Revival 2025: From the Oaks or Righteousness; Seeds Towards The Good News
A Performance Workshop featuring professional and youth artists working together in process
Sat Oct 25th 8pm
Sun Oct 26th 2pm (includes a pre-show ritual starting at 1:45pm)
@Dancewave
182 4th Ave, Brooklyn, NY 11217
$20.00- General Admission
Ticket Link: https://www.eventbrite.com/manage/events/1695846655999/details
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This has been a year of change; it has been landmarked by quick storms of upheaval, and has taken me into the pits of “the why” of “the work”. Through the hustle and bustle of 2025 I have found a place of solace, I have become smitten with finding ways to continue. I have re-rooted myself to the histories that tell of perseverance. I am dedicated to making in service.
This year’s Revival is an ode to the firm foundations that hold me tight. It is a gathering inspired by the power of standing tall, without doubt, through mourning, and in spite of despair. From these works my hope is to sow seeds of goodness, to spread the news that we, I, you, are capable of resilience, strength, and uninhabited, boundless joy! I hope these moments, this sharing, blesses you with the free falling feeling of faith, and that we are all able to find our roots so that we can grow together.
to bestow on them a crown of beauty
instead of ashes,
the oil of joy
instead of mourning,
and a garment of praise
instead of a spirit of despair.
They will be called oaks of righteousness,
a planting of the Lord
for the display of his splendor.
Isaiah 61:3
This evening includes multiple works choreographed by Johnnie Cruise Mercer including two works in process (Mercies of a Butterfly, and An Ode to Rescue) and new works performed by young artists from Dancewave Company II (Brooklyn, NY), Henrico High School’s Center for the Arts Dance Ensemble (Henrico, VA), and alum from the Appomattox Regional Governor’s School (Petersburg, VA).
Revival 2025 was made possible through the Movement Research Artist-in-Residence Program. The program is funded, in part, by the New York State Council on the Arts with the support of the Office of the Governor and the New York State Legislature, by public funds from the New York City Department of Cultural Affairs in partnership with the City Council, the Davis/Dauray Family Fund, and the Harkness Foundation for Dance. The educational workshops were sponsored and supported through The Pioneer’s Go East Education Program. The evening is further produced and financially supported by TheREDprojectNYC.
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About the Featured Youth Companies
Dancewace II Company
Performing The Distance of Release
A spacious dance training program that builds ability, artistic integrity, and leadership skills, the Dancewave Company Program celebrates young artists for who they are and supports them in becoming who they want to be.
Incorporating technique classes, rehearsals with renowned choreographers, performance and choreographic opportunities, and intentional community-building through movement, our proven effective training provides dancers with leadership development, individual mentoring, and restorative whole-person education.
Through their time in the program, company members grow into confident dancers and empowered individuals ready to make their voices heard: in the studio, on the stage, and beyond.
Henrico High School’s Center for the Arts Dance Ensemble
Performing TheNumniousTree.
The Henrico Center for the Arts was established in 1990 as Henrico County’s first high school specialty center. The program serves as Henrico County’s leading performing and visual arts center by providing intensive, in-depth arts training in dance, musical theatre, theatre and visual arts. CFA students can obtain and maintain the highest level of artistic and academic achievement in their specialized arts curriculum, enhanced by state-of-the-art facilities, resident and guest faculties, numerous performance and internship opportunities and arts-infused core academic courses. The center employs a rigorous program of study that meets and exceeds VDOE standards for a Virginia high school diploma and prepares students to pursue the arts in higher education and arts-related careers.
The Appomattox Regional Governor’s School of the Arts and Technology
Featuring Alum Angelita Lind, and Kimini Mason
performing let loose & let love
Through integration of a well-founded liberal arts education with intensive focus upon specific artistic or technological discipline, The Appomattox Regional Governor’s School for the Arts and Technology provides gifted and talented students a differentiated and rigorous education, cultivates a supportive environment that inspires unique artistic and technological visions, promotes cultural tolerance, nurtures community partnerships, and produces active, engaged citizens.
About the Work in Process
Mercies of a Butterfly is a one act dance theater work, performed and created by Johnnie Cruise Mercer. A movement allegory about resilience, the work follows a recently born spirit as it contends with the weight of change. The solo includes performances by Robert McSweeney (Horn player), and Jean Charlot (Drummer), and includes Visual Design/Creative Direction by long time collaborator Torian Ugworji. In this bare-bone rendition of the work, Mercer workshops the material in preparation for its full premiere in Jan 2026.
An Ode to Rescue!, is a short ensemble work carrying messages of safety, recuperation, and hope. A lyrical dance consisting of a simple, yet meticulous, movement score, the short work will have its full premiere in May 2026.
Both works are a part of The Good News, a set of choreographies honoring maker Johnnie Cruise Mercer’s upbringing in the Black Baptist church. Inspired by Bible scriptures orally passed down to Mercer from his childhood, the works are each intentionally crafted to guide communities through the grief of today while leading them towards the sensations/tools/the state of letting go.
These works have been in development for the past two years through the Movement Research Artist-in-Residence Program. The program is funded, in part, by the New York State Council on the Arts with the support of the Office of the Governor and the New York State Legislature, by public funds from the New York City Department of Cultural Affairs in partnership with the City Council, the Davis/Dauray Family Fund, and the Harkness Foundation for Dance. The work was furthered while in residence at Queenborough Community College as a Cuny Dance Initiative 2025/2026 Artists in Residence. The work is further produced and financially supported by TheREDprojectNYC. The full set of works are set to premiere as a part of the 92NY Harkness Dance Center's 2026/2027 Season.description