Lydia Johnson Dance and Maplewood Arts & Culture Present Free Dance Performance on March 23 in Honor of Women’s History Month
Written by Lydia Johnson Dance School March 19, 2025
On Sunday, March 23 at 3:00pm at The Woodland, 60 Woodland Rd, Maplewood NJ, a very special dance performance will take place featuring three dance groups performing all original choreography.
The performance features the professional Lydia Johnson Dance (LJD) Company. Known for seamlessly weaving components of ballet into a contemporary dance vocabulary, LJD has garnered consistent praise from esteemed publications such as The New York Times, The New Yorker, Backstage Magazine, Dance View Times and Oberon’s Grove. Most recently, LJD was featured in Dance Informa, leading up to the company’s 25th anniversary in 2024. Writer Renata Ogayar noted, “Over the years, Lydia Johnson’s vision has evolved and Johnson has built a distinctive repertoire known for its emotional depth, fluid movement and profound connection to music.” The New Yorker has commented: “Johnson is a craftsman and a poet” Lydia Johnson Dance is honored to have received a recent Maplewood Foundation Grant. The New Jersey Council on the Arts Individual Artist program has awarded Ms. Johnson both a Finalist and a Fellowship award in recent years.
Performing alongside the professionals will be the LJD Student Company in a work they have choreographed themselves. The piece will be performed twice during the program to two different pieces of music. The Student Company members study ballet and modern dance, as well as engaging in a serious choreography and composition curriculum designed by Ms. Johnson. The LJD School is an alternative to commercial dance education and as a nonprofit donates $20,000 annually in scholarships.
Also presenting a dance will be members of the Columbia High School dance troupe known historically as Special Dance. LJD is very excited to join with Special Dance for this event.
The LJD Company will present Legacy, which is set to an arrangement of minimalist composer Terry Riley’s IN C (1964), and features a central trio and four young dancers from the LJD School. After the company premiered Legacy at the Graham Studio Theater this past December, esteemed dance critic Philip Gardner wrote in Oberon’s Grove, “I immediately recognized it as one of Lydia’s masterpieces, not least because of the unexpected allure of the music. There’s a narrative here, but a subtle one.”
AFTERNOON DANCES will take place this Sunday, March 23 at 3pm, at the Woodland in Maplewood. The event is free and open to the public.