Commercials for Humanity

For Immediate Release
Contact: Abriella Mayon, Amalgamate
Contact name: Abriella Mayon, Director of Marketing
Contact email: abriella@amalgamatedance.com
Contact phone: 860-819-9919

AMALGAMATE Presents

Commercials for Humanity

TUESDAYS IN DECEMBER 8PM EST
FREE
SIMULCAST/LIVE STREAM: FACEBOOK, TWITTER, LINKEDIN, YOUTUBE
URLs FOR EACH CHANNEL:
Facebook: www.facebook.com/amalgamatedanceco
Twitter: www.twitter.com/amalgamatedance
LinkedIn: www.linkedin.com/company/amalgamatenyc
YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/user/AmalgamateDanceCo

Amalgamate, a New York City based arts organization, has partnered up with four nonprofit organizations to create its first series of “Commercials for Humanity,” a collection of online films that use the power of dance and storytelling to compel viewers to action. The inaugural series features organizations that work with some of the most vulnerable populations in our society - refugees, the homeless, incarcerated youth, and those suffering from crippling medical debt.

Set to release weekly on Tuesdays via social and digital channels for four weeks starting on December 1st, each film will be paired with a 30-minute viewing party, which will include relevant guest speakers and Q&A.

In sequential order, the pieces will be:
12/1 (Giving Tuesday): "HOME" (Supporting and in partnership with RDJ REFUGEE SHELTER)
12/8: "NO STRINGS" - (Supporting and in partnership with RIP MEDICAL DEBT)
12/15: "CONNECTION" - (Supporting and in partnership with NEW YORK CITY RELIEF)
12/22"STOP THE CYCLE" - (Supporting and in partnership with JUVENILE JUSTICE MINISTRY YFC).

BIOS

Abigail Kelvas is a dance artist currently based in New York. With roots in the Hudson Valley, she has traveled and danced abroad in France, Belgium, and Italy. After training at a local studio and summer intensives including Complexions Contemporary Ballet and Earl Mosley's Institute of the Arts she went on to graduate with her B.F.A in Dance from the University of the Arts. Since graduating, Abigail has enjoyed teaching, discovering new ways to move, and performing for several choreographers including Catie Leasca and Dolly Sfeir, and Amalgamate Dance Company.

Jerard Palazo was born in Manila, Philippines and moved to Canada at 10 years old, where he began his formal dance training at the Royal Winnipeg Ballet School Professional Division in Winnipeg, Manitoba. He graduated in 2012 with a diploma and moved to New York where he received a scholarship to attend the Ailey School from 2013-2015. He also attended summer programs where he received full scholarships at the Ailey School, Breakout 2015 (Italy), Cadence Dance Studio, Jacob's Pillow Contemporary Program, and Nederlands Dans Theatre. He has performed works by Alvin Ailey, Kyle Abraham, Adam Barruch, Brian Brooks, Sonia Dawkins, Darius Drooh, Martha Graham, Vernard Gilmore, Francesca Harper, Christian Von Howard, Tracy Inman, Darrell Grand Moultrie, Ray Mercer, Crystal Pite, Matthew Rushing, Carlos Dos Santos, Jessica Taylor, and Marcus Willis. He performed in Alvin Ailey's "Memoria" in 2014 and 2015 City Centre Season and "Revelations" in 2014 with a cast of 50 during Alvin Ailey American Dance Theatre's Lincoln Center Season. Since graduating, he has worked with Peridance Contemporary Dance Company, Nai Ni Chen Dance Company, and Albano Ballet Company of America.

Manuela Sanchez is a native New Yorker, born and raised in Brooklyn. Her early training included Talent Unlimited High School, Ballet Hispánico, and the Martha Graham School of Contemporary Dance. She holds a BFA from Long Island University- Brooklyn Campus. Manni, as she is affectionately nicknamed, has worked with several choreographers and companies throughout NYC, including joining Amalgamate Dance Company in 2012. Meanwhile she also became a certified Yoga and Pilates instructor. She moved to Miami to work as a dancer and Rehearsal director for Augusto Soledade Brazzdance and returned to her home city in 2018 to continue freelance work as a dance artist and fitness professional. Today she is lead instructor and ambassador of Club Pilates in Brooklyn and maintains strong connections with her NYC dance family. She is honored to be dancing with ADC again!

Sean Scantlebury, a member of Battery Dance since 2003, is a performer and teacher who is equally adept within the styles of modern, ballet and hip-hop. A native of Barbados, Sean is a naturalized citizen of the U.S. He moved to New York City as a child and at the age of 8 was invited to study at the New York City Public School for Dance. He became a member of Ballet Tech, the Company directed by Eliot Feld, performing in the Company’s Joyce Theater seasons in New York for 10 years. During his first season with Battery Dance in 2003, he took part in a residency in Kraków, Poland, performing for the European Conference on Tolerance. Since then he has performed, taught and led Dancing to Connect workshops in Algeria, Australia, Burma, Cambodia, China, Germany, Ghana, Hungary, India, Israel, Japan, Jordan, Laos, Malaysia, Mongolia, Morocco, Namibia, Philippines, Poland, South Korea, Sri Lanka, Swaziland, Taiwan, Tanzania, Tunisia, Uganda and Vietnam. His hip-hop classes have served as a magnet for urban youth everywhere. In New York, he has served as Battery Dance’s teaching artist at public schools including Washington Irving High School, P.S. 257 in Brooklyn, I.S. 162 in the South Bronx and for three years at the Millennium High School in Lower Manhattan.

RDJ Refugee Shelter
This is the only homeless shelter for refugees and asylum seekers in New York. It houses up to 14 men who are in the process of claiming asylum and provides housing, medical, legal assistance to the residents. The goal is to have the residents be independent and have work and housing within a year of arriving at the shelter.

YFC
This faith based organization works with children (aged 13-18) of any background, who are or are going to be incarcerated by working with ACS, Law Alliance, Judges and the court system to provide alternatives to incarceration and reduce jail sentences. Eg a 14 yr old got 4 years for stealing a cell phone. YFC provides mentors, entrepreneurial programs, and works with judges to provide programs so the children stay out of jail. 75% of those working with YFC do not go back to jail. 98% of those incarcerated are black and Hispanic/Latino

RIP Medical Debt
Seeks to pay off medical debt for those
households whose incomes are less than two times the federal poverty level guideline or are insolvent

New York City Relief
New York City Relief sets up at several locations all over the City during the week and provides socks, hygiene kits, and lunch and in addition has staff take details and assist the homeless with signing in to programs so that they can become independent and get off the streets. From their website “we connect people who are hurting and homeless to resources they need to survive, and the hope they need to try. When everything falls apart, the long journey back begins one step at a time: emergency shelter, food, socks, ID, detox, employment, and the belief that a brighter future is possible!”

[End]

Amalgamate Dance Company
34 Garnet Rd
Trumbull, CT 06611

Contact: Abriella Mayon, Amalgamate
Contact name: Abriella Mayon, Director of Marketing
Contact email: abriella@amalgamatedance.com
Contact phone: 860-819-9919

Amalgamate exists to raise awareness around significant topics and events that affect human development through authentic storytelling. We dance for a purpose to educate, entertain, transform, and inspire our audiences.

This release was published on openPR.