‘Miami Dances,’ United in Motion for the Sake of Art

Dimensions Dance Theatre of Miami (DDTM) in “Resilience.” The company will be participating in Miami Dances, an anthology, now in its third year, on Friday, May 16. (Photo by Simon Soong, courtesy of Miami Dance Hub)

How does Miami dance on stage? With classical flair and contemporary daring. In elaborate productions or performances as pared-down as studio work. In waves of movement by big ensembles. In the back-and-forth of intimate duets, and in the sharply-focused displays of solos. Name a style of theatrical dancing, and you’ll find it in a single night at Miami Dances.

The yearly anthology of local dance is in its third edition, brought by Miami Dance Hub (MDH), a non-profit organization founded seven years ago to promote all aspects of the art form in South Florida.

Karen Peterson Dancers, “In The Blink of an Eye.” (Photo by Karime Arabia, courtesy of Miami Dance Hub)

Appealing to already devoted audience members as well as curious first-timers, the show is at Sandrell Rivers Theater on Friday, May 16. (Performances will be followed by a Q&A session led by Orlando Taquechel, dance critic and editor of the Artburst Spanish-language section.)

MDH director Cameron Basden regards Miami Dances, given its creative drive and community outreach, as a prime activity of her organization. “This celebrates new and established voices, and it’s a constant discovery because dance in Miami is ever-evolving. We showcase a bit of it all.”

Dance Now! “Court Dance,” featuring, from left, Rae Wilcoxson and David Harris . (Photo by Simon Soong/courtesy of Miami Dance Hub)

This year, that assortment includes artists who’ve already made history in the local dance scene and those set to make it. The best-known are Miami City Ballet, Dimensions Dance Theatre of Miami (DDTM), Karen Peterson Dancers (KPD), Dance NOW! Miami (DNM), and flamenco bailaora Clarita Filgueiras. Others who’ll be turning up the lights so we can get to know them better are Carne Viva Dance Theatre, STYX The Company, and No Box Movement.

Basden underscores how inspired she feels seeing this year’s edition about to take place despite cuts in arts funding from the state of Florida.

“We had to scale back from two shows to one with half as many artists,” she says.  “And I couldn’t bring any instructors in for classes. But, thankfully, we received funding from the National Endowment for the Arts. We always do as much as possible for dancers and technicians to be compensated adequately.” She never fails to be impressed by the resilience of artists in such difficult times, adding, “Their creativity knows no bounds.”

Director-choreographer J9 with her No Box Movement dancers. (Courtesy of No Box Movement)

No matter their differences in trajectory, style, and budget, Miami Dance participants agree that there’s power in numbers, standing together to advocate for their art.

“Of course we keep going back,” declares Jennifer Kronenberg, who, along with Carlos Guerra, co-directs Dimensions, a contemporary ballet company approaching its tenth anniversary and present at Miami Dances since the show began. Considering each invitation to this event a privilege, the directors stage works for the showcase that are both impactful and representative of their repertoire.

This year, two movements from Ryan Jolicoeur-Nye’s “Resilience,” which has music by Ezio Bosso and premiered last summer, grab the viewer, as Kronenberg puts it, “with the palpable energy and intensity that are quintessentially Dimensions. The themes of grit and hope in forging new paths resonate deeply with our journey and—especially meaningful for this collective evening—speak to other organizations in our community.”  And the cast of eight dancers lays out a good sample of the personalities that give this company its spark.

Also on view, Dance NOW! Miami’s “Court Dance,” long an audience favorite according to company co-director Hannah Baumgarten, has gained relevance today with its political intrigue. And from this zone of conflict, the show transitions into the stylistically distant but equally engrossing territory of the opening segment of “In the Blink of an Eye,” from Karen Peterson and Dancers.

Peterson, active in Miami since 1990, choreographed the work last year for her physically-integrated troupe, which includes differently mobile dancers, some in wheelchairs.  She says it satisfies Basden’s interest in “including live music, shadow imagery, and projections in the program.  It stands out for its unique integration of multi-layered media and live-music elements, offering a distinct experience within the showcase.”

Miami Dances furthermore offers evidence of newer talents. Durante Verzola returns with a fresh look on neoclassical ballet with his variation from “Danse Adieu,” a solo he’s re-set on Chloe Freytag from DDTM, and “Clair de Lune,” for two ballerinas from Miami City Ballet’s most recent generation. Also from that company, principal ballerina Nathalia Arja, here as choreographer, and her soloist, Rui Cesar, give body and soul to an Etta James love anthem in “At Last.”

STYX The Company’s “Out Inside” with Mika Santo and Joaquin Espinosa. (Photo by Juan E. Cabrera, courtesy of Miami Dance Hub)

From a different dance neighborhood, choreographer-director Chachi Perez and her collaborators in Carne Viva Dance Theatre add Latin spice to “Dame la Receta (Give Me the Recipe).” And STYX The Company endows its “Out Inside,” by director Brianna Campbell, with the seductive resourcefulness of commercial productions.

That kind of up-to-the-moment dynamism gets picked up by No Box Movement, recent arrivals on the scene. The director-choreographer goes by J9, and she and her female team draw energy from urban dance, with its street and club-bred liveliness, to delve without reservations  into themes of growth, healing, and self-discovery. A quartet from their “Journey to the Sun” takes its title from a House music selection that generates, as J9 explains, “loving dance I believe connects people to a higher purpose—a nice addition to this wonderful line up.”

From the perspective of making dance locally for the last twenty-five years, DNM’s Baumgarten and company co-director Diego Salterini point to the enthusiasm they still share with fellow artists at this event. Baumgarten says, “We get to intersect with people we don’t often see or meet, people from younger generations and from different genres.” And there’s a lot of beauty in this—in the fostering of their art form, of course, but also in “the new friendships that are born.”

WHAT: Miami Dances

WHEN: 7 p.m., Friday, May 16

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

COST: $20

INFORMATION: 305-284-8872 or miamidancehub.com/miami-dances

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.

Story editor Michelle F. Solomon