Sarasota Contemporary Dance offers eclectic program of new and recent works

Jay Handelman, Sarasota Herald-Tribune
·2 min read
Choreographer Christal Brown works on creating ‘Access Granted’ with company members from Sarasota Contemporary Dance.
Choreographer Christal Brown works on creating ‘Access Granted’ with company members from Sarasota Contemporary Dance.

Sarasota Contemporary Dance is highlighting new and recent works by guest choreographers from around the country for its annual showcase “Dance Makers” next weekend.

The eclectic program also includes a restaging of “Kinda’ Cage-y,” first presented in 2007 and revised since then. It is choreographed and performed by Artistic Director Leymis Bolaños Wilmott to music by Sarasota-based composer Francis Schwartz.

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Working through a pandemic: Dance Makers adapt for long-distance choreography

Schwartz created the piece as an homage to composer John Cage, with whom he had a “cordial” relationship, and to his “enormous contribution to modern artistic thinking.” It features a “prepared” piano with pieces of wood and metal inserted between strings to change the traditional sound into sonic entities. Bolaños Wilmott’s choreography is inspired by the free use of traditional space and involves the body of the pianist.

In creating “the hands behind my back,” New York-based choreographer Jennifer Nugent asked the dancers to create 16 movements in the arm, torso and legs, write down a dream dance describing what it felt like to write it and perform the 16 movements, the company said.

“Victory Dance” by Miami-based Adele Meyers, was originally commissioned by SCD for the 2020 Dance Makers programs and was presented last summer in a tour to Miami. She said that when the Women’s U.S. National Soccer Team won the World Cup in 2019, “I was overwhelmingly elated by their victory as if it were my own.” While “Victory Dance” is not explicitly about soccer, “that sense of a collective hard-won victory inspired this female quintet.”

Leymis Bolaños Wilmott dances with composer Francis Schwartz at the piano in the Sarasota Contemporary Dance piece “Kinda’ Cage-y.”
Leymis Bolaños Wilmott dances with composer Francis Schwartz at the piano in the Sarasota Contemporary Dance piece “Kinda’ Cage-y.”

“Access Granted” by Christal Brown of New York marks a collaboration with the SCD dancers in an “upbeat funk piece inspired by color, senses and our authentic inner worlds,” the company said. Brown said she asked the dancers to “allow their personality and passion to shape the movement and narrative of the work. I want this work to offer a kaleidoscope view of each performer, showcasing their artistry, their personality and their truth.”

The final piece is “In the wake of a dream” by Dazaun Soleyn of San Francisco, who explores the hard realities of love. The company describes it as “a physical embodiment of the emotions that may arise from the decisions that we make for love and partnership.”

‘Dance Makers’

Sarasota Contemporary Dance. 7 p.m. Jan. 27-29 and 2 p.m. Jan. 30 in the Cook Theatre, FSU Center for the Performing Arts, 5555 N. Tamiami Trail, Sarasota. $10-$45. Tickets for a home-stream option are $25 and available for the Friday through Sunday performances. SCD is following the #SafeArtsSarasota protocols requiring a negative COVID-19 test or vaccine card and face masks indoors. 941-260-8485; Sarasotacontemporarydance.org

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This article originally appeared on Sarasota Herald-Tribune: Choreographers create new works for Sarasota Contemporary Dance