Dance Company of the Week-Zest Collective

In a time when competition is heavy and jobs relatively scarce ZEST COLLECTIVE Contemporary Performance Art gives opportunities to very talented Performing Artists. ZEST is Northern Manhattan's premiere Contemporary Performance Art company! It was founded November 02, 2013 by Artistic Director Gentry Isaiah George. Comprised of freelance Dancers, Visual and Graphic Artists, Musicians, Composers, Theater-Makers as well as emerging Choreographers, ZEST is fueled by the creative investigation of movement as experienced through exploring the body’s response to external and internal impulses.

Using the body as the primary medium of storytelling ZEST COLLECTIVE examines issues of perception and identity in contemporary society. Our three main goals are Artistic, Spiritual, and Movement Freedom. Sometimes we rehearse and perform in unconventional venues because we believe that by introducing our Artists to new and varied spaces we bring about instinctually organic movement qualities. Each day we enter new territories to explore our creative infinities in “No Rule” environments.

Our movement explores a range of contemporary and abstract forms.

ZEST COLLECTIVE Contemporary Performance Art recently teamed up with FilmMakers Renée Silverman and Peter Miller, creators of the documentary “Sosúa: Make A Better World” as well as Magician Harry Mandel to present a work that highlights the period of history when the murderous and racist Dominican dictator, Rafael Trujillo, welcomed to his country hundreds of Jewish refugees escaping the horrors of the Holocaust.

In the new work entitled "Sosúa" people of all races and walks of life come together to learn about an uncommon past and, in the process, discover countless expressions of what unites them in the present. This work focuses largely on the metaphors of the Massacre River in the Dominican Republic, and systems of transportation to escape tyranny and injustice. This work takes a look at tensions between nations past and present and the disadvantages imposed by cruel populations in a world fighting against a culture of racism, discrimination, social inequality and poverty.

On Saturday, June 27th, 2015 the company premiered this work at the first Higher Ground Festival at the YM & YWHA of Washington Heights and Inwood. The Higher Ground (HG) Festival celebrates the artists of the Washington Heights and Inwood neighborhoods by facilitating multi-disciplinary artist collaborations. It was founded by Temple Kemezis and Pablo Francisco Ruvalcaba Tovar.

It is my hope that we may continue to partner with local businesses and institutions that promote collaborative projects with Artists and organizations in efforts to revitalize the cultural life in our neighborhood. This festival has been but a dream until now. We are on way to transforming the discord of our nation one neighbor at a time.