“The Imagining, a full-scale choreographic takeover,” reads a notice for the culminating spectacle this season at the new Powerhouse Arts multiplex in formerly skanky Gowanus, Brooklyn. Indeed, the plan masterminded by Amari “Monster” Marshall, one of Beyoncé’s stadium-show choreographers, is scarily ambitious as well as far out. First, there’s the sheer scale: four dance platforms at opposite ends of the massive former turbine hall, each with its own captain, crew, and style of street dance. The D.J. station hovers in the middle like a spaceship from another planet. Second is the social advance: the players are mostly women—Black women—in a dance field long lorded over by men. Finally, this “dance utopia” lets performance bleed into dance party. The platformed professionals may own the moves—offering them up for admiration and emulation—but everyone is dancing. —Apollinaire Scherr
Arts Intel Report
Powerhouse: International / The Imagining, by Amari Marshall
Choreographer Amari “Monster” Marshall.
When
Dec 12–13, 2025
Where
Etc
Stage
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Powerhouse Arts
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New York
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Closing Soon
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Hip-hop
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Dance
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Black culture
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Live performance
Photo: Mazi Smazi