In Miami, the Future is Dance Now
Company Premieres America, America in Hollywood Feb. 10

By R.E.Dinlocker

Diego Salterini, co-director of Dance Now, teaching

Today, many dance companies have to dance as fast as they can just to keep up.   Dance Now Ensemble not only performs, but also picks partners from the community it serves to ensure South Florida’s future. 

Dance Now’s lecture/demonstrations, master dance classes and residencies offer a solid base from which aspiring dancers can launch their careers.  Co-director Hannah Baumgarten stresses that, “These programs help dancers understand their art form as well as educating audiences and encouraging prospective dancers.  Schools with regular dance programs benefit from the ensemble’s movement classes and Dance Now’s co-directors choreography classes.  The area’s student dancers and choreographers have left for other cities where they’ve performed with skills taught in these classes.”

Dance Now Ensemble’s Scholarship Program of tax-deductible donations allows aspiring dancers to realize their dreams of higher education.  Sabrina Jaafar, DNE’s first scholarship fund recipient, attends Fordham University’s Fordham-Ailey BFA program, which combines a university education and study with the Alvin Ailey Dance Company.

But why would Dance Now’s working dancers, whose time is filled with workouts, rehearsals and performances, take the time to dedicate themselves to the future?  Perhaps their memories are as well developed as their talents.

The Ensemble’s co-directors, Hannah Baumgarten and Diego Salterini, come from backgrounds as diverse as the choreographies they perform, yet they share a desire to teach that their own teachers instilled in them.  A Julliard graduate, Baumgarten performed lead roles in works by choreographers ranging from legend Martha Graham to innovator Mark Morris, while dancers from Lincoln Center’s Alice Tully Hall to Fort Lauderdale’s Amaturo Theater have performed her own choreography.  Salterini’s dance history has encompassed choreographer and lead dancer roles spanning European and American theater and television as well as ballet, modern and flamenco dance performances in the United States.

Salterini, who defines himself as a Roman, cited the differences he saw when he came from Europe to the US in 1997. 

“Rome, as all of Europe’s major cities are old cities,” he says.  “Their streets are filled with artwork and a spirit of creativity that was born more than a thousand years ago. When I came here, Miami presented a fresh opportunity to create in an art world energized by both the enthusiasm of its people and the willingness of its government to support our efforts.”

Hannah Baumgarten, co-director of Dance Now, teaches dancers all the right moves

Baumgarten adds a pointed elaboration. 

“I saw students and artists leave South Florida for what they deemed ‘real cities’ like New York of Los Angeles . . . cities that, in the relatively short history of our country, have become synonymous with the arts.  I wanted to create that feeling pride in the arts here . . . the feeling that ‘making it’ in Miami could carry the same prestige as a career in New York.”

From their first Dade County grant in 1998 to the present day, Dance Now has worked with students and schools to bring the future into the present by bringing new dancers into their company and encouraging behind-the-scenes people to help South Florida’s art world grow. 

“T.J. Tekurio, a class of 2000 Dillard, is joining our company from his tour through the U.S. and Europe and through him we’ve received inquiries from college dancers such as Kim Greco with whom he’s had contact,” Baumgarten says.  “Kim moved here to get a job with us.”

Baumgarten offers more examples. 

“Our students’ work in dance after leaving us has spawned a network of interested dancers and students looking to come to South Florida instead of the usual venues.  Another Dillard dance graduate, Beth Veliky, has hung up her dancing shoes and returned to Broward County to work with a commission on Urban Renewal and the Arts.  She is helping us make people more aware of the arts in South Florida and putting people in the seats at our performances.”

Dance Now’s production America, America, will premiere February 10-11 at the Hollywood Central Performing Arts Center in Hollywood.  It will be repeated March 11-12 at the Byron Carlyle in Miami Beach and May 20 at the Actor’s Playhouse at the Miracle Theatre in Coral Gables.

America, America will be a collaborative effort between the Dance Now and the students and faculty of Coral Gables Elementary School.  Working with the school on a co-curricular program incorporating writing and history, the ensemble’s dancers and school’s students, under strings director Alex Djuric, will perform the piece reflecting the choreographers’ and students’ views of what America means to them.  That evening, Dance Now will once again perform in the present while shaping the future.