Brittany Bonefas in Donna Goffredo Murray's "Ballet's Child," based on the poetry of Lani Scozzari, is part of the "Dance in the Now" show. (Photo by Simon Soong)
Miami Dance Hub's third live event could not occur at a more opportune time as society emerges from under the dark cloud of COVID-19.
Theaters, which were empty for over a year, are welcoming back audiences and filling their stages with a broad range of performances. On Thursday, Dec. 9, Miami Dance Hub (MDH) is presenting "Dance in the Now: A Physical and Virtual Experience."
“We have been watching dance for over a year on screen. It’s normal now to have virtual elements as part of the dance, ” says Cameron Basden, artistic director of MDH, and also a dance critic and writer for miamiartzine.com.
Brittany Bonefas in Donna Goffredo Murray's "Ballet's Child." (Photo by Simon Soong)
“Dance in the Now" examines virtual dance combined with live dance and digs deeper inside dance itself. Audience members will have the chance to be part of an interactive, immersive experience. "The performance will allow audiences the opportunity to hear from the choreographers themselves, and the dancers about the piece,” says Basden. The program includes Dance NOW! Miami, Karen Peterson and Dancers and a piece by choreographer Donna Goffredo Murray.
Dance NOW! Miami is presenting three works: "Lunatico," "This Moment, Here," ( excerpt )- "At the Kitchen Table," and "Bridges NOT Walls" ( excerpt ) and "The Men of War."
Diego Salterini, co-artistic director, along with Hannah Baumgarten, of Dance NOW ! Miami, says that video and dance relate to each other. "Video should support but not distract from what’s going on on stage," Salterini says, who has a background in television and did the video projection for two of the pieces Dance NOW! Miami is presenting.
Donna Goffredo Murray's Ballet's Child Murray is accompanied by four films by filmmaker Tiffany Rhynard. (Photo by Simon Soong)
Karen Peterson and Dancers was founded thirty years age and is a company that features choreography performed by dancers with and without disabilities. The company is performing excerpts from "Lost and Found," a piece choreographed by Karen Peterson Corash in collaboration with the dancers. The work centers around three duets and the use of the video could be considered a third partner. Peterson Corash says the video comes in at the end of her choreography process. The projection and media designs for "Lost and Found" are by Dinorah de Jesus Rodriquez, with original footage by Daniel Herrera.
An excerpt of Donna Goffredo Murray's Ballet's Child will be performed at Miami Dance Hub's "Dance in the Now" (Photo by Simon Soong)
Donna Goffredo Murray is a choreographer, director, writer and educator. In 2020 she was awarded one of the first Artist Innovation Fellowships from the Cultural Council of Palm Beach County. Murray is presenting “ Ballet’s Child “ ( excerpt ) based on the poetry of Lani Scozzari. Murray has been working on the piece for eight years, she says. It is accompanied by four films by filmmaker Tiffany Rhynard. "The films were part of the work from the beginning, “ says Murray.
In "Ballet’s Child," film was used in different ways one of which was to visualize Scozzari’s work.
MDH was founded in 2018 as an organization which serves to unify the Miami dance community. It has grown to promote anything and everything having to do with dance. During the pandemic, MDH became "an indispensable tool to help dancers apply for resources to stay afloat,” says Basden.
Now that more dance companies are returning to live performances certain questions arise, Basden ponders. “ How are we going to adopt? How are we going to use it? What are we doing with it and where is it going to go?"
Karen Peterson Dancers
“Dance in the Now“ examines how projection came to be a part of the piece that is presented. This performance gives the audience an opportunity to “see behind the curtain and talk about the process of dance," says Salterini of Dance NOW! Miami.
Basden explains that “choreographers have the responsibility to tell their story, relay their message, to evoke emotions not only through dancers’ bodies, but with a myriad of tools and virtual elements… this performance digs into the choreographers’ mind to see how they temper all these elements along with live dance to bring their vision to fruition.”
Karen Peterson Dancers
“Dance in the Now: A Physical and Virtual Experience"
Thursday, December 9, 2021 at 8 p.m.The Light Box at Goldman Warehouse, 404 NW 26th Street Miami 33127.
Tickets are $20 and are available by clicking here.
