• COMING UP NEXT

    April 12-13, 2024: David premieres a new group work as part of the "Take Root" series at Green Space (Long Island City, NY)

    Stay tuned...additional performances and projects are on the way!

    RECENT

    November 3-5, 2023: the premiere of Backchannel, a collaboration between David Appel and composer/sound artist John Morton, with dancers Randy Burd, Cecilia Fontanesi, Ava Heller, and Elise Knudson, at The Doxsee at Target Margin Theater (Brooklyn, NY). Also, the premieres of Morton’s Driving Across the Prairie (based on a story by Ed Dorn) and Appel's solo The Stories This Time.

    June 24, 2023: an informal showing of the in-progress 2023 collaboration between David Appel, composer/sound artist John Morton, and four other dancers at 115 Wooster, New York, NY. With dancers Randy Burd, Cecilia Fontanesi, Ava Heller, and Elise Knudson.

    June 10, 2023: the premiere of A Book of Small and Larger Things, a 12-minute solo created and performed by David Appel, as part of the American Dance Guild's "Bare Bones" at the Alvin Ailey Dance Center (New York, NY).

    May 20, 2023: Unpredictably Yours - the first manifestation of a new NYSCA-funded collaboration between David Appel, composer/sound artist John Morton, and four other dancers, presented at the Garner Arts Center in Garnerville, NY. With Randy Burd, Cecilia Fontanesi, Ava Heller, and Elise Knudson.

    June 18, 2022: this is how I remember it (again) - a 50-minute-long presentation at 100 Grand, New York, NY. With Randy Burd, Ava Heller, Jenni Hong, Elise Knudson, and David Appel.

    June 4, 2022: the premiere of the threads find their weave, an 8-1/2 minute work for 5 performers (Randy Burd, Ava Heller, Jenni Hong, Elise Knudson, and Efrén Olson-Sánchez) composed by David Appel, as part of Bridge for Dance's Uptown Rising (New York, NY)

    May 14, 2022: the premiere of this is how I remember it, a compendium of multiple short pieces presented like successive jazz music sets, performed by Randy Burd, Ava Heller, Jenni Hong, Elise Knudson, Efrén Olson-Sánchez, and David Appel from 5:30-8:30pm at The Coop (Beacon, NY), in conjunction with the "Second Saturdays" gallery walk.

    March 5, 2020: the premiere of Reasons for Moving Briskly, a 10-minute-long solo created and performed by David Appel, as part of the DeGarmo Salon Performance Series.

    May 6, 2019: the premiere of thank u for your support, a 17-minute work for 7 performers, under the auspices of Movement Research at the Judson Church (New York, NY). With Randy Burd, Ava Heller, Jenni Hong, Elise Knudson, Allison Knuth, Efrén Olson-Sánchez, and David Appel.

    November 16-17, 2018: The 34-minute premiere of Where we are, what we do, for 7 performers, as part of the Take Root series at Green Space (Long Island City, NY). With Randy Burd, Kelley Donovan, Ava Heller, Jenni Hong, Allison Knuth, Efrén Olson-Sánchez, and David Appel.

    July 20-21, 2018: The premiere of The Speed of Sound, an approximately 10-minute-long solo created and performed by David Appel, at The Mark O'Donnell Theater at The Actors Fund Arts Center (Brooklyn, NY). [Part of the Brooklyn Ballet's annual First Look festival.]

    December 5, 2017: the premiere of close at hand (starry night), a 23-minute-long solo created and performed by David Appel, at Dixon Place (New York, NY).

    March 17 and 19, 2017: the 40-minute-long Little Dances in Uncertain Times, with Darla Stanley, Jenni Hong, Elise Knudson, Megan Harrold, and David Appel, premiered as part of a Split Bill at Triskelion Arts (Brooklyn, NY).

    November 3, 2015: the premiere of sparks off the tips of our fingers, a 25-minute-long solo created and performed by David Appel, at Dixon Place (New York, NY).

    May 9, 2015: Off the Shelf (a bookstore project) was premiered at the P.S. Bookshop in Brooklyn, NY, with dancers David Appel and Darla Stanley, and actor/reader Eric Chase. Each of the four approximately 15-minute-long sets featured new short pieces made from diverse mixes of set and improvised dancing, at times weaving in original and encountered text.

    May 9-10, 2014: The World is Spinning (and so are we), a new 52-minute work comprised of numerous short small group pieces for 5 dancers, was premiered at the Emily Harvey Foundation in New York, NY. The performances were notable for (among other things) the audience's placement in the middle of the space, so that the action unfolded around and above them. With Ellen Smith Ahern, Jenni Hong, Hannah Seidel, Darla Stanley, and David Appel.

    June 5, 2013: David, his current work, and the trajectory of his 40-year career were the subject of an hour-long edition of New Arts Alive on Berks Community Television (BCTV) in Reading, PA. He was interviewed by James Carroll, Director of the New Arts Program in Kutztown, PA.

    June 4, 2013: more than a murmur, David's third collection of new short pieces for a small group of dancers, premiered on opening night of the Dance Conversations 2013 festival at the Flea Theater (New York, NY). With Ellen Smith Ahern, Hannah Seidel, Darla Stanley, and David Appel.

    April 2, 2013: the long and short of it, a second collection of new relatively short small group pieces, was premiered as part of the Under Exposed series at Dixon Place (New York, NY). With Ellen Smith Ahern, Jenni Hong, Hannah Seidel, Darla Stanley, and David Appel.

    January 30—February 2, 2013: Five by Five (moon she be struttin), David's first collection of new short small group pieces, was performed on 5 shared programs to mostly packed houses as part of RAW Directions at Dance New Amsterdam (New York, NY). With Ava Heller, Jenni Hong, Hannah Seidel, Darla Stanley, and David Appel.

  • Photo Credits:

    Home Page photo by Alvydas Urbanas

    About preview photos: 1 - Stephanie Crousillat, 2 - still from video by Quentin Burley, 3 - Mark Von Holden, 4 - still from video by Penny Ward

    His dancing and dances generally pages 1 and 2 and the group work pages 1, 2, 3, and 4 photos by Stephanie Crousillat

    The solos pages 1, 2, 3, and 4 photos by Billie-Grace Ward

    Collaborations page 1 is a still from video by Valerie Green; page 2 is a photo by Suzanne Nicholas; page 3 is a still from video by Penny Ward; page 4 is a photo by Stephen Jesmajian

    Home Visits page 1 photo by Bobbie Aldridge; page 2 photo by Jim Willet

    All press photos by Mark Von Holden

    Teaching page 1 - Still from video by Penny Ward; page 2 photo by Bobbie Aldridge