Dancing on Wheels
Sitting In On A Rehearsal With Karen Peterson and Dancers
Jenny Larrson and John Beauregard/photo Karim ArabiaOn a beautiful day at noon I drive south from my home on South Beach to a warehouse dance studio in S. Miami. It looks like the typical warehouse district with trucks everywhere. As I get out of my car I can hear the sounds of the Crosstown String Quartet coming from inside Building B. Their door opens to expose dancers in rehearsal for this weekend's concert. Typical dancers, they are working in odd bits of clothing, hair in disarray, sweaty. These dancers include those in wheelchairs. Wheelchairs? Yes. This is the Karen Peterson Dance Company.
And then there are the musicians who are accompanying them...professionals who play all over Florida; with the symphony, the ballet, and of course with their own group Crosstown String Quartet. Sitting in a corner on folding chairs, they create a beautiful sound in this high ceilinged box of a place.
Gabriel Garcia Marquez wrote the short story, Pulitzer winner Nilo Cruz adapted it and wrote the lyrics and Stephanie Ansin is producing it at her Miami Shores Playground Theatre.
