Lunge Dance Collective
Lunge Dance Collective is a blossoming young dance collective that promotes collaboration between artists of many different mediums. Founded by Billy Bell, in March of 2010, the goal was to expose young artists to each other, in hopes of creating a stronger network for them to aid one another and start their budding careers. What resulted was so much more; Lunge became not only an artistic escape for the dancers, but also a family and a group of artists who truly value the love for art and each other. Originating with 19 artists: 1 choreographer, 1 lighting designer, 1 photographer, and 16 dancers, Lunge has now expanded across North America and has had the privilege to cross paths with over 60 artists, including 2 choreographers, 3 lighting designers, 6 photographers, 2 ï¬lm directors, 1 partnering dance company, and 45 dancers, each of to whom Lunge Dance Collective owes all of its success and artistic merit. The collective has had performances in Florida, New York, Colorado, Nevada, California, London (ON), and Texas. Dance Spirit Magazine calls Lunge a “unique and eye-popping talent”. Having over 60 members and only being in existence for the past 2 years, Lunge has been awarded the Rudolph A. Frank Prize for the Emerging Arts, done multiple residencies including DanceNYC Silo, and collaborated with Westside Dance Project, NMRKT.com, and Bryn Cohn and Artists. Lunge continues to be one of the most promising emerging contemporary dance companies in the U.S., as its audience and list of collaborating artists grows and expands. With innovative ideas and mass opportunity, Lunge Dance Collective believes that anything is possible and strives to create boundary pushing art that is both marketable and unique.
Billy Bell was born and raised in West Palm Beach, Florida. Billy has danced with Broadway's Liza Minnelli and Joel Grey in “Back to Back to Broadway,” toured with Broadway arts as Baby John in West Side Story, and was on Season 6 and 7 of Fox's So You Think You Can Dance. He has trained at Alvin Ailey, Joffrey Jazz and Contemporary, and participated in Springboard Dance Montreal where he worked with Jose Navas and Nelly Van Bommel.
After graduating from Alexander W. Dreyfoos School of the Arts, Billy continued his training at The Juilliard School where he has performed rep by Jose Limon, and Sidra Bell. He has worked in many different areas of dance, from dancing with Britney Spears in her “Hold It Against Me” video, to appearing on FOXʼs “HOUSE,” in a scene choreographed by Mia Michaels.
He is currently a demonstrator/faculty member on JUMP Dance Convention, Assistant Choreographer and Artist with Cherice Barton (New York, NY), and a member of Jose Navasʼ Company Flak (Montreal, QC). Having set works on contemporary companies from Los Angeles to New York, Billy is starting his transition from dancer to choreographer. A recent 2nd runner-up recipient of the 2011 Capezio A.C.E. award, Billy has set works on multiple professional companies including Westside Dance Project (Los Angeles, CA) and DeMa Dance (Brooklyn, NY). He is also the founder of two ensembles, the Dreyfoos Dance Ensemble (created in 2007) and Billy Bellʼs Lunge Dance Collective (2010) with which he is focusing his work currently. Most recently, Billy and LDC were commissioned to lead a residency in the spring of 2012 at Michigan State University, just before the 2012 New Creation of “You'll Never Be Alone” and subsequent tour in the Summer of 2012.
A current dancer with Cedar Lake Contemporary Ballet, Bell is very accomplished in both the commercial and company worlds. Billy is a versatile dancer who has also performed the works of Jiri Kylian, Sidi-Larbi Cherkaoui, Crystal Pite, Alexander Eckman, and Hofesh Shechter.
Find out more at http://www.LungeDance.com
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