​Nine Miami Dance Companies Featured in Dance/USA Showcase

 The Light Box at Goldman Warehouse, home of the Miami Light Project, was abuzz during the Dance/USA Conference when it was the host site for a showcase performance featuring nine Miami dance troupes.

The small venue filled up quickly as Dance/USA organizers and attendees clamored at the rare opportunity to see so much varied dance under one roof presented in one evening.

“The Miami dance community is thought-provoking, dynamic, and entertaining. Conference attendees were excited to see the breadth of dance-making in Miami,” says Dance/USA Executive Director Amy Fitterer, in attendance that evening.

Coordinating the performers for that evening was Dance/USA Committee Member Daniel Lewis, founder of Miami Dance Futures and founder and former dean of dance for New World School of the Arts. He expressed his excitement at Miami’s dance community taking the spotlight for the showcase, as well as Miami being host city for this world-class conference.

“We’ve got a real great secret here in Miami with the amount of talent in our dance community, and now that it’s been discovered, people are going to come flocking to see us,” says Lewis.

Beth Boone, executive director of the Miami Light Project, says “we commissioned a lot of the work being seen here tonight.”

Included in the line-up were flamenco dancers Clarita Filgueiras, in residence at HistoryMiami, with Sentio, which she choreographed; and flamenco company Siempre Flamenco featured dancer Celia Fonta, guitarist/singer Paco Fonta, and singer Ismael de la Rosa, who performed Sueno con Mi Guitarra (I Dream with my Guitar).

Presenting the jazz-inspired number Take Five in the Summertime and Sing! were eight dancers from Peter London Global Dance Company, featuring music by greats like Ella Fitzgerald and Louis Armstrong, George Gershwin and Benny Goodman.

“I’m happy for the dancers to be recognized, and an audience filled with dance makers is very important for them. This is the type of experience and exposure they deserve,” says London, founder and artistic director of the company.

The remainder of the program was rounded out by a variety of contemporary groups and a couple of solo performers. Sixth Street Dance Studio/Whole Project presented the poetic Wonderlawn, while soloists Brittany Williams with Masked Down & Dirty and Rosie Herrera and her excerpt from Dining Alone, commanded the stage all on their own. Presenting his version of dance/theater was Teo Castellanos D-Projects with Fat Boy, while nine dancers made James: 69 love Jigs (-63) by Lara Tinari of TOC Project come alive with emotion. And the always daring Godoy Pradera Projects presented Harmonium Accordion Act 1, a dance theater piece recently performed at this year’s Miami Light Project Here & Now Festival.

Encapsulating the evening was Eric Fliss, Dance/USA committee member and managing director of the South Miami-Dade Cultural Arts Center, who says “people from around the nation were here tonight and this is the audience we want, people that can make things happen for our dancers.”