Videos 2022 & 2021
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Nutcracker with Westchester Ballet Company
December 16, 17 & 18, 2022.
Lehman Center for the performing arts, 250 Bedford Park Blvd West Bronx, New York.
Over 60 years of classical tradition of Westchester Ballet Company.
Music by Pytor Ilyich Tchaikovsky
Choreography by Beth Fritz-Logrea & Jean Logrea
Arabian divertissement.
Principal dancers: Elisa Toro Franky and Nick Logrea Zes
From Voiceover to Dancing as the Snow Queen in one day...
Principal dancers: Elisa Toro Franky and Dannys Gonzalez.
FJK DANCE ON STAGE AT KINGSBOROUGH
December 3, 2022
On stage at Kingsborough, 2001 Oriental Boulevard, Brooklyn, NY
FJK Dance takes the stage with two visually stunning dances set to the iconic music of Bizet’s Carmen and Ravel’s Bolero, and the World Premiere of "Off Limits," a multimedia work featuring live painting, music, and contemporary dance. Part of the 2022-23 CUNY Dance Initiative.
Fadi J. Khoury’s unique style, both as a dancer and choreographer, showcases his unique fusion of dance genres, from classical ballet to ballroom to Middle Eastern and jazz. FJK Dance’s classically trained dancers have toured nationally and internationally, from China to Japan and from Lebanon to New York City’s New York Live Arts
Galeras con mirada de mujer (Galleys with a woman's gaze)
November 23, 2022.
Interview to Elisa Toro Franky by Rita Mendoza (part 1 and part 2).
Summary: ELISA TORO FRANKY, a Bogotana who carries the art of dancing in her veins and in her heart. Professional dancer, teacher, choreographer who has positioned herself in the world as one of the best Latin dancers, and for her position it was not easy. Discipline and passion and a lot of love for what she does are her motto to get ahead.
She has a little piece of her heart in love in this Caribbean world, in the Sucreña savannah, especially in Sincé. Today she tells us her story.
Part 1
Part 2
Accent Dance gala: Art with Heart
November 12, 2022.
Ballet Arts Center for Dance, 130 West 56th Street, New York, NY 10019
As we begin the fifth year of Accent Dance NYC, we are strengthening our educational initiatives and expanding our commitment to reaching more young people in marginalized and underserved communities. What’s different this year? We are directly engaging students to nurture their power to raise awareness and spark change through their own art-based and community-building projects on urgent environmental and social justice issues.
The evening will invite Accent Dance NYC students to share the stage with our professional ensemble, and also present a new contemporary ballet work, La Bella Cubana, by Cuban choreographer Pedro Ruíz.
La Bella Cubana.
Dancers: Elisa Toro Franky & Leonel Linares
Dancing My Way.
Dancers: Elisa Toro Franky & Steven Vilsaint
FJK Dance Gala
November 11, 2022.
Here Elisa goes from Ballet to Salsa, from pointe shoes to heels, as Fadi Khoury choreographed this uniqueness for the FJK Dance Gala.
Music by Klazz Brothers.
Video: Christian Figueroa De la Ossa.
FJK SEASON 2022
October 13 - 15, 2022.
New York Live Arts, 219 west 19th street, New York
Visual art meets contemporary dance in a cross-cultural dialogue. FJK Dance celebrates its eighth anniversary season at NEW YORK LIVE ART. Live music, painting, and dance. The program includes the world premiere of TWO, a preview of OFF LIMITS, and FORBIDDEN solo.
Choreography, editing and design by Fadi J Khoury.
Video by Angelo Vasta.
Photography by Jaqlin Medlock
Off Limits - FJK Dance 2022
A multimedia project exploring challenges of authenticity in the face of social norms.
Music includes selections from Claude Debussy and Gaspar Casado and Bach in addition to original Arabic percussion score by Gilbert Mansour and electronic sound design by Mal Stein.
Lighting and projection design: Calvin Anderson. Animation: James Daher
October 7, 2022.
In-school educational performance celebrating the month of Hispanic heritage with choreographer David Fernández and photographer Lori Carlton.
Multidisciplinary collaborations are at the heart of new ideas, images, and ways of expressing our shared humanity.
La Pollera Colorá
Alebrijes
Stefan Paolini & Elisa Toro Franky
July 9 (7pm & 9:30pm), 2022.
Minton's playhouse, 206 West 118th Street.
Eclectic piano meets South american, folkloric ballet! Colombia meets Italian Harlem along the Danube!
Performers: Elisa Toro Franky – Dance & Poetry, Stefan Paolini – Piano & Vocals, Simon Pajaro – Sax, Alejandro Becerra – Bass Guitar, Lamine Thiam – Djembe, Xiomara Nino – Percussion & Vocals
rehearsal
performance
Dance With Bach
May 20 (7:30pm) & May 21 (2pm & 7:30pm), 2022.
Good Shepherd-Faith Presbyterian Church. 152 W 66th St, New York.
Christopher Caines’s choreography is rooted in classical ballet, but his movement vocabulary is wide ranging. Dance with Bach incorporates elements from flamenco, tango, Hindu bharatanatyam, Scottish traditional, and even a bit of baroque dance, all intricately interwoven with Bach’s musical motifs and structures.
Performed live by The Sebastians orchestra.
Dancers: Elisa Toro Franky, Michael Bishop, Genaro Freire, Jeremy Kyle, Michelle Vargo, Leigh Schanfein.
rehearsal
Performance
El Puente Presente: ¡Manifest!
April 9, 2022.
Williamsburg, Brooklyn, New York.
El Puente Presente celebrates Women's History Month with a full day of in-person workshops and artistic performances. This year's theme is Radical Resilience.
Elisa has danced "La Pollera Colorá".
Art Bath performance at the Blue Building
March 26, 2022.
222 E. 46th St, New York.
Elisa has danced in Art Bath: it is a new monthly performance series that fosters artistic community, exploration, and exchange. Art Bath presents an eclectic spectrum of artists in a raw and intimate environment.
Spring Musicale
March 10 at 7 pm, 2022.
Bohemian National Hall. 321 East 73rd St, 3rd Fl, New York.
A Fusion of Music, Poetry and Dance. Organized by DAHA (Dvorak American Heritage Association).
La Bella Cubana, choreographed by Pedro Jr. Ruiz, is performed by Leonel Linares and Elisa Toro Franky.
Performance in the House of Culture of Sincé (Colombia)
December 29, 2021.
Casa de la Cultura de Sincé (Colombia)
Ballet & La Pollera Colorá in Sincé, Colombia, to infuse joy and cultural richness at the turn of the year.
Guest artists : Elisa Toro Franky, Shoko Tamai
Organizer: Hugo Sierra (director of the House of Culture of Sincé)
Mad World
La Pollera Colorá
Martial arts and ballet (choreography : Shoko Tamai)
Westchester Ballet Company's Nutcracker season
December 17, 18 and 19, 2021.
Lehman Center for the performing arts, 250 Bedford Park Blvd West Bronx, New York.
Westchester Ballet Company has over 60 years of classical tradition.
Elisa Toro Franky is a featured guest artist in the roles of Snow Queen (see minutes 31 to 39) and Arabian dance (see minutes 51 to 55).
Other guest artists: Dannys González and Nick Logrea.
Un Pedazo de Cielo
November 13, 2021.
A music and dance collaboration. An inspiration in a ephemeral instant of sun over a rooftop in Washington Heights, New York.
Music and Lyrics: J.R. Sastre (from Puerto Rico).
Dance and choreography: Elisa Toro Franky.
November 6 at 7:30 pm, 2021.
Pelham Picture House, 175 Wolfs Lane, Pelham, New York 10803.
Unique works by David Fernandez, Lucia Jackson , Dardo Galletto, and more! All funds will go toward Access Quality Arts Education in underserved communities.
FJK Dance Season 2021
October 7, 8 and 9, 2021.
New York Live Arts, 219 West 19th Street, New York.
Celebrating seven years of dance, RESET is a full evening program dedicated to all those lost during this pandemic. RESET is a full evening program dedicated to our beloved founding member and inspirational human being Genevieve Young, her legacy lives through the FJK Dance mission and our commitment to creating positive change.
Choreographer and Artistic Director: Fadi Khoury.
Principal dancer: Elisa Toro Franky.
Music: Schubert’s Piano Trio in E-Flat, Bolero of Ravel.
BOLERO 2021
A contemporary dance piece created by Fadi Khoury to the iconic music of Maurice Ravel. It was commissioned by the Nakanishi Ballet Company in Kyoto, Japan and first performed by the Company on April 14, 2019
Music: Maurice Ravel
MIRAGE 2021
Human stories from the Middle East.
Music: Schubert, piano trio in E-flat
Dancers: Tim Ward, Sarita Apel, Estefano Gil, Elisa Toro Franky and Fadi J Khoury
Video by Angelo Vasta
Accent Dance NYC: The Gift of the Alebrijes for Hispanic Heritage Month
September 17, 2021.
Teatro LATEA in Manhattan, New York.
Internationally renowned Mexican choreographer David Fernández's new work highlights a child's journey through the pandemic, Mexican folk art, mythical creatures, and the importance of family.
Choreographer: David Fernandez
Commissioned by Accent Dance NYC.
September 12, 2021.
Bronx Music Hall Plaza, New York.
A dance tribute to Héctor Lavoe presented in the South Bronx community where Héctor himself lived and worked. He still lives and sings among us.
Choreography: Elisa Toro Franky
Dancers: Alonso Guzmán, Agostina Mocibob, Leonel Linares, Sarita Apel, Andrés Bravo
Music composed by Miguel Ángel Amadeo, Vocals by Héctor Lavoe.
Hosted by Bronx Music Heritage Center. Live music by Oreste "Kidd Ore" Abrantes Jr and his band.
Sancocho LIVE from #RestartStages at Lincoln Center
September 16, 2021.
Lincoln Center Damrosch Park, New York.
For Sancocho, a musical theater work starring, conceived and co-written by Rhina Valentin, the Latin American and Caribbean culinary community is personified by way of the titular meat and vegetable stew that serves as both Rhina's personal COVID coping mechanism and the play's central metaphor. Featuring an all-woman Latina cast and a four-piece band, Sancocho brings Valentin's experience to vibrant life in a celebration of the power of ancestry and food as medicine alongside the artistry of jazz soulstress Jenn Jade Ledesna, bachatera Andre Veloz, tap dance sensation Michela Marino Lerman and la ballerina Elisa Toro Franky.
Aired on TV Bronxnet.
A short and vibrant clip from "Sancocho" (2 minutes)
"Sancocho" full show (1 hour)
Requiem
July 23, 2021.
Boricua College, 3755 Broadway, New York.
Dancer: Elisa Toro Franky
Choreography: Shoko Tamai, Artistic Director of Ninja Ballet
Music: Requiem Lacrimosa by Mozart
ABUN-DANCE by Ninja Ballet
June 29, 2021.
Chashama Anita's Way, New York.
Principal Performers: Shoko Tamai, Elisa Toro Franky, Seira Kiyono. See in video: minutes 17-34, 44-46, 55-59.
Choreography: Shoko Tamai, Artistic Director of Ninja Ballet
NINJA BALLET seeks to stimulate cross-cultural learning and environmental awareness through dance, music, and visual arts, while inspiring a new generation of enlightened movement artists.
iHeartDance NYC - Sophisticated Lady
June 14, 2021.
At Empire Hotel Rooftop, 44 West 63rd Street, New York.
Performed by Elisa Toro Franky and Fadi Khoury
Choreography, Lucia Jackson for Accent Dance NYC | Music, Duke Ellington, arranged by Lucia Jackson and Ron Jackson.
iHeartDance NYC is a new initiative founded by dance activists Melissa Gerstein and Kimberly Giannelli to celebrate and support the dance artists of New York City through performance opportunities and financial relief.
Mad World & Given (Piano and Dance)
May 2021.
These are two of three piano arrangements choreographed and shot during the pandemic in NYC funded by the IndieGoGo Campaign entitled Transmutations: From Fear to Joy.
First song: Mad World by Tears for Fears—with a reference to I Will Survive by Gloria Gaynor.
Second song: Given, by Ben Wigler.
Music: Stefan Paolini - Pianist, Arranger
Choreography: Elisa Toro Franky.
Director: Ben Wigler. Videographer: Angelo Vasta. Audio Engineer: Steve Mecca.
Filmed at Our Savior's Atonement in NYC
Dancer: Elisa Toro Franky
Dancers: Shoko Tami and Elisa Toro Franky