92nd Street Y Celebrates 70 Years of Dance

Stuart Hodes was young and ambitious in 1952 when he auditioned for a chance to perform at the 92nd Street Y, a cultural and community center known to many early modern choreographers as "the Broadway of dance."

"I auditioned for the great Doris Humphrey," Hodes, now 79, recalls. "But I only had one dance to show her and she said, 'Well, I like your dance, Stuart, but you need three of them."

At a loss, Hodes sketched out ideas for two other dances.

"And she said OK," he says with a laugh. "She was wonderful."

Half a century later, his repertory includes more than 70 works. Hodes was Martha Graham's partner throughout the 1950s, taught at the American Dance Festival and wrote "A Map of Making Dances."

"The Y was the cradle of all of us," he says.

The 92nd Street Y opened its Dance Center in 1935 at a time when modern dance was little known or understood in America. Now known as the Harkness Dance Center, it supported a who's-who of dance pioneers, including Graham, Humphrey, Hanya Holm and Charles Weidman.

"Only the best were on that stage," says Carmen de Lavallade, who danced with Lester Horton, Donald McKayle and Alvin Ailey, among others.

De Lavallade followed in the footsteps of her cousin, Janet Collins, the first black prima ballerina at the Metropolitan Opera. Collins, who performed with the Met in the early '50s, danced at the Y in 1948, a time when many companies would not accept nonwhite performers. (De Lavallade was prima ballerina at the Met in 1956.)

"To perform at the Y was like performing at Carnegie Hall," says de Lavallade, who is married to actor-dancer-choreographer Geoffrey Holder. "It's done an extraordinary service for dance, and it's still going."

The Y honors this tradition Wednesday night with "From the Horse's Mouth," a performance featuring 60 dancers and choreographers who will tell their stories and improvise short works, ranging from tap to flamenco to ballet.

The evening also kicks off a monthlong season marking the 10th anniversary of the Harkness Dance Project at the Duke on 42nd Street, which offers a more practical and intimate dance space than the Y's Kaufmann Auditorium, with its cramped stage and large seating capacity. The Harkness Foundation for Dance is a major financial backer of the Y's program.

The celebrated dance series was revived by director Joan Finkelstein soon after she arrived at the Y in 1992. The program had faded in the 1970s, a victim of labor issues, a steady turnover of directors, increased touring and a glut of new performance spaces. Now, with support from Harkness and the Arnhold Foundation, Finkelstein has created a vibrant, eclectic series.

Besides its performance series, the Y offers multilevel dance classes, Saturday social dances, teaching programs, talks with important dance figures and performance opportunities for young dancers.

"There have always been two prongs to our mission," Finkelstein, a former dancer and choreographer, says. "The first is to provide a deep and meaningful experience to the lay public and the second is to be of service to the dance community, especially the creation of new work."

One of its most important services is the competitive Space Grant Program, which allots roughly 4,000 hours of subsidized rehearsal space a year to about 50 choreographers for the creation of new work.

"They make you feel that what you do is meaningful," says Maxine Steinman, who recently presented her work at the Joyce SoHo. "It's unbelievable how much they've helped my career."

Heather Harrington agrees. Her "Imitations of Drowning" premiered at Danspace Project's City/Dans series in the fall.

"It was very special to practice my own work there after rehearsing with (the Pearl Lang Dance Theater)," she says. "I felt like part of continuum."

Harrington and Steinman both performed their works-in-progress at Fridays @ Noon, a free, informal program that attracts community members, classrooms and the dance community.

While the Y has evolved from destination to launching pad over the years, the sense of community and support that young dancers express today has existed all along.

When asked about her fondest memory from her years spent dancing at the Y, choreographer and teacher Mary Anthony says, "When I premiered my seminal work, 'Threnody,' Doris Humphrey took my hand and said, 'That was a fine work.'"

The 87-year-old Anthony pauses, laughing. "So, of course, I didn't wash my hand for a week."