Dimensions Dance Theatre of Miami And The Facets of Contemporary Ballet

Dimensions Dance Theatre of Miami dancers in “Chopin Variations” by choreographer Samuel Kurkjian. The company performs on Saturday, Nov. 16 at the Dennis C. Moss Cultural Arts Center, South Miami.  (Photo courtesy of Simon Soong, courtesy of Dimensions Dance Theatre of Miami)

Since its founding in 2016, Dimensions Dance Theatre of Miami has consistently spotlighted new ballets created by contemporary, cutting-edge choreographers in an art form that often showcases works created centuries ago.

The company’s Saturday, Nov. 16 program at the Dennis C. Moss Cultural Arts Center features three premieres: The Miami debut of Samuel Kurkjian’s “Chopin Variations,” the company premiere of “Something to Remember You By” by Chicago-based choreographer Stephanie Martinez, and “Surrender,” a poignant duet by Jerry Opdenaker.

The evening closes with a high-energy reprisal of “Imagined Notions” by Yanis Pikieris, DDTM’s artist-in-residence.

“If I had to title the program I might name it ‘Facets’ because I think each work represents a different facet of what ballet has become in the 20th century and a hint at where it’s going,” explains Jennifer Kronenberg, who is co-artistic director of the company with husband Carlos Guerra.

Kurkjian’s “Chopin Variations” is the most traditional work in the forward-leaning program.  Set to the piano solos of Polish composer, Frédéric Chopin (1810-1849), the 14-minute work features DDTM dancers Emily Bromberg, Maikel Hernandez, Chloe Freytag, Mayrel Martinez, Selah Jane Oliver, Paulina Zambrana, Jessica Arechavaleta and Amelia Rouff.

Kurkjian joined Boston Ballet in 1968 serving as a principal dancer and the company’s first resident choreographer before teaching at the Walnut Hill School in Boston until his death in 2013.

“Chopin Variations” finds its way into the DDTM program through its relationship with Ballet Vero Beach.   Adam Schnell, founder and artistic director of BVB, attended the Walnut Hill School and was Kurkjian’s student.  Schnell cites the reason for the choreographer’s enduring relevance in his teacher’s musicality.

“Sam studied choreography with George Balanchine while on a Ford Foundation fellowship,” says Schnell referring to the legendary New York City Ballet artistic director and choreographer.  “They (Balanchine and Kurkjian) are very similar in the way they break down steps and energies and accents.”

Co-artistic director Guerra says that when he first saw Kurkjian’s piece it recalled his own time dancing “Allegro Brillante,” referring to the Balanchine masterwork.

“All my memories of dancing Balanchine works came flooding back.  For some of my dancers like Emily and Chloe,” he said referring to DDTM dancers, Emily Bromberg and Chloe Freytag, “this makes them so happy since they have also been Balanchine trained at Miami City Ballet.”

A late addition to the November program is the DDTM debut of “Surrender,” a poignant duet set to the music of Mark O’Connor and choreographed by Jerry Opdenaker, artistic director and founder of Palm Beach County’s O Dance.

“(Jerry) was inspired by a painting by Nigel Van Wieck,” says Kronenberg. Van Wieck is a contemporary American realist artist whose paintings are frequently compared to those of Edward Hopper. “The painting is of a couple with the man standing in silhouette in the foreground and a woman sprawled in the background.”

The choreographer conceived the duet as a conversation between the two leading up to the moment captured in the painting and the ballet closes by recreating its scene.  Melissa Verdecia and Rafael Ruiz del Vizo will dance the work for the company.

The program also includes the company premiere of “Something to Remember You By.”  Martinez originally created “Something to Remember You By” for Tulsa Ballet II, the semi-professional company of Tulsa Ballet, which premiered the work in September 2021.  The ballet features twelve dancers – seven women and five men – and is set to music by Johann Sebastian Bach, Frédéric Chopin, Felix Mendelssohn and Pyotr Ilyich Tchaikovsky.

The inspiration for the piece was the choreographer’s grief over the loss of her mother.  “I almost canceled the commission with Tulsa Ballet II because it occurred just weeks after (her passing),” she explains.  “Then I decided that I am just going to do this because I need to.  I was deeply myself in that moment and wanted to celebrate what happens to a person when they are going through a stage of grief.”

Martinez has worked previously with Joffrey Ballet, Ballet Hispanico and Nashville Ballet, among others.  In 2020, she launched PARA.MAR Dance Theatre in Chicago, dedicated to amplifying diverse voices in contemporary ballet.

The November program closes with “Imagined Notions,” a 25-minute work in five movements set to music by Welsh composer, Karl Jenkins, and danced by the company.

Last performed by DDTM in 2019 at the renowned Jacob’s Pillow dance festival in the Berkshires of Massachusetts, this high-energy piece was originally created by Pikieris in 2002 while he was with Miami’s Maximum Dance Company, which he co-founded in 1996 with David Palmer. The two are former Miami City Ballet dancers.

Both Kronenberg and Guerra say they connected viscerally with the piece as young dancers when they were beginning their careers with Miami City Ballet.

“I had just turned 18,” says Kronenberg,  “and I have very vivid memories of being starstruck by some of the principal soloists and dancers in the company.”

As those dancers retired from MCB, many of them found a new home in Maximum Dance.

“Maximum was just a bouquet of superstars to me, and I wanted to be like all of them,” added Kronenberg.

The choreographer himself notes how much the piece has grown since its 2019 premiere with DDTM.

“The piece has evolved over the time I’ve had to play with it, and I adapt it to the abilities of the performers I work with,” says Pikieris.  “The piece used to be a series of duets but now it’s more of a group piece.  It makes fun use of large black boxes at the beginning where the ladies sit and wait for the guys who are late.  When they arrive, the pure fun begins.”

WHAT: Dimensions Dance Theatre of Miami’s “Fall Performance”

 WHERE: The Dennis C. Moss Cultural Arts Center Main Stage, 10950 SW 211 St., Miami

 WHEN: 8 p.m. Saturday, November 16

 COST: $25, $35 and $45

 INFORMATION: (786) 573-5300 or www.mosscenter.org.

ArtburstMiami.com is a nonprofit media source for the arts featuring fresh and original stories by writers dedicated to theater, dance, visual arts, film, music and more. Don’t miss a story at www.artburstmiami.com.

Sonia Franco, the flamenco dancer who is not afraid of ‘Ser.Rana,’ returns to Miami

Dancer Sonia Franco will present “Ser.Rana” on Saturday, Nov. 2 and Sunday, Nov. 3 at the Aventura Arts & Cultural Center. (Photo by Alberto Centella/courtesy of FUNDarte)

Like a jeweler who travels the world showing her most endearing filigree, the renowned producer and cultural promoter Begoña Fernández Pellicer (Santander, 1972) comes to Miami every year to participate in FUNDarte’s successful FL.Flamencos series, always accompanied by the most exquisite chamber flamenco “made in Spain.”

Throughout this last decade, the proposals she selected for her so-called “North American tour”—first with Fundación Casa Patas and now with Spain Flamenco Arts in association with the Federation of Andalusian Communities of Central Spain (FECACE)—have been characterized by being novel creations, often frankly risky, that have been imprinted in the memory of lovers of the genre and the general public.

“Lo Preciso’ (2023) by Rafael Ramirez, “No Borders” (2021) with Sara Perez and Ruben Puertas, “Raíz de 4” (2019) with Rafael Peral and Marisa Adame, “Reditum” (2018) by Jose Barrios and “Flamenco Frequencies” (2015) with Karen Lugo, are some beautiful examples.

This year promises to be no different, “Ser.Rana,” a show conceived and choreographed by dancer and actress Sonia Franco (Madrid, 1990), will be performed at 8 p.m., Saturday, Nov. 2 and 2 p.m., Sunday, Nov. 3 at Aventura Arts & Cultural Center.

From Spain, on Thursday, Oct. 10 (“We are leaving for Miami! From there to Puerto Rico!”), during their brief stopover at the Miami airport (“We just landed! Everything is perfect!”), while they have been going from city to city, we have kept in touch with Pellicer and Franco, exchanging questions and answers, photos and videos.

And that is when we learned about the beginnings of Pellicer’s collaboration with FUNDarte. “It was exactly in 2012. I traveled to Miami to present the show ‘Flamenco Algarabía’ by the great choreographer and dancer José Barrios,” says Pellicer. “I met Ever Chavez, and a working relationship and friendship arose that lasts until today. I hope this marriage lasts for many years. He and Carlos Caballero are the alma mater of an institution that works for and with culture in Miami.”

About the North American tours, Pellicer attests that they are “an open window to an increasingly cultured public eager to discover Flamenco. Incredibly, there is enthusiasm throughout the country and warmth with which they welcome us. I come to this country every year as if I were coming home.”

After performing in Puerto Rico, they were in Seattle, Walla Walla and Portland, before returning to Miami. Next, they will perform in Washington, DC, and the final will be in Chicago. “We’ll be an average of a week in each city, so we won’t be back in Spain until mid-November,” mentions Pellicer, without a hint of nostalgia.

The morning after the tour’s first performance, Pellicer told us it was “deluxe” while Franco confessed that she felt “as if she had given birth.” Those were her words. “That’s what it really is: You bring to light a creative proposal that you have been working on all year.”

For Franco, the tour is also the opportunity to return to Miami. ” For me, it is a gift that life has given me. I want to enjoy every moment.” In 2019, she performed at the Arsht Center with the show “Sombras” by Sara Baras’ company. “It was a wonderful experience. The public welcomed us with great affection. I loved the weather, the people in the streets playing basketball with the music. It’s another world for us.”

About Franco and “Ser.Rana,” Pellicer comments that it is a sui generis proposal. “Every year, I select one-of-a-kind proposals because I believe that variety is the spice of life.”

For her part, Franco affirms that “her” Flamenco is born from her experiences, “From my ancestors, from the influence of other artistic disciplines and from the mixture of multiple cultures with which I have collaborated throughout my career. There are many creative proposals in Spain, from the most traditional language to the most avant-garde. My line of work is inserted between these two aspects, without forgetting the tradition that must always be known and respected”.

Although its title seems to suggest that “Ser.Rana” is an anthropomorphic exercise or a work that addresses animal dysphoria, in reality, “it is an experience that transforms the movement and releases the desire to dance, like the water that cannot be contained, like the flow of the river that you have inside you and does not cease,” clarifies its creator.

The choreographer, winner of the second prize for “Solo” of the Madrid 2024 Spanish Dance and Flamenco Choreography Contest with her piece “Mujer de rojo sobre fondo gris” explains further: “The serrana is a style of flamenco, as we say in slang, a flamenco ‘palo,’ and with a serrana we open the show. So, it is a play on words. I admit frogs’ capacity to adapt to any medium, and my work has always had that characteristic. I can adapt to different languages, cultures, and styles”.

In fact, the phonetic joke in Spanish, resulting from using “serrana” (the song) and “ser.rana” (to be a frog), is lost in translation.

In “Ser.Rana,” Franco is accompanied by a guitarist, Alejandro Peralta; two cantaoras, Cristina Soler and Rosa Linero; and a percussionist, El Pepi. “They are great artists,” she exclaims,” what we affectionately say, ‘artistazos,’ a term used to identify people you respect professionally. They have an excellent background collaborating with various artists and developing their own creative projects.”

Franco says her mission is to give her all — to give everything she has to the audience.

“When I face the stage,” she reflects,” I always aim to go one step further, be honest, face my fears, and give my love and gratitude . . .” She concludes, “I wish that the public of ‘Ser.Rana’ remember this proposal in their hearts for a long time, just as I will always keep this time in Miami in my memory.”

WHAT: “Ser.Rana” by Sonia Franco

WHEN: 8 p.m., Saturday, Nov. 2, and 2 p.m., Sunday, Nov. 3

WHERE: Aventura Arts & Cultural Center, 3385 NE 188th St., Aventura

COST: Assigned seating at Level 1 is $42, Level 2 is $47, and children 14 and younger are $35

INFORMATION: (305) 466-8002 and (786)-348-0789 and www.FUNDarte.us

ArtburstMiami.com is a nonprofit media source for the arts featuring fresh and original stories by writers dedicated to theater, dance, visual arts, film, music and more. Don’t miss a story at www.artburstmiami.com.

 

Miami City Ballet’s Reimagined ‘Midsummer’s Night Dream’ Returns

Miami City Ballet’s premiered “A Midsummer Night’s Dream” in 2016 and opens its season this year at the Arsht Center in Miami Friday, Oct. 18 and at the Broward Center in Fort Lauderdale on Saturday, Nov. 3. Above, dancers from the 2018-2019 season production.  Choreography by George Balanchine © The George Balanchine Trust. (Photo courtesy of Alexander Iziliaev/Miami City Ballet)

A dream gains impact if it’s recurring. And for the third time in eight years, Miami City Ballet will regale us with one they’ve made their own. William Shakespeare first conjured it; Felix Mendelssohn scored it; and eventually George Balanchine choreographed it.

But now MCB’s “A Midsummer Night’s Dream” returns with its unique, wondrously subtropical setting when it opens at the Adrienne Arsht Center in Miami on Friday, Oct. 18 through Sunday, Oct. 20. And then in Fort Lauderdale at the Broward Center for the Performing Arts on Saturday, Nov. 2 and Sunday, Nov. 3.

Artistic director Lourdes Lopez had for years harbored a dream herself: to bring a fresh look to Balanchine’s1962 narrative masterpiece, animated by the choreographer’s intimate love of both the play and the music.

As her company’s 30th anniversary approached in 2016, Lopez took the initiative to add to the repertory not just a work that could become a programming mainstay but one also reimagined to reflect South Florida.

Having received the green light from the Balanchine Trust, Lopez turned to widely commissioned, award-winning artist Michele Oka Doner—her local roots as strong as a banyan’s, her creative spirit sun-pierced and salty breeze-swept—to re-design the ballet’s set and  the costumes. MacArthur Fellow and Academy Award-winning scriptwriter Tarell Alvin McCraney, born in Miami’s Liberty City, came in to guide dancers through the dramaturgy. And New York-based theatrical projection designer, Wendall K. Harrington, who has a lengthy resume that spans decades designing Broadway, opera, ballet and concerts, created the spectacular projections.

Oka Doner recalls the initial meeting with Lopez from which sprung the aquatic theme the artist proposed for her first foray into ballet design. “Lourdes and I had a wonderful dinner at the Raleigh Hotel (in Miami Beach) under a seagrape tree. There were leaves and sky above us in an atmosphere of conviviality so much like Eden.”

This boded well for the project since Oka Doner—a native of Miami Beach, where her father served as mayor—has a keen eye for the shapes and textures of fauna and flora in the region’s coastal environment, which has captivated her since childhood and continues to inform her art.

“There’s still a lot of magic in our world, even with all its concrete and asphalt, ” observes Oka Doner, insisting we just have to know where to look and how to find it.

The Athenian forest of “A Midsummer Night’s Dream,” along with the royal court and whimsical characters—who owe no allegiance to a particular geography—were whisked off to our littoral and life below the Atlantic would be the source for the ballet’s oneiric realm.  The overall re-design arose from an investigative process that’s long characterized the artist’s creative approach.

“My science gene is very strong,” says Oka Doner.  She relates how one of her meticulously designed high school science projects prompted the teacher to direct her to the art room. Throughout her career, those disciplines have never been far apart.

The action of the ballet, extraordinary and complicated, obeys its literary source. And Balanchine’s steps, while now leaving their imprint beachside, remain intact. They impart clarity as two sets of lovers, at first thwarted, are blissfully matched; as royals Theseus of Athens, and Hippolyta, Queen of the Amazons, forge an amorous alliance; and fairy crown-heads Titania and Oberon, dueling over a changeling are finally reconciled—though not before Puck, an agent of magic, spreads plenty of mirth and mischief all around.

Oka Doner says she watched many renditions of the ballet and—not surprising since her father was also a violinist—had heard the music early on.  In addition to Felix Mendelssohn’s Overture (from 1826) and Incidental Music for Shakespeare’s play (including the well-known “Wedding March,” from 1842), Balanchine used excerpts from other works by the composer to sustain the story.

“I was able to pick up the tropes of the ballet,” says Oka Doner.  Always an adventure for her, the ongoing research proved thrilling.

A joint excursion with Lopez to the University of Miami Rosenstiel School Marine Invertebrate Collection provided inspiration through the myriad forms in its multitude of specimens. Oka Doner also drew ideas from her own photos of submarine life at the Port of Miami. For such visual bounty to take practical shape in fabric type, cut and colors, Lopez introduced Oka Doner to New York costume makers. The artist is still amazed at the skills of Haydee and Maria Morales, who led the construction of such shimmering marvels as luxurious headdresses and beaded bodices in the MCB costume shop.

Among Oka Doner’s favorite confections are the seahorses—here a substitute for Hippolyta’s hounds (other regional transformations populate this, including having Bottom turn into a manatee). She liked showing off Puck, who wears a short, shoulder-baring tunic, “jumping in his golden seaweed.”

For Rui Cruz, who’ll portray him, that look helps release an irrepressible spirit. His character makes many entrances, spanning human and fairy worlds, and his dancing is speedy and bouncy—a great fit for Cruz, his turns and leaps a specialty. He learned of the casting during summer break in his hometown of Levi Gasparian, in the state of Rio de Janeiro. As an Afro-Brazilian his sense of honor and responsibility was immediate.

“I was very emotional sharing the news with my mom,” he says, knowing the importance of doing a role originated by Arthur Mitchell, the first African-American dancer at New York City Ballet and later founder of Dance Theatre of Harlem.

“Mitchell was so honest in his dancing, he made Puck believable,” adds Cruz, who says he’s working hard to do right by his role model.

Underscoring the importance of having notable ballets return to the stage for new generations to embrace, Cruz is among many company members performing their parts for the first time. Equally lucky are Taylor Naturkas and Brooks Landegger—though last spring they had the special opportunity to dance the work’s second-act divertissement, which they’ll reprise here, as guests of New York City Ballet during that company’s 75th anniversary. Now they’re expanding their acting range among the quartet of young lovers.

Set to play the frustrated Helena, Naturkas has gone through her usual preparation—reading, watching videos—but she’s especially profited from coaching by Lopez, who herself acknowledges having grown artistically through various roles in “Midsummer” during her time at NYCB, culminating in the rank of principal dancer.

“She tells me to be normal,” says Naturkas. “Though this has a dream quality, emotions should read naturally. Helena’s desperate because her love interest Demetrius rejects her. Everyone relates to that.”

Helena’s chasing after her man and, at one point, scurrying away from another (Lysander)—romantics fear not, through Puck’s ministrations all heartbeats harmonize in the end—must also let comedy shine through.

To play Lysander and dance the divertissement, Landegger can reference the countless New York City Ballet productions he attended, watching the greats throughout his years at the School of American Ballet. Chosen from there, his younger sister Liesl, whom he credits for his choosing ballet as a career, played one of the flit-about bugs among the participating squad of youngsters. In the Miami production, those will be cast from MCB School.

“The images in the ballet brilliantly balance happy and unhappy love,” says Landegger, appreciating progression through such contrasts. “My relationship with Hermia is very natural—you can even see it in the beautiful way we walk on a diagonal.” Later, he points out, Demetrius is moping around, and on his track Helena looks desperate.  Audiences get the differences and are all in when insistence builds into hilarity.

For other performances,  Naturkas and Landegger will do the second-act divertissement, which is set at South Dade County’s Coral Castle.  Celebrants of love’s triumph during a triple wedding, they capture the quintessence of classicism. In this Landegger considers it his task to be a supreme cavalier, saying, “My job is to be there for Taylor.”

Naturkas explains that the pas de deux “takes strength and stamina—lots of control to create calmness.”  The partners maintain purity in the dance “relating to the music. He feels that from me, and I from him.”

Such musicality and clearly delineated mobility are what Oka Doner delights in upholding: real artistry within a dream world.

“It’s so exciting,” she says, “to sit back and watch the drama unfold, everything moving with so much emotion.  To have been able to share in this—and have audiences enjoy it going forward—was a wonderful opportunity.”

WHAT:  Miami City Ballet’s “A Midsummer’s Night Dream”

WHEN: 7:30 p.m. Friday, Oct. 18; 2 and 7:30 p.m., Saturday, Oct. 19, and 2 p.m. Sunday, Oct. 20.

WHERE: Adrienne Arsht Center for the Performing Arts, 1300 Biscayne Blvd., Miami

Pre-performance, “Ballet in a Box,” an immersive exhibition mounted in collaboration with the digital production experts at Dania Beach’s MAD Arts Museum, delve into the story, choreography, and design of the ballet in the Arsht Center’s Peacock Room. And on Saturday, prior to the matinee, MCB School artistic director Arantxa Ochoa will lead a 15-minute class for children to learn the “bugs” choreography accompanied by the cast’s costumed youngsters. Included in ticket price.

ADDITIONAL PERFORMANCES: Broward Center for the Performing Arts, 201 SW Fifth Ave., Fort Lauderdale, 2 and 7:30 p.m. Saturday, Nov. 2; 2 p.m., Sunday, Nov. 3.

COST: $270, $220, $215, $210, $179, $156, $138, $134, $132, $128, $120, $118, $108, $105,$100, $90, $82, $80, $72, $70,$65, $60, $54, $52 and $40 (depending on show time and venue).

INFORMATION: 305-929-7010 or miamicityballet.org

ArtburstMiami.com is a nonprofit media source for the arts featuring fresh and original stories by writers dedicated to theater, dance, visual arts, film, music and more. Don’t miss a story at www.artburstmiami.com.

 

Carne Viva’s ‘Dame La Receta,’ A Dance to Feed the Soul

Carne Viva Dance Theatre’s co-director Chachi Perez, right, with dancer Genesis Castaneda work through a passage of “Dame Le Receta,” premiering at Salamander Miami in historic Overtown on Friday, Oct. 11. (Photo courtesy by Dance Place CD courtesy of The Inaugural Latinx Movement Festival)

Seated at a Coral Gables café parsing all that’s gone into their next show, which will premiere at Salamander Miami in the heart of historic Overtown on Friday, Oct. 11, the directors of Carne Viva Dance Theatre serve up details like art-struck co-conspirators.

The caffeinated drinks and empanadas laid out for consumption—with Latin music percolating in the background— blend well with the strong local taste for personal stories and craft of one of South Florida’s newest dance-theater groups.

“Dame La Receta” (“Give Me the Recipe”) is a show into which Chachi Pérez and David Velazco have poured plenty of social observation and soul-deep exploration. Stirred with good humor but serious aim, the title references the rituals of passing on culinary (and other) practices among families, friends and all who would claim a place at life’s banquets.

Afro-Cuban rhythms and moves help set the temperature and blend ingredients, but these creator-performers along with their collaborators—six dancers and Velvet Gruve, a fusion band from Springfield, Va. —have come up with layers of flavor everyone can savor.

Perez heads the dance and percussionist Velazco the music—though stepping out and sounding off spill over boundaries in their presentations.  The chemistry of their creative process provides a perfect match for their artistic mission.

“David and I have this magic,” says Perez. “Together in a room we have a way of transmuting our energy and enthusiasm, so the work develops. We give each other leeway but also challenges.” Letting out a hearty laugh, the choreographer adds, “We’re always joking that he’s my work hubby.”

Through this association, Velazco recognizes he’s grown as an artist.  Before Carne Viva, he says, “I was just connecting with the music. Now connection comes not just from my perspective but from the dancers. I have to see something and react to it, playing with these women and for them. My vision is more than just beats, and that’s very unique.”

A wiz on the tumbadora, his hands hopping across the conga drums, Velazco also brings his skills as sound producer to keep “Dame La Receta” strutting forward. He has independently reclaimed the treasure of Afro-Cuban music, which he approaches as a cultural legacy—all respect to its roots in the Yoruba religion, though that didn’t figure in his evangelical upbringing.

Velazco, 28, came to Miami from his native Camagüey, Cuba, at the age of ten, and Miami-born Perez—three years younger—is the child of exiles from the island.

As Kendall residents, they met while enrolled at that area’s campus of Miami-Dade College, where Michelle Grant-Murray, the school’s coordinator of dance —“She’s like, oh, so many books of knowledge,” says Perez —recruited Velazco to play drums for a show. The professor became a mentor, and now Perez regards her as “a one-woman board of directors.”

Seeing Perez’s 2019 MDC thesis piece, “Viajando Pa La Frontera” (“Traveling to the Border”), which was both a protest against the Trump presidency’s border actions and a paean to the caravans of the undocumented, brought Velazco to tears. He says he saw his family story reflected in the oppressed gestures and hopeful strides of the dance. It seemed that a partnership between the two was inevitable.

But further studies took the soul siblings to distant locations. He was attending the California Institute of Arts (CalArts) in Santa Clarita, Calif., when COVID-19 hit, and she went on to get her BFA in 2021 from University of the Arts in Philadelphia, where she maintains a home base and teaches at Philly PACK, a community-conscious theater and dance education center.

Velazco has developed a career as a music producer and performer, most recently alongside Daymé Arocena, a Grammy-nominated Afro-Cuban jazz singer-composer.

Somewhat at loose ends after graduation, questioning her Latina identity and higher education’s stress on the Western canon, Perez retreated for a warm South Florida embrace one Thanksgiving. Heading back to Philadelphia by car with her girlfriend at the steering wheel, she rifled through notes and sent queries out to the horizon: Should she form a company? If so, what to name it? Unexpectedly, the yummiest of road treats—her father’s churrasco—answered not just the appetite but her artistic yearnings.

“I love odd things,” confesses Perez. “And there I was enjoying this carne, meat that made me feel viva, so alive. I put the two words together, and it sounded very theatrical, which is what we’re all about. My partner, well, she thought it was weird—and for me that was the perfect reaction.”

Carne Viva nonetheless translates as the tender flesh under the skin and can refer to something deeply felt, as in raw emotion—equally fitting for this company.

The group made its debut at 2022’s Cannonball Festival-Philly Fringe in Philadelphia with “Mío/Tuyo/Nuestro”—those possessive adjectives, while coming from a queer angle, the keys to rooms any love inhabits.  But soon thereafter, having shown an excerpt of “Dame La Receta” at Pérez Art Museum Miami (PAMM), the director found herself at an impasse.  “I’d spent too many nights crying,” she admits, having confronted the hard work of running a company.

Then a drum circle on South Beach, with Velazco included, recharged Perez amid the sea breezes and alongside dancers Genesis Castaneda, Nicole Machado, and Sam Perez (Chachi’s sister). “We were just engulfed by the music,” recalls the director. “The next day I woke up to several voice messages from David, making me wonder if he was okay. But he just couldn’t stop thinking about seeing us dancing and insisted we had to take ‘Dame La Receta’ to the next level. And we haven’t stopped since.”

Having creative cohorts at different locations—the band in Virginia, dancers split between Philadelphia and Miami, and Velazco in South Florida when he’s not flying off to his own gigs around the country  — presents challenges like travel time and costs and exacting coordination.  But the music director feels the team welcomes the chance to gain enrichment from different settings, audiences, and cultural input.

To question the world in the wake of immigration, reclaiming ancestry and reshaping aspects of their immediate environment, is naturally central to these young artists’ journey. “There’s an urgency for us to disrupt and dismantle our spaces,” declares Perez, but she also insists on rebuilding by using the imagination.

“Our work seems very Latino-centric,” she continues, “but it’s truly about the complexity of living the American Dream. We’re all an extension of that, as immigrants ourselves or even if our families have been here for generations.”

Whether by way of African-American dancer Alina Spears, another Miamian trained at MDC’s Kendall Campus, or the band’s Korean-American bassist from Virginia, Daniel Ubin Burgess, for example, individual perspectives, as Perez points out, strengthen a larger sense of community for Carne Viva.  She says, “We have different backgrounds and bodies, but we’re able to tie them all in through our work.”

It’s no surprise when, walking away from lunch on a palm-shaded street in the Gables, the directors drew interested glances at what’s emblazoned on their T-shirts: “MENÉALO!” But Perez says the catch phrase—meaning “shake it”—has become popular as a call-and-response among audiences even where Spanish spice isn’t as prevalent.

“Sure, ‘Dame La Receta’ is about recipes—it’s about food,” she says. “But this comes with a universal understanding (that) our homes offer communal spaces, like our kitchens, where everyone wants to find joy. And radical joy becomes an act of rebellion. Through our stories we’re offering a mixed tape everyone can groove on.”

WHAT: Carne Viva Dance Theatre in “Dame La Receta”

WHEN: 7:30 p.m., Friday and Saturday, Oct. 11 and12

WHERE: Salamander Miami, 702 NW 5th Ave., Miami

COST: $26.50; $21.40 for artists and educators; $16.30 for children 8 years old and older and seniors; $14.26 for students; children 7 and younger admitted free. Tickets at www.ticketleap.events

INFORMATION:  carnevivadancetheatre.com

ArtburstMiami.com is a nonprofit media source for the arts featuring fresh and original stories by writers dedicated to theater, dance, visual arts, film, music and more. Don’t miss a story at www.artburstmiami.com.

Smaller ‘Dance Sampler’ To Go On Despite Effects Of State Arts Budget Cuts

Dancers from Dance NOW! Miami will perform in the 14th edition of the Daniel Lewis Dance Sampler at 8 p.m., Saturday, Oct. 5 in the New World School of the Arts dance theater. (Photo courtesy of Simon Soong)

For years, the Daniel Lewis Dance Sampler (DLDS), an event colloquially referred to as the “Sampler” and named after an iconic figure in the Miami dance world, has symbolically kicked off the dance season in South Florida.

This year, the Sampler, which in previous editions reached as far as Vero Beach in the north and Naples in the west, will offer a stripped-down version, with a single performance and program by six groups.

Each group will present a short work selected from the best pieces in their respective repertoires. In 2023, ten groups participated in three performances.

The 14th edition of the Daniel Lewis Dance Sampler is set for 8 p.m., Saturday, Oct. 5, at the New World School of the Arts dance theater in a production of the Florida Dance Education Organization (FDEO) in collaboration with the New World School of the Arts, Dance NOW! Miami (DNM), and Miami Dance Futures.

Hannah Baumgarten and Diego Salterini, the founders and artistic directors of DNM, recount the circumstances that almost prevented the annual event from happening this year.

“By now, the whole country has heard about Florida Governor (Ron) DeSantis cutting the state’s arts budget,” says Baumgarten. “But I don’t think many people realized that this came on the heels of a legislative action that eliminated over $4 million in funding for an entire category called Culture Builds Florida.”

Additionally, according to Salterini, a large portion of its funding had been cut via the slashing of Culture Builds Florida before the governor’s $32 million veto in June.

“Fortunately, FDEO was able to continue to provide a minimum fee to artists from a county grant, and NWSA continued its partnership with the use of its theater, box office, and administrative support,” says Salterini, adding that the program “essentially lost almost 75 percent of its funding.”

FDEO, of which Lewis is general manager and treasurer, is a state affiliate for The National Dance Education Organization, a non-profit member organization supporting dance educators based in Maryland.

The pair says they had to make difficult choices in programming. “We did it during COVID, turning the programming online for more than a year and we would do it again,” says Baumgarten.

They pared down the program selecting groups that they say had become “anchors” over the years of the Sampler: Arts Ballet Theatre of Florida (ABTF), Dimensions Dance Theatre of Miami (DDTM), Ballet Flamenco La Rosa (BFLR), and their Dance NOW! Miami troupe. “(We also) included Zest Collective, one of the newer troupes, and New World Dance Ensemble,” says Salterini.

For Ilisa Rosal, founder, and artistic director of Ballet Flamenco La Rosa, participating in the Sampler is essential, “because it allows us,” she says, “to collaborate with some of the best dance companies in Miami, representing different dance styles, and allows us to introduce flamenco to new audiences and educate them about this complex, sophisticated and unique art form.”

This year, the company is presenting “Tarantos/Tangos,” a traditional flamenco “Palo” or rhythm, choreographed by Manolete, Eloy Agular, and Rosal, performed with live music.

Ruby Romero-Issaev, executive director of ABTF, believes that participating in the Sampler is “an opportunity to establish yourself as part of the dance community in Miami and South Florida.”

This year, the company will perform the pas de deux from its original ballet “Le Papillon” choreographed by Vladimir Issaev and featuring music by French composer and German-born Jacques Offenbach.

The Sampler also doubles as a celebration of Lewis’ 80th birthday, which will be celebrated with a program at 3 p.m. Sunday, Oct. 6 at NWSA.

“Daniel Lewis is a friend, a colleague, and a mentor,” says Baumgarten. “When he reached out to me last October and asked me to organize his 80th Birthday Celebration, I was honored, to say the least, but wondered how I could fulfill this request. We chatted with him, and he brought in Mary Lisa Burns, the current dean of dance at NWSA, to join the party planning.”

Salterini adds that “Danny is beloved worldwide, first as a timeless and renowned modern dancer with and then directing the Limón Dance Company, and for codifying the Limón technique.”

Lewis joined the NWSA in 1987 as its founding dean of dance. Before that, he was assistant to Martha Hill, the director of the Dance Division at The Julliard School where he was a faculty member since 1967.

Salterini says he has been impactful since arriving in Miami “for his vision as founding Dean of Dance at New World School of the Arts, for his contribution to the regional and National High School Dance Festivals. And for his own non-profit Miami Dance Futures, that nurtured and mentored dance organizations and choreographers such as National Water Dance, the Haunted Ballet, Chris Rudd and so many others.”

The birthday celebration evening will include tributes and performances by NWSA dance students, with a special participation of Masha Dashinka Maddux, a former principal dancer with the Martha Graham Company and an NWSA graduate. DNM will perform “Open Book,” one of Lewis’ seminal works from 1981.

Guest speakers offering tributes will be Donna H. Krasnow, co-author of the celebrated Lewis biography “Daniel Lewis: A Life in Choreography and the Art of Dance;” his friend and colleague Michael Uthoff, artistic director of Dance St. Louis; Dante Puleio, current artistic director of the Limón Dance Company; and Robert Battle, former artistic director of the Alvin Ailey American Dance Theater and an NWSA graduate.

“It will be an evening to remember,” says Baumgarten, adding that after the performance “everyone is invited to the NWSA Art Gallery for a catered reception and a dance costume exhibit.”

Ticket proceeds from the evening support Miami Dance Futures, “so that Danny can continue his work growing and mentoring dance in South Florida,” says Salterini.

Lewis remains president of Miami Dance Futures as well as teaching, lecturing and choreographing. He also continues to stage his own and Limón works throughout the world.

“Does this man ever get tired?” Baumgarten says jokingly. “He seems unstoppable, but we all think his 80th birthday is a good time for us to stop and thank him for everything.”

WHAT: 14th Annual Daniel Lewis Dance Sampler and Daniel Lewis 80th Birthday Celebration

WHEN: Sampler performance, 8 p.m., Saturday, Oct. 5; birthday celebration program, 3 p.m., Sunday, Oct. 6.

WHERE:  New World School of the Arts Dance Theater, 25 NE 2nd Street, 8th floor, Miami.

COST: Sampler, $25 general admission, $15 students / Birthday Celebration, $100 per person, $150 per couple. Tickets can be purchased in advance online for both events at www.dancenowmiami.org.

INFORMATION:  305-975-8489 or dancenowmiami.org 

ArtburstMiami.com is a nonprofit media source for the arts featuring fresh and original stories by writers dedicated to theater, dance, visual arts, film, music, and more. Don’t miss a story at www.artburstmiami.com.

 

Miami Cante Festival Showcases Guitar, Dance and the Role of the Singer

Paco Fonta is a guitarist and co-founder of “Siempre Flamenco” and the Miami Cante Festival, which begins Thursday, Aug. 22 and continues through Sunday, Aug. 25 at the Adrienne Arsht Center. (Photo by Dan Pérez/courtesy of Festival de Cante Miami 2024).

Generally, when discussing flamenco, we associate it with the magical influence of dance and the guitar. However, another component called cante (a Flamenco term for singing) has a life of its own, and due to its value, it deserves the same attention.

The cante, a unique dialogue between guitar, dance, and the soul of the singer (a cante singer is called cantaor or cantaora), will be a captivating experience at the 18th Miami Cante Festival, which will be held from Thursday, Aug. 22, to Sunday, Aug. 25, at the Carnival Studio Theater of the Ziff Ballet Opera House of the Adrienne Arsht Center for the Performing Arts.

This 18th edition will show once again the fruit of the tireless work of Celia and Paco Fonta. Two recognized Miamian luminaries of dance, cante, and guitar and founders in 2002 of the non-profit organization Siempre Flamenco, whose mission it is to preserve this art whose roots take us back to the Moorish, Gypsy, and Jewish traditions.

Since 2006, the Miami Cante Festival has been an emblematic project of the Fontas.

“The idea of organizing the first cante event in Miami arose during the trips that my husband Paco and I made every summer to several towns and cities in Spain, specifically in Andalusia, to see the flamenco festivals,” says Celia Fonta.

“We had already been in Miami for some time,” recalls the bailaora extraordinaire. A Flamenco dancer is called bailaor or bailaora. “(We) working in tableaus with Spanish artists based here, with excellent dance and guitar performances, but not cante, so we decided to open that door to the public, which has enjoyed and still enjoys great acceptance.”

The Festival’s continuity has served the Fontas as a guide and orientation so that new and well-known artists participate each year.

Celia explains that they have organized the festival in a “pattern that consists of inviting three singers, one or two guitarists, and a dancer who is participating for the first time. In addition, experience tells us that we must also have a selection of artists who have come to other editions of the festival, who the public knows, and who are part of this family. Because this event is really done as a family.”

This year’s Festival (which could have been the nineteenth edition, but the event had to be interrupted for a year due to the pandemic) has as guests young figures who, although they are making their debut in cante, have entered through the so-called ‘big door’ and already enjoy recognition and prestige.

“We will have Samuel Serrano, a cantaor from Chipiona, Spain, who is hitting very hard and participates in all the festivals of the flamenco community. He has a very pure voice, very authentically gypsy,” says Celia. “We also have the bailaor, José Jiménez, from Madrid (also known as ‘El Bocadillo’), son of the cantaor of the same name, now deceased. He is an exceptional bailaor from a family of cantaores and bailaores.”

The talented performers are joined by other renowned figures such as Macarena de Jerez, a cantaora born in the cradle of flamenco; the young cantaor from Cádiz José Campos, son of Morenito de Illora; and the exceptional guitarist José Cortés (Pansequito), son of the cantaor “Pansequito del Puerto” and one of the most prestigious today.

Among the new features of this year’s edition will be the special presentation titled “Canta la Guitarra” (“Sings the Guitar”), which will pay tribute to the instrument of so much tradition and vitality that gives meaning and emotion to flamenco singing and dancing.

“The tribute to the guitar is going to be a special event. Some guitarists sing when we are at parties. Still, others never sing,” highlights the eminent guitarist Paco Fonta, who has had an extensive career and dedication to that instrument. “But in this presentation, we will have three guitarists who also sing: Paco Cepero; “Pansequito,” with whom I have worked for many years; and myself,” he says.

He adds that Cepero is the composer of “Esta cobardía” and other songs performed by Julio Iglesias, Rocío Jurado, and other artists.

“(Cepero) is my idol and a true legend who has accompanied what is most valuable and shining in flamenco. I want to clarify that it will not be a formal concert but a complement to the Cante Festival. We will perform in a quite experimental and spontaneous way,” he promises.

At 82 years old, Cepero is a true representative of flamenco, according to Celia.  “(He) will give our festival a historic character due to his importance as an artist, mentor, and guide to so many cultivators of the genre,” she says, adding that “the Festival’s evolution, from its humble beginnings with local artists to an event that now attracts the most prestigious figures in Spain, is a testament to the growing support for flamenco in Miami. This cultural growth has allowed us to reach where we are now.”

WHAT: XVIII Miami Cante Festival

WHERE: Ziff Ballet Opera House’s Carnival Studio Theater at the Arsht Center, 1300 Biscayne Blvd., Miami

WHEN: 8 p.m., Thursday, Aug. 22, “Canta la Guitarra” concert, 8 p.m., Friday, Aug. 23, Cante Festival, 2 p.m., Saturday, Aug. 24, and 4 p.m., Sunday, Aug. 25.

COST: $50, $68 for VIP,  $40 and $50 for “Canta la Guitarra.”

INFORMATION: 305-949-6722 or  arshtcenter.org/tickets   and 305-527-5666 or siempreflamenco.com.

ArtburstMiami.com is a nonprofit media source for the arts featuring fresh and original stories by writers dedicated to theater, dance, visual arts, film, music, and more. Don’t miss a story at www.artburstmiami.com.

 

FUNDarte presents the world premiere of ‘Bio’Ngo,’ an anthropological stage installation

“Bio’Ngo,” by Mexican creator Lukas Avendaño, will premiere Friday, Aug. 23 and Saturday, Aug. 24 at the Fantasy Theatre Factory at Sandrell Rivers Theater, Miami, presented by FUNDarte. (Photo by Huracán Films/courtesy of FUNDarte)

Dance, theater and the visual arts in general often blur the theoretical boundaries that separate them to create integral works that defy definition. From Martha Graham to Merce Cunningham, Marina Abramovic, Joan Jonas, Paul McCarty, Steve McQueen and Pina Baush, many are the multidisciplinary artists who have consolidated their ideas through multi-sensorial performances that follow the aforementioned premise.

Following this interdisciplinary tradition is the show “Bio’Ngo,” by Mexican creator Lukas Avendaño. Presented by FUNDarte, the piece will be on stage Friday, Aug. 23 and Saturday, Aug. 24 at the Sandrell Rivers Theater. In addition to Avendaño, participating in this project are dancers José Ramón Corral (also Mexican) and Miami-based Charlene Francois, Enrique Villacreces and Lize Lotte Pitlo.

The director states that this “stage installation” with an anthropological look revolves around several axes, the first one being the Bio’Ngo -or what in the Caribbean is known as the Ceiba tree. “The symbolic value of this tree in many of the cultures or settlements in the Caribbean seemed to me an important gluing element that symbolically unifies many imaginaries (of different cultures),” says Avendaño, whose most recent work consisted of a queer performative intervention of traditional female images, particularly those related to the Zapotec Tehuana woman.

[RELATED: Read  Jesús Vega’s story in Artburst Español: FUNDarte presenta el estreno mundial de “Bio’Ngo”]

Another axis of the project is the exploration of the ancestral cultures of his native Mexico and, at the same time, of the indigenous people who once populated the Caribbean. “The piece is a sort of time travel to the past before the geopolitical borders that today give name to the countries (that) were built,” says Avendaño.

“If we start from the Caribbean as a cultural ecosystem, we could speculate about the time when there were no borders, and how it would have facilitated crossings and exchanges between these cultures. We would be living in the time before the divisions between heterosexuals and homosexuals, the avant-garde and the rearguard, all those dichotomies that have appeared and have been imposed throughout the history of mankind.”

According to Ever Chávez, executive director of FUNDarte, who together with the International Cultural Partnership (ICP) program of Miami Dade’s Department of Cultural Affairs are presenting this project, the work fits perfectly with the vision and trajectory that has moved this organization since its inception. “We are facing the fusion between the vibrant cultural diversity of Miami and the deep roots of the native peoples of Mexico. What motivated us to bring it was precisely that unique blend of cultures and expressions,” explains Chavez. “For us it’s something completely new and authentic. It’s a journey that goes from the jungles of Oaxaca to the swamps of the Everglades, where music, dance and nature intertwine in a unique experience.”

As for the structure of the work, Avendaño decided to collaborate with artists from various specialties and backgrounds: dancers, designers, filmmakers, musicians. “The music was created by percussionist artist Yissy Garcia. We also collaborated with Huracán Films, with some stunning footage of the Everglades,” he says. “All the performers are creative people who bring a very particular and fresh look. It’s like, despite the exodus and diaspora, it’s still possible to find them and make a community.”

For FUNDarte, the project is important because it shows, in an artistic way, the connection between two worlds that, although distant, share a common essence. “Oaxaca and South Florida, two places separated by thousands of miles, meet in this work through their ancestral cultures: the Zapotec and Miccosukee. As a spectator, you witness how these cultures have survived and flourished, keeping their traditions alive in a changing world. For us, it is a testament to our dedication to celebrating cultural diversity and exploring the roots that connect us,” concludes Chavez.

Avendaño’s presentation closes the season of the “Out in the Tropics” series, featuring works by some of today’s most innovative and relevant LGBTQIA+ artists.

WHAT: Bio’Ngo by Lukas Avendaño

WHEN: Friday, Aug. 23 and Saturday, Aug. 24

WHERE:  Fantasy Theatre Factory at the Sandrell Rivers Theater. 6103 NW 7th Ave., Miami

COST: $20, $15 seniors and students; tickets.ftfshows.com

INFORMATION: (786) 348-0789 or FUNDarte.us

ArtburstMiami.com is a nonprofit media source for the arts featuring fresh and original stories by writers dedicated to theater, dance, visual arts, film, music and more. Don’t miss a story at www.artburstmiami.com.

Afro-Cuban Dance Festival’s Theme This Year Is Joy, Freedom

The 2024 IFE-ILE Afro-Cuban Dance Festival begins Thursday, Aug. 8 through Saturday, Aug. 10 at the Koubek Center of Miami Dade College and the HistoryMiami Museum. Picture are Deyanira Formental, left, and Siuleydde Rivera of IFÉ-ILÉ Dance Company. (Photo by Mitchell Zachs-Knight Foundation /Courtesy IFÉ-ILÉ Dance Company)

Since its founding in 1996, the IFE-ILE Afro-Cuban Dance Company, under the artistic direction of Neri Torres, has been at the forefront of rescuing, presenting, and preserving Afro-Cuban culture in Miami.

The 2024 IFE-ILE Afro-Cuban Dance Festival, beginning Thursday, Aug. 8 through Saturday, Aug. 10 at the Koubek Center of Miami Dade College and the HistoryMiami Museum, is being presented with a thought-provoking theme,  “The Joy of Dancing: The Embodiment of Freedom,” which unifies two terms linked to dance: joy and freedom.

“Throughout my career as a dancer, I have noticed changes in the way young people enjoy dance and in the way they socialize. I have also noticed that there are not many spaces available for middle-aged people to enjoy dance, which is sad because previous generations always loved going out dancing,” explains Torres, “and dancing is the best exercise for all ages.”

According to the founder, dancing has become the privileged position of a few specialized performers, and the rest have become static spectators. “Spontaneity and the sense of community that moving together implies and creates have been lost. Cuban culture, in particular, is based on motor skills; we dance on every occasion. We have transmitted this quality to the world, and I think it is necessary to rescue it and share it in these hectic times in which we live.”

That is what the festival is about, she says. “There must be a space for fleeting madness, freedom, and emotional transcendence to find motivation and meaning to our existence. Let us try to rescue that joy that is precisely the theme of the festival.”

This year, in addition to the dance and reflection spaces on Afro-Cuban dance, such as presentations and workshops, new proposals give the festival a quality of multicultural cohesion and diversity, ensuring that everyone feels included and valued, according to Torres.

“Understanding between cultures is part of IFE-ILE’s mission as an organization,” she says. “As part of that mission, we have collaborated with local artists and guests of different styles to reflect the diversity of Miami and our community and share our common points, especially what identifies us as humans.”

Among the guest artists in this year’s edition are Niurca Márquez, who has collaborated on many occasions with IFE-ILE and will teach a flamenco fusion class, and Ducarmel Sekou Desormeau, an instructor specializing in the Capoeira style.

Another distinctive feature of the IFE-ILE Festival is the participation of Cuban dancers, both established and new, in charge of workshops that characterize the event, which are dedicated to various aspects of Afro-Cuban dance.

The workshops will cover a range of dance styles, from the traditional orichas Oyá and Yemayá to the contemporary Cubatón, ensuring something for everyone.

Members of the “old guard” of IFE-ILE, dancers Juinier Quintero and Yosvani González, who will also teach classes on Orichas, Rumba, and Palo, and Deyanira Formental, who will teach the Cubatón class, the contemporary style of Cuban reggaeton, among others, will also participate.

“I will teach a Cuban conga workshop, ‘as if it were nothing,’ on the subject of the joy of living,” shares Torres with noticeable enthusiasm.

Another festival program that should not be missed is the conference and demonstration “Cuban Rumba and Son: Cooking Transnational Salsa” on Thursday, Aug. 8, at the HistoryMiami Museum. It will be led by Yunielis Hernández, dancers from IFE-ILE, and introduced by Torres. Admission is free.

On Saturday, Aug. 10, at 8 p.m., the festival culminates with a gala presentation at the Koubek Center with a sample of various styles of Cuban dance.

Among the special guests at the closing performance will be Dance Heals from Philadelphia, who will perform in their second presentation in Miami, according to Torres.

“We recommend that the public come prepared to ‘walk the walk,’ ” she says.

IFE-ILE is approaching a fundamental milestone: its third decade of existence — a sum in time of tireless work and well-deserved successes. How does Torres feel about the imminent celebration of thirty years of the group?

“Time flies,” she says. “It seems like yesterday when I did my first performance with the group in West Palm Beach in 1994. Almost fresh from arriving, after having deserted a tour in Italy and with a tremendous desire to ‘take on the world,’ ” recalls Torres. “Sometimes I am too demanding, and I think I have not done enough to tell my story, which is that of all Cubans in exile, and to share our culture.”

However, she says there is something that gives her pause when she reflects on her career.

“I look back at the numerous press clippings and photos of my restless steps, of all the dancers who have just arrived and have knocked on my door, and I have welcomed them, and of the artists from other disciplines with whom I have collaborated, of the dreams I have realized in dance; I tell myself with a smile: we can always do more.”

WHAT: The 2024 IFE-ILE Afro-Cuban Dance Festival

WHERE: Koubek Center, 2705 SW 3rd Street, and HistoryMiami Museum, 101 West Flagler St.

WHEN: 2 to 4 p.m., Thursday, Aug. 8, lecture and demonstration at HistoryMuseum Miami, free admission). 8:30 a.m. to 5:50 p.m., Friday, Aug. 9 and 8:30 a.m. to 4:50 p.m., Saturday, Aug. 10, Afro-Cuban workshops, Koubek Center. 8 p.m. gala, 10 p.m., closing party, Saturday, Aug. 10, Koubek Center Theater.

COST: Performance, $20, general admission, $15, students and retirees with identification; Workshops, $115, $60, $40, $25, 

INFORMATION: ife-ile.org/festival/

ArtburstMiami.com is a nonprofit media source for the arts featuring fresh and original stories by writers dedicated to theater, dance, visual arts, film, music, and more. Don’t miss a story at www.artburstmiami.com.

International Ballet Festival of Miami, A South Florida Home for the World of Dance

Contemporary dance, as pictured above, along with classical performances are part of the 29^th edition of the International Ballet Festival of Miami beginning Friday, Aug. 2 through Sunday, Aug. 11 at various locations throughout the city. (Photo by Simon Soong/courtesy of Miami Hispanic Ballet/International Ballet Festival of Miami)

To keep the International Ballet Festival of Miami on course up to its present 29th edition, director Eriberto Jiménez has relied on a bifocal guiding vision with added telescopic range. Close at hand are his myriad day-to-day administrative duties. More generally, he never loses sight of the event’s mission to unite dance across borders. And, tending to his art’s past glories, he aims to invest in its productive future.

Complemented by other activities, the festival’s contemporary and classical performances can be seen at different South Florida locations beginning Friday, Aug. 2 through Sunday, Aug. 11. The events close with the Gala of the Stars at The Fillmore Miami Beach, where the yearly dance culture and criticism recognition will be given to Perfecto Uriel, from Spain’s Casa de la Danza and Danza en Escena magazine. And on the previous evening Valentina Kozlova, a Bolshoi and New York City Ballet principal emerita and more recently a sought-after educator, will receive the “A Life for Dance” award.

This year, there are eight participating companies from abroad ranging from Uruguay and Brazil to Serbia and Romania. Compañía Nacional de Danza de México, on the roster since the start of the festival, will also return.

Jiménez coordinates festival logistics, some of which are visa approvals, which he confides, can be a concern for participants from abroad.

“Visa denials or last-minute injuries may throw off the flow of a program,” says Jiménez. In such cases, he must race to make rearrangements and substitutions. But he emphasizes, “You just can’t let that sour the artistic experience. It’s part of who I am to find a solution whenever a problem pops up.”

Joining the Latin Americans and Europeans, this edition will bring members of troupes from Milwaukee (a long-time and frequent presence), Pittsburgh and Kansas City.  Performances by Jimenez’s Cuban Classical Ballet of Miami and Dimensions Dance Theatre of Miami and Arts Ballet Theatre of Florida will round out the offerings from locals, for a total of eighteen troupes on the main programs.

Representing Milwaukee Ballet in the classical lineup, Cuban-born-and-trained ballerina Marize Fumero takes personal and professional pleasure in her decade of appearances here.  “In these, I can see myself maturing both as an artist and a woman,” she says.

Upon her 2014 arrival in Miami, the festival opened to her the doors of its headquarters at the historic Warner House by the Miami River, easing Fumero’s way into a new life in the American dance arena. From then on, she’s taken to stages far and wide, but Miami still holds a special place in her heart. Applause here seems different—closer to the sounds of family, she feels—which makes her especially happy to come back as a fully confident artist, ready to regale audiences with a passionate scene from Kenneth MacMillan’s “Manon,” its music surging from Jules Massenet’s Romantic-era score.

While championing the bravura of the classical pas de deux—its exuberant spins and spring tradition-set—Jiménez has also secured a place for the shadows and shimmer of today’s ballet. An Imperial-to-Soviet Russian style informs his own company’s offers: a duet from “Raymonda”—its nineteenth-century Marius Petipa choreography to an Alexander Glazunov score variously staged throughout history—and “Diana and Acteon,” to the delight of die-hard balletomanes its grim myth transformed by literal leaps and bounds into a love fest between goddess and hunter.

But then Dimensions brings two sensitively paced pairings, their tenderness and tensions closer to the pulse of our own emotions. Ryan Jolicoeur-Nye’s “On the Sky” and Yanis Eric Pikieris’s “If” will put on view more of choreographers’ works whose premieres were warmly received at this year’s company-season finale.

“We love showing the audience a different side of ballet,” says DDTM’s artistic co-director Jennifer Kronenberg, underscoring how a relatable lyricism enhances variety at an event they’ve performed in since 2017. And she adds, “It’s important for us to return because this is home. We’re proud to contribute to a landscape we share with the festival.”

Kronenberg sums up the experience of appearing alongside international artists as “inspiring.” And that’s the effect Jiménez hoped to reinforce when he took over the festival after founder Pedro Pablo Peña died in 2018.  The current director had assisted his predecessor from the beginning of this project, but his association with Peña stretched further back.

“I’ll be forever grateful to Pedro Pablo,” says the Bogotá, Colombia native. “When I first came to this country in 1989, he not only offered me a scholarship to study at his then-called Creation Ballet but even a place to stay in the studio. I soon saw he could use help with work around the office and reciprocated by doing that.”

Their partnership blossomed as the festival took shape and grew, with Peña forever the tenacious custodian of big ballet dreams and Jiménez his steadfast right-hand man keen on practicalities. “Luckily, I’d learned administrative assistance at school in Bogotá, and it came in handy with payrolls and budgets,” says Jiménez, who’d planned to study business administration until ballet won out. To the advantage of the festival, he’s the kind of artistic director whose knack for numbers goes beyond the counts in a dance phrase.

Although he’s given continuity to Peña’s achievements, Jiménez has also ushered the festival into newer territory. “We’ve evolved for the better throughout our history,” he judges, considering festival offerings from the initial single weekend to added activities now spread throughout three weeks, the last two dividing contemporary and classical programs.

The contemporary bill is about to reveal fresh faces from England’s Rambert School Ballet and France’s Arles Youth Ballet.  And that focus on the next generation has become a priority for Jiménez.

“I’ve added a summer intensive course for ballet students, which lets them not only attend festival shows but, in some cases, also perform in them,” says the director. This educational initiative, he underscores, is also an aid to festival finances, which—as is the case with almost every cultural organization in Florida—have suffered from a gubernatorial veto of all state arts funds for the next fiscal year.

To encourage dancers who might very well someday return to the festival as representatives of notable companies, Jiménez has also instituted a young medalists show, a Dance Marathon, and Rising Stars on the Streets—free at Lincoln Road’s Euclid Circle—introducing these emerging talents to our community as prolog to the upcoming main events.

“I’ve always wanted to see more of that contact,” says Jiménez. “The promise of these young people’s success, after all, is inseparable from the future of the festival.”

WHAT:  XXIX International Ballet Festival of Miami

WHEN: (Contemporary I and II) 8 p.m., Friday and Saturday, Aug. 2 and 3

(Contemporary III) 5 p.m., Sunday, Aug. 4

(Classical Galas) 8 p.m., Saturday, Aug. 10; 5 p.m., Sunday, Aug. 11

WHERE:  (Contemporary I) Miami-Dade College, North Campus, Lehman Theater, 11380 NW 27th St., Miami

(Contemporary II) Dennis C. Moss Cultural Arts Center, 10950 SW 211 St., Cutler Bay

(Contemporary III) Amaturo Theater, Broward Center of the Performing Arts, 201 SW 5th Ave., Fort Lauderdale

(Classical Galas) Fillmore Miami Beach, 1700 Washington Ave., Miami Beach

COST:  (Contemporary) $30, $35, $45; (Classical) $58.50, $70.50, $81.50, $91.50, $119.25, ticket prices vary based on time and location 

INFORMATION: (786) 747-1877 or internationalballetfestival.org

ArtburstMiami.com is a nonprofit media source for the arts featuring fresh and original stories by writers dedicated to theater, dance, visual arts, film, music and more. Don’t miss a story at www.artburstmiami.com.

Dimensions Dance Theatre Staging Two Premieres Plus Cuban’s Legacy Ballet For First Time

Dimensions Dance Theatre of Miami is presenting its first company staging of  Cuban choreographer Jorge García’s “Majísimo,” along with two world premieres in its program “Kaleidoscope” at the Dennis C. Moss Center on Saturday, July 13. Above, the ensemble in “Majísimo.” (Photo courtesy of Dimensions Dance Theatre) 

With a bow to our intense summer, Dimensions Dance Theatre of Miami is offering a show full of colorful, shifting formations pierced by bright light. At the Moss Center on Saturday, July 13, “Kaleidoscope” presents two world premieres—each vivid in its particular palette—and a much-anticipated first company staging of “Majísimo,” a Spanish-hued ballet that’s spread its warmth and sparkle around the world through a long series of seasons.

“Commissioning and developing new work is a significant part of our mission, as we contribute to the art form’s evolution to keep it relevant for today’s audiences,” says company co-director Jennifer Kronenberg. “But we also had in mind a kaleidoscopic vision of tradition and classicism, with ‘Majísimo’ juxtaposed to the shapes and musicality of the present.”

On the legacy front, 1965 saw the emergence of Cuban choreographer Jorge García (he died in Portugal in 2021), a dancer at Ballet Nacional de Cuba (BNC) when he devised, through classical ballet’s crisp idiom, a tribute to Spanish dance—in stance and movement references as flirtatious as the unfurling of a fan—and to the proud spirit of the land of flamenco and escuela bolera, a hybrid of popular and academic dance.  García’s “Majísimo” has as its title the superlative for majo, a distinctively Iberian version of a great-looker, a charmer, a surefire seducer. In other words, get ready to surrender.

“Since we started our company, Jen and I have discussed doing this ballet,” says Carlos Guerra, DDTM’s co-artistic director and Kronenberg’s husband. “Our dancers have such a strong classical base we wanted to give them this opportunity—and especially now that we have some really powerful guys.”

As someone who adored dancing “Majísimo” at Cuba’s Ballet de Camagüey in the late 90s, Guerra respects its importance as a time-proven audience favorite, a high point for his native country in the art form. Foremost, he was determined to stage it under the right conditions.

“About a year and a half ago, we had the chance to purchase the costumes from a school that was closing—and they are beautiful,” explains Guerra. “Also, Orlando Salgado, who knows this work intimately and has long been a friend of mine, was available to coach it. So no better moment than now to go ahead with the ballet.”

Salgado, indeed, is a zealous keeper of this treasure. He began dancing “Majísimo” at BNC in the late 1960s and became the lead until his last performance in Spain in 1997.

“I always enjoyed dancing ‘Majísimo,’ feeling a great vibe from the audience,” he says. “The choreographer put in ingredients that keep the ballet from getting old, detailing a refined relationship among the dancers through four movements and a brilliant coda, its crescendo arousing enthusiasm to the last step.”

The sumptuous style displayed in the work, observes Salgado, comes directly from the music, selections from Jules Massenet’s “Le Cid.” No wonder some quip that Spanish orchestral music was invented by the French—Debussy, Ravel, and Bizet among composers who enthusiastically appropriated inflections from the Spaniards. Massenet, with exquisite Gallic taste, filtered the colors of Spain for his tones and rhythms, rendering them especially vibrant—a boon for García’s ballet in elegance and vigor.

Fast forward six decades to works finished just days ago—the currents of dance roll along lapping on different stylistic shores while channeled in bedrock principles—and find Dimensions making a splash in the freshest of choreographic waters. Those feed off an idyllic spring in “Arcadia,” a new work by company artist-in-residence Yanis Eric Pikieris, once more immersed in the sounds of contemporary English composer Oliver Davis, whose “Voyager” the choreographer used for a premiere last year.

“His music lends itself to dance well. There’s so much variety and texture,” Pikeiris judges, in fellowship with notable dance makers such as Edwaard Liang who’ve mined the Davis catalog. The composer himself has identified the rhythmic pulse and compactness of his scores as choreographic magnets.

Pikieris’ present four-movement piece culminates in the titular selection, drawn from a 2019 Davis album of the same name. The piano phrases in this have a cloudless quality as if a blessed destination has been reached. To get there, five other tracks from “Liberty,” a 2018 Davis recording, provide momentum: a cello concerto opens with throaty enthusiasm and then the violin goes forth with exhortations, especially when the lead couples— their leotards and tights sporting festive colors—seem to explore a landscape of enchantment.

“The music definitely evokes feelings of summer, as does the piece,” says Pikieris,  reflecting that his Arcadia—a pastoral haven for ancient Greeks—“could be lush and sunny and tropical.” In the imagination of this creator, who jovially admits record-breaking high temperatures are far from his ideal, sweat evaporates into a hovering fine feeling, no air conditioning required.

Pikieris credits the cast for enlivening his choreographic ideas.  “In a way it’s been the same for all my pieces,” he says, “but more for this one and ‘Voyager,’ where I’ve wanted to get the dancers moving big.” That, he notes, bubbles up from their generous delivery.

Emily Bromberg, as a prime example, has shown she can take what Pikieris gives her—from brisk and nervy moves to the dreamy—and hand it back alluringly amplified.  She admits the current piece “does feel more grand.”

In her estimation, “Arcadia” moves forth on circulating interaction, which heightens the sense of shared energy among the dancers.  To an extent, Bromberg identifies the base for the work’s expansive look in what Pikieris brings to his own performances.    “There’s a special way he uses his upper body—an opening of the torso—that makes his moves seem larger.”  His compact frame can thus deliver huge dancing, a joy and boldness he passes on to interpreters of his creations.

According to Bromberg, “The Davis score always makes it look like something major is happening. Emotion is deep, complicated, but never sad.” Zipping by with the ensemble or slinkily linked with Maikel Hernandez—even just watching fellow dancers—she’s swept along. “You may get out of breath,” she says “but still feel great connecting.”

For the ballerina, a passionate musicality also marks the other premiere on the bill. Oklahoma City Ballet’s artistic director Ryan Jolicoeur-Nye’s “Sweet and Bitter” uses a score by the late Ezio Bosso, an Italian composer who’s another favorite of choreographers—among them again, Liang, whose “Murmuration,” to a Bosso violin concerto, Bromberg danced at Slovak National Theatre.

But her ties here go further, for she’s known Joliecoeur-Nye since their early days as dancers at Festival Ballet Providence (now Ballet Rhode Island). In fact, she introduced the choreographer to Dimensions, which mounted a pas de deux by him that Bromberg learned to perform through video.

“This is the first time I’ve worked with Ryan as he choreographs in person,” says the ballerina, impressed by how fast he’s tailored this piece on company personalities. She finds it remarkable he approached this project without preconceived notions—even the music was undetermined before the first studio encounter—a situation which could prove daunting for dancers.

Yet Bromberg, who reaches a high point here in a quick, bounding solo, confesses, “I wasn’t nervous. Once Ryan gets on a roll, he just goes and goes. The steps flow organically, and he changes very little. There’s always a strong emotion to hang on to.” And gliding on the music, she’s discovered it’s really colors from the dancers’ spirit that brighten the view.

WHAT: Dimensions Dance Theatre of Miami “Kaleidoscope”

WHEN: 8 p.m., Saturday, July 13 

WHERE: Dennis C. Moss Cultural Arts Center, 10950 SW 211 Street, Cutler Bay

COST: $25, $35, $45

INFORMATION: (786) 573-5300 or dimensionsdancemiami.com.

ArtburstMiami.com is a nonprofit media source for the arts featuring fresh and original stories by writers dedicated to theater, dance, visual arts, film, music and more. Don’t miss a story at www.artburstmiami.com.

Choreographer, Dancer Randolph T. Ward Examines Social Fractures In ‘Them and Us’

Dancer Natanael Leal performs in “The Big Dig” by choreographer Randolph Ward, one of the pieces in “Them and Us,” on Friday, July 12 at Sandrell Rivers Theater, Miami. (Photo courtesy of Randolph Ward)

“Gender bending,” “politically charged,” “provocative” are a few of the descriptors Miami peers and critics have applied to Randolph T. Ward, since the choreographer, dancer and artistic director returned to his hometown and founded his company, RTW Dance, in 2019.

Ward’s latest program, “Them and Us,” with a performance at 7:30 p.m. on Friday, July 12, at the Sandrell Rivers Theater in Miami, extends his examination of the ways racism and gender stereotypes trap the human body and divide people from one another.

The program includes two world premieres, “The Big Dig” and “Dystopia,” as well as a remake of an audience favorite, “Code Switch.”

“Code Switch” first premiered at the Broward Center of the Performing Arts as part of the “Men Who Dance” festival in November 2022.

Since that premiere, Ward has added new music and new sections to the nine-minute, three-movement social dance commentary on the idea of code-switching (when individuals who identify as BIPOC shift body language and style of verbal communication to fit into white-dominated spaces).

Ward based the original work on his own reactions to the 2022 PBS documentary, “Making Black America.”  Central to “Code Switch” is the 1968 speech by African American writer, James Baldwin, to the question, “what does a Negro want?”  Cited in the documentary, Ward included it in his own piece in its entirety.

Though Ward himself notably performed the lead role in the 2022 premiere, the revamped version features dancers Nala Cook, Destiny Diaz and Natanael Leal.

“The movement vocabulary has been improved,” says Ward.  “The work now has a bigger and more nuanced African-American vocabulary to it.”  The revised piece even includes a Black majorette dance section inspired by half-time performances by bands at historically Black colleges and universities (HBCUs).  “These are all ideas I wanted in the original work but had no time to develop,” adds Ward.

Miami audiences got a glimpse of an excerpt from the two-movement solo work, “The Big Dig,” in May 2024 when Ward premiered it as part of the “Miami Dances” program presented by Miami Dance Hub at the Sandrell Rivers Theater.

In the completed piece included in “Them and Us,” Ward takes a deep dive into the notion of anxiety, which the choreographer described as emanating from a deeply personal experience of the feeling.

 “I believe that my anxiety is created by circumstance: lack of money, emotional stress, societal pressure to conform, professional stress…etc.,” explains Ward, “and something that is created can also be destroyed.”

He cast Leal, a nonbinary Brazilian artist, in the solo role, because he sees in the dancer a shared work ethic. “(Leal’s work ethic) is an unapologetic pursuit in investigating and discovering the work. What does the work need? What do I need to do to get there? I needed an artist that was not going to allow fear to govern the artistic journey. ‘The Big Dig’ needed real authenticity,” says Ward.

Though Leal frequently performs in Ward’s works, “The Big Dig” was especially challenging for the dancer because of their own personal connection to the subject matter.

“Anxiety has always been a friend of mine and I am very familiar with this emotion,” says Leal.  “It has been a necessary nightmare that I have had to face . . . Being this vulnerable has taught me that it is okay to connect with the most painful parts of oneself,” says Leal.

“Them and Us” rounds off with a world premiere of “Dystopia,” where the choreographer gives a nod to how the recent pandemic revealed the limits of human control.  “Dystopia” combines dance with theatrical elements and a new electronic music composition that the choreographer created expressly for the new work.

For “Dystopia,” Ward drew on the talents of five dancers including Leal, Diaz, Stephanie Sanchez, Luzcarina Nunez, and Tayanna Love.  Ward included the talents of local jazz vocalist, Ja’Nia Harden.

“(In ‘Dystopia’) I am getting to showcase different sides of myself musically,” says  Harden, “jazz singing, gospel singing, musical theater style singing, and I play the clarinet.”

Costumed in a white doctor’s lab coat studded with black rhinestones, Harden reprises the role of Lady X in the new work.

“Lady X is inspired by all sectors of American life that are obsessed with control,” explains Ward. “Think North Korea, Donald Trump, Ron DeSantis, Nazi Germany, Putin, or a mad scientist.”

Building on the idea of a top-down society, the choreographer modeled the group dance sequences in “Dystopia” on the behavior of ants: “(Ants) social societies closely mirror ours. Each ant has a specific purpose that is directly in service of the queen and the colony. They have a social hierarchy system as well. I wanted to use the idea of ants all in a line that follow the orders of the matriarch.”

Diaz, a Florida International University theater graduate, performs the role of “The Zealot,” which she found especially challenging because she says she couldn’t personally relate to the character.

“I have had to do a lot of research for the role and within my research I have discovered behaviors and mannerisms of a specific societal group/race that I wasn’t necessarily paying attention to,” says Diaz. “It has made me explore how I would behave or act if I were confronted by this societal community.”

Ward included the character of “The Zealot” to explore the sociological effects of racism on the racists themselves. When asked how the role functions in the piece, Ward quotes Baldwin:  “I imagine one of the reasons people cling to their hates so stubbornly is because they sense, once the hate is gone, they will be forced to deal with pain,” says the choreographer.

WHAT: RTW Dance presents “Them and Us”

WHERE: The Sandrell Rivers Theater, 6103 NW 7th Ave., Miami

WHEN: 7:30 p.m. Friday, July 12. The performance will be followed by a question and session with choreographer and cast. 

COST: Presale ends July 8, $35 general admission, $45 at the door

INFORMATION: (305) 284-8800 or tickets.ftfshows.com

ArtburstMiami.com is a nonprofit media source for the arts featuring fresh and original stories by writers dedicated to theater, dance, visual arts, film, music and more. Don’t miss a story at www.artburstmiami.com.