Shared Program 1 An eclectic mix of solo, duet and group dances.

Shared Program 1

Wed June 19 at 8 PM

An eclectic mix of solo, duet and group dances.

Fresh out of his first year in college, ETHAN ISAAC BECKWITH-COHEN is thrilled to be in Rochester for the summer, dancing and creating with the dance community he grew up in. This is Ethan’s fourth year participating in Dances at MuCCC, and he is grateful for the support he has received from the festival since he was 16. Ethan graduated from Rochester's School of the Arts, danced and choreographed with Borinquen Dance Theatre, and participated in Garth Fagan Dance’s Summer Movement Institute. He co-founded The Commonplace Dance Project (with Neyda Colon-DiMaria). Ethan is currently pursuing a BFA in Dance at the University of the Arts in Philadelphia. His group piece, “The Wolf Women of Sacathenia,” has an atmospheric concept, including transformation, fascination, and realization, all taking place under a full moon.

CARLY CERASUOLO writes, “I am a current resident in New York City, originally from Rochester, NY. I am a current company member for a modern dance company Time Lapse Dance under the direction of Jody Sperling. I have performed her work all over the United States and have worked alongside many choreographers in both New York and the Philadelphia area. I am a graduate from the University of the Arts in Philadelphia, PA with a BFA in dance performance. I come home often and eventually would love to continue my dance career and bring what I’ve learned over my last few years in New York back to my hometown. For this piece, I want to work with the idea of having something so close to you that is no longer there. I want to play with the illusion of having things, people or places very near and dear to your heart that no longer exist. This is a feeling that many of us have at least one time in our lives in different ways and I want to bring that feeling to life, so that we can feel it together.”

NEYDA COLÓN-DIMARIA is a current first year at University at Buffalo where she majors in dance and anthropology. She has been a part of Borinquen Dance Theatre for seven years and is an alumni of School of The Arts. Neyda is a co-director/choreographer along with best friend Ethan Beckwith Cohen for the Commonplace Dance Project part of the 2017 Rochester Fringe Festival. This is her fourth year back and third time choreographing. ROSEANNE DIMARIA is a self-employed LMT and teaches Creative Movement at Cobblestone Fine Arts Center. She has performed with Sankofa at SUNY Brockport, Borinquen Dance Theatre, and Bush Mango Drum and Dance. This will be her second year being a part of Dances at MuCCC as a performer and choreographer. “Transition, Form, Conversation” is a conversation between women. Through movement they share their fears, loves, passions, and identity opening up that idea of self-love and communal awareness and bringing it to the forefront. It is a celebration of everything that makes them, including their bodies from head to toe, finger to nose.

ERAN HANLON and ALAINA OLIVERI have been collaborating and making work together for the past seven years under the auspices of Hanlon Dance & Company. “of its kind” is a solo piece that explores concepts of uniqueness and exclusion – the forces that simultaneously pull into isolation and push to assimilate in the face of difference.

LEIGH ANN KABATRA is a New York-based teacher and choreographer whose choreography has appeared at the 14th Street Playhouse in Atlanta, GA, Hatch Presenting Series at Jennifer Muller/The Works, WAXworks at Triskelion Arts, and the Dances at MuCCC Festival. Her evening-length work Dimensional premiered in November 2017 in Brooklyn, NY. “Invitation” is an abstract exploration of the social dynamics of Oscar Wilde's play Lady Windermere's Fan. While many characters hold deep interpersonal bonds, their interactions display lighthearted chatter or banter. “I wanted to create a piece that experiments with movements that suggest both qualities. The dancers perform movements that alternate between highly dependent on each other for structure and timing and very casual and independent.”

JOSHUA LANG started seriously studying dance while at SUNY Geneseo. He currently studies with Stephanie Walz. “Fairy Dance: Inspired by a Midsummer Night's Dream” is a bright, short and sweet movement, inspired by Shakespeare’s mischievous fairies.

MOLLY NAEF and JESSICA DESALVIA are both dancers and choreographers from Syracuse, New York. Naef studied modern and African Diasporic dance at Hobart and William Smith. She is currently an owner of Spark Contemporary Art Space and directs the movement studio with Jessica DeSalvia, who received her BFA in Dance from Brockport University. DeSalvia creates and teaches modern dance at the Spark Studio. “Attenuation (of Light)” was originally created for the 2018 Vision of Sound concert and is fully in response to the music, “River” by Sally McCune. The work of Martha Graham, Ruth St. Dennis, Isadora Duncan, and Paul Taylor heavily influenced the creation process. The choreographers were interested in the exotic, ornate, and statuesque shapes and poses of these choreographers, as well as the deliberate, ritualistic and ethereal characterization and performance in their work. The otherworldly and celestial essence portrayed by these classic choreographers paired with planetary orbits and the Fibonacci spiral shaped the dynamic, pathways, and relationships of this piece.

AMY SLOCUM’s passion for dance and teaching has led her to achieve a Bachelor’s of Science in Childhood and Special Education from Roberts Wesleyan College and a Master of Fine Arts degree in Dance and Choreography from SUNY Brockport. At SUNY Brockport, she had the opportunity to dance in faculty pieces, as well as produce her own choreographed works in adjudicated concerts. At present, Slocum pursues teaching, performance, and choreography in the community through her company and at Roberts Wesleyan College. Slocum’s choreographed works are largely collaborative, and she enjoys working with an array of local artists and musicians. She is currently in the process of producing a second rendition of the show, “The Light We Hold” with writer Christine Sullivan and musician/storyteller Didrik Soderstrom of the Hnossa Project. “Sojourn” follows two people in search of a place of rest and home. The movement flows from a place of peace to an array of chaotic phrases. With a soundscape of trains and vocal rhythms, this movement eventually leads the viewers into a felt sense of ease as the travelers/dancers find solace in their journey.

ROY WOOD studied modern dance with Gladys Bailin of Nikolai Dance Theater, Afro Carribean and modern with Garth Fagan Dance, jazz with Bob Koval, and mime with Greg Goldstein. He has performed and choreographed with a number of companies, including Park Avenue Dance, Present Tense, Hallmarkworks, Rochester Dance Collective, and Rochester Mime Theater. He has worked collectively with dancers and non-dancers, exploring personal, social, and political issues through improvisation, then turning the explorations into performance works using movement, sound and text. Roy currently teaches Contact Improvisation at the University of Rochester. “Rooted Birds” is an exploration of how we want to connect, how we try to connect, how we fail and how we succeed – intense, physical, visceral.

Tickets $10 in advance, $10 students and seniors, $12 at the door

https://www.facebook.com/events/1169657379861442/

Contact dancesatmuccc@yahoo.com for further information

All programs subject to change.

This project is made possible with funds from the Decentralization Program, a regrant program of the New York State Council on the Arts with the support of Governor Andrew M. Cuomo and the New York State Legislature and administered by the Genesee Valley Council on the Arts.

Support is also provided by the Gouvernet Arts Fund at the Rochester Area Community Foundation.

Photo courtesy of Amy Slocum.