Since its debut in 2009, Velocity DC has been the premiere festival of dance each season in Washington, DC. Company | E Co-Artistic Director Paul Gordon Emerson, along with the Washington Ballet's Septime Webre, Washington Performing Arts, the Shakespeare Theate Company and the DC Commission on the Arts lead the creation of Velocity as a way of showing what's best in dance in the DC Metro area while at the same time giving artists the chance to fully stage their work on one of Washington's premiere stages -- Sidney Harman Hall in downtown.

This year, Company | E presents AIR, a dance conceived by Mr. Emerson and created with Mr. Emerson, Kathryn Sydell Pilkington, Robert J. Priore, Alicia Canterna, Vanessa Owen and Gavin Stewart as choreographic collaborators.

Mr. Stewart, Company | E's Composer-in-Residence, arranged the Second Movement of Henryk Gorecki's "Symphony of Sorrowful Songs," for Gospel Choir, transforming it from a work of deep sorrow to one of possibility and hope. Sung live by the Children of the Gospel Choir, the score itself is a powerful evocation of what happens when music and movement are combined live.

2016 is also a remarkable year for Company | E's artists at Velocity. Mr. Priore presents excerpts from his "Speak Easy," on the Main Stage. Mr. Stewart and Company | E's Abby Leithart are a part of VELOCITY RAMP!

All-in-All Company E's artists bring four works to the Festival.