. Dancers Unlimited centers community engagement as a key part of our creative process. Our artistic voice blends Contemporary, Street and Club dance styles while being rooted in cultural practices. Our work seeks to inspire healing, facilitate dialogues and elevate authentic expressions.

ABOUT THE CUNY DANCE INITIATIVE
In 2024, the CUNY Dance Initiative (CDI) marked a decade of supporting the NYC dance field. The program was developed in response to the Andrew W. Mellon Foundation’s 2010 report, “We Make Do,” which cited how destabilizing the shortage of affordable rehearsal space in New York City is to the dance sector. A successful pilot supporting residencies on four CUNY campuses in 2013 led to CDI’s formal launch in 2014. Since then, CDI has become a key player in New York City’s performing arts ecosystem, leading a consortium of 13 CUNY colleges and three arts organizations to host 20+ residencies for NYC choreographers and dance companies each year. In the past 10 years, CDI has granted 247 residencies to emerging and established choreographers, providing invaluable resources to artists, while enhancing CUNY students’ education and cultural experiences.

The CUNY Dance Initiative receives major support from The Mertz Gilmore Foundation and Howard Gilman Foundation. Additional support is provided by the SHS Foundation, Rockefeller Brothers Fund’s Charles E. Culpeper Arts & Culture program, and the Harkness Foundation for Dance. CDI is spearheaded by The Kupferberg Center for the Arts at Queens College. cuny.edu/danceinitiative

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