The gifted young choreographer, Justin Rapaport, is choreographing two out of the five pieces in the upcoming Peter London Global Dance Company (PLGDC) engagement at the Cuban Hebrew Congregation Temple Beth Shmuel on Thursday, Oct. 15 at 7:30 p.m. This will be Rapaport's second commission from PLGDC. The two works were created specifically for this performance.
For London it's a chance to showcase young artists. “My work includes promoting young artists like Justin in their home town, letting them know that we care about and support them, so that as they grow as artists and hopefully, in international stature, their relationship with the Miami/South Florida community is deeply rooted. The result is an investment from both sides that can be celebrated locally and globally.”
Rapaport says he was not a typical young boy growing up in South Florida. At the age of 8, his parents enrolled him in a local dance school with the hope of channelling his abounding energy. He remembers being shy and not speaking very much. His physical outlet in dance gave him a means of expression. Within a year, Rapaport was studying with artist and choreographer, Peter London, who eventually became his teacher, his mentor, and his friend. He began learning the Martha Graham technique and honing his dance skills.
London was a big influence in the choreographer's life. He refers to London as a successful dancer who encouraged him to pursue his love of dance. “He was always generous of spirit and said how important it was to always give back,” recalls Rapaport. London was planting seeds that would resonate throughout the dancer's life.
Fast forward a few years, to find Rapaport studying dance at the New World High School, and attending summer dance programs in New York, San Francisco and Chicago. Eventually, he was accepted to Juilliard in New York, the prestigious school for young, driven, and talented art-ists.
At Juilliard, he says he was encouraged to collaborate with other artists. He started to choreo-graph and new explorations began to occur. He finds he's influenced by the plethora of perfor-mances in New York and his peers from various dance backgrounds in his choreography. “I am who I am. I never felt that I was going from a small town to a big town. It felt very natural to be living in New York,” Rapaport pensively reflected.
In the upcoming program, the choreographer's more encompassing dance piece is entitled “Leah” with soul stirring music from contemporary Israeli composers. The choreography is ab-stractly based on the character of Leah, the wife of Jacob and a matriarch of the Jewish religion. “Leah was said to have gentle eyes, so I used that idea to create movement. Peter wanted this piece to be an ode to his teachers and influences in his career. It is much more in depth - heav-ier,” says Rapaport. With the choreographer's Jewish upbringing, the themes and ideas he por-trayed in “Leah” were familiar to him. He describes “Leah” as a quiet piece that snowballs to an avalanche.
The choreographer's second piece on the program will be a shorter solo entitled “Frosties” with music by jazz legend, Dizzy Gillespie. This will be a step out of the norm in choreographic style for Rapaport. “Frosties” is a physical and fun piece, that moves from fast to slow and ends in total dance.
When asked “what is in the future?” Rapaport says that dancing comes first and hopes to tour the world and continue with his choreography and wants to tour the world and continue with his choreography. “Dance will always be a part of my life,” he says with confidence.
PLGDC is hot off the trail from its performance in Coral Gables and is bracing to light up the stage at the Temple Beth Schmuel. The evening, which is celebrating Miami's dynamic and colorful multi-cultural dance and music heritage, will include three works by London, artistic di-rector and choreographer: the passionate “Carmen”, two contemporary Tango solos, “Buenas Dias” and “Buenas Noches", and closing the program will be the calypso and steel pan inspired “Fire In the Coal Pot”, a fusion of classical ballet, contemporary, jazz, Latin and Afro-Caribbean techniques.
Mix and mingle with the dancers and choreographers at a post-performance reception included in the price of the ticket.
Performances are Thursday, Oct. 15, at the Cuban Hebrew Congregation Temple Beth Shmuel, 1700 Michigan Ave, Miami Beach, FL 33139. Tickets: $25. Discount for seniors and students with ID: $20
Purchase tickets: Online at plgdc.org ( EventBrite), At the Cuban Hebrew Congregation Temple Beth Shmuel: (305) 534-7213,
For PLGDC information and donation/sponsorship: hermina@plgdc.org (469) 347-0008
