By Jan Engoren

	The Moving Current dance company, on the program of the 29th annual Florida Dance Festival, June 20-30

In a year where Heather Mills, amputee and ex-wife of Beatle Paul McCartney, cartwheeled, flipped and cha-cha-cha-ed on Dancing with the Stars and the one-legged man in a tux and top hat jitterbugged on U-Tube, it is not surprising that dancing with disabilities is receiving more of a public face and raising consciousness.

This is no surprise to the Florida Dance Festival, which returns this year June 20-30 for its 29th year of showcasing dance. Accenting a wide variety of mixed-ability dancers alongside traditional able-bodied dancers, the Florida Dance Festival is the leading summer dance training program in Florida. What makes this festival special is that this is the most comprehensive gathering of dance and dancers in Florida. A critical mass of dance masters is gathering here to give workshops, inspire students and offer master classes. The festival marks a milestone of what is happening in dance trends and connects Florida to the national dance scene.

This year, there will be performances in West African dance, ballet, modern dance, hip hop, jazz, and traditional Chinese dance. The festival also encompasses Pilates and yoga for dancers. Events will be held at the Colony Theatre on Lincoln Road in Miami, the New World School of the Arts in downtown Miami and Miami Dade College Wolfson Campus.

Each year, the Florida Dance Festival sponsors a group of local, national, and international dancers, choreographers, students, teachers and performers to come together in South Florida for workshops, forums, films and of course, dance performances. The term ‘mixed-ability’ refers to dancers and artists, some with and some without disabilities, all performing in the same company.

	Sidiki Conde and Tokounou, who will perform at the Florida Dance Festival

The opening night dance program at the Colony Theatre in Miami Beach on Wednesday, June 20 will be a highlight of the week. Dancers from the New World School of the Arts in Miami, a performing arts high school and college, will partner with dancers from Tsoying Senior High School in Kaohsiung, Taiwan, Miami’s sister city. This is the ninth year the two schools have collaborated on a joint dancing venture. Four Chinese choreographed pieces will be presented along with three American pieces, including “Esplanade,” by renowned American choreographer, Paul Taylor. A joint collaboration, “Meditation in Autumn” will also be performed. Two days after their performances here in Miami Beach the students will jet-set to Taiwan, where they will perform for audiences in Kaohsiung. Although these students are all able-bodied, they are diverse in their nationalities. In addition to the Chinese performers, the Miami group includes American students from Bermuda, Cuba, Canada and different regions of Florida.

Bill Doolin, an accomplished dancer himself and currently the interim director of the Florida Dance Association, a non-profit organization dedicated to supporting the development of dance in Florida since 1972, has high expectations for this year’s festival.

“The original purpose of the festival was to bring together dancers from all over Florida to exchange ideas and works and to set up channels of communication between performers,” says Doolin. “Currently, however, the festival has evolved into a forum for performers from a national and international perspective to come together, form collaborations and learn from each other. I hope people will be open to trying something new and different. Take a class or come and see a performance of something you haven’t seen before or come and see an old favorite. We have a lot of diversity this year in our performances. I’m encouraging everyone to come and try us out.”

A Miami-based mixed-ability dance project called danceAble, in conjunction with Tigertail Productions, is returning to the Festival for its eighth year.

“DanceAble showcases and teaches people with mixed-abilities,” says Robert Rosenberg, associate director for danceAble. “We hold workshops for trained and untrained dancers of various aptitudes. We are very involved with issues of disabilities in the arts.”

Rosenberg explains that part of danceAble’s mission is to break down barriers and common notions of who or what a dancer is and to expand the definition of dance.

“We believe that there is not one particular body type that can dance or be called a dancer and our goal is to create access for all performers,” he says.  Last year approximately 400 people attended the live dance performances.

A highlight of this year’s danceAble program is the return of the New York based West African drumming and dance ensemble, Sidiki Conde and Tokounou. It is their second appearance at the Florida Dance Festival, having made their initial appearance in 2001.

Sidiki Conde is an African-born, New York resident who lost the use of both legs as a teenager from a viral infection. The loss of his legs was the impetus for him to start singing, dancing and playing the drums. In his native Guinea he founded a music and dance ensemble and came to the United States in 1988. Here, he founded his own dance company, Tokounou, and has performed internationally and with every major African artist. The amazing thing about Conde is that he is as agile on his hands as most people are on their legs. His arms are very muscular and enable him to maneuver fluidly, to dance and even climb stairs.

	Cole and Carindal dance company

On the program with Conde will be another mixed-ability, multi-media piece entitled, “Falling Up,” by Heather Maloney and John Beauregard performing in a wheelchair. “Falling Up” is a presented in six short vignettes taking the audience into a journey of complex childhood emotions. It is an autobiographical piece about the loss of innocence and the process of learning to be whole again. Maloney is a graduate of the New World School of the Arts and both Maloney and Beauregard reside in South Florida.

All-in-all, the 10-day celebration of dance in all its forms and expressions promises to be an engaging, uplifting and inspiring event. What better place than Miami Beach to experience the beat of the African drum, the artistic expression of Chinese dance and the inclusiveness of mixed-ability dancers? There is truly something here for all dance enthusiasts.