Dance Iquail Will Perform in the New York Premiere of PUBLIC ENEMY at Ailey Cirigroup Theatre

DANCE IQUAIL!, director/choreographer Iquail Shaheed, will return to New York City for its 16th season with the world premiere of PUBLIC ENEMY, a 90-minute work that uses the setting of incarceration to showcase the humanity of black men and the diversity of their humanity.

Three performances, April 21 & 22 are at the Ailey Citigroup Theater, 405 West 55th Street.

The Philadelphia-based community dance work by Shaheed explores black male identity in the context of social issues that disproportionateoly affect Black men, particularly policing, incarceration, and racialized violence. The work will be performed in a variety of venues, in theaters and alternate spaces for, and with, Black youth from the area of Mantua in West Philadelphia.

"Public Enemy" has been created in collaboration with civil rights leader William Cobb, storyteller Daniel Carlton, costume designer Jermaine Terry, technical director Michael Jarrett, and composer Jo Jo Streater. Nine black male dancers with culturally diverse backgrounds will complete the cast.

Dr. IQUAIL SHAHEED - Lenni-Lenape area; Philadelphia, PA

Dr. Iquail Shaheed is a Philadelphia-based artist, activist, and the executive artistic director of DANCE IQUAIL! through which he creates new works and programs that centers on Blackness, Justice, and Joy. Dr. Shaheed has worked with internationally acclaimed companies such as Philadanco, Compagnie Thor (Brussels), Sean Curran Company, Ronald K Brown/ Evidence, and the Fred Benjamin Dance Company. He has also appeared in various Broadway productions including The Lion King, Hot Feet, and Super Fly. As an educator, Iquail preserves the Horton Technique by serving on faculty at The Ailey School, NAISDA Dance College in Australia, and is the second Black man to receive tenure and promotion to associate professor at Goucher College in their 137-year-history. Among his many honors are grants from the National Endowment for the Arts, Andrew W. Mellon Foundation, New England Foundation for the Arts, MAP Fund, national performance network, the Philadelphia Dance Award - "The Rocky," and the Marion D. Cuyjet Award.

Dr. Shaheed received his training as a scholarship student at many prestigious schools including the Philadelphia Dance Company - Philadanco, Alvin Ailey American Dance Center, The Martha Graham Center for Contemporary Dance, Paul Taylor School, The Juilliard School and Pennsylvania Ballet, among many others. He received a Bachelor of Fine Arts degree in ballet performance from the University of the Arts, and a Master of Fine Arts degree in Choreography from Purchase College.

Dr. Shaheed is the first Black Male to earn a Doctor of Philosophy degree in dance from Texas Woman's University. In addition to his dance career, Shaheed always wanted to add one more credit to his resume - a PhD. "I always wanted one since I was a kid," Shaheed said. "There is so much I can do in my community, being a Black person from Philly with a PhD. How it can teach the world in general, just different cultural connections, cultural contexts, document those works in various ways.

To bring attention to the way my community has been working." Shaheed proudly serves on the board of directors for the International Association of Blacks in Dance, where he was the elected board treasurer. He is also a board member with Dance/USA and the Stockton Bartol Rush Foundation.