Geva Theatre is hosting not one, but two young Rochester dance companies, on its Nextstage over the coming two weekends. The work of both FuturPointe Dance and Biodance represents an emerging trend in dance - the inclusion of multimedia, particularly video imagery, in performances. The dance styles of the two companies, however, are divergent enough to offer pleasingly contrasting shows. And the small house and raked seating at Nextstage should make it a particularly enticing venue for dance, allowing audiences a more intimate experience.
FuturPointe is the lovechild of Guy Thorne, who was a soloist with Garth Fagan Dance for more than seven years, and two of his contemporaries - Heather Roffe, who also danced for Fagan, and N'Jelle Gage, who served as assistant artistic director of Jamaica's renowned L'Acadco Dance Company before relocating to Rochester to co-direct with Thorne and Roffe.
"This is something I've had in my head for a long time," Thorne says. "I wanted to inspire people, uplift them. For most of my dance career a lot of the dances I performed didn't do that for me. There came a time when I wanted to share how I saw the world."
FuturPointe Dance defines itself as a fusion company. That is, it combines dancers with a variety of training and choreographic styles from a variety of genres, including modern dance, Caribbean, reggae/dancehall, Latin African, and ballet. The company's goal is to broaden contemporary dance's appeal, to enlarge its audience.
"We're not trying to speak to your mind. We speak to your spirit," Thorne says.
"You don't have to understand technique to enjoy our work," Roffe says. "We're trying to broaden the experience of dance. We encompass multiple voices from varied backgrounds."
And audiences seem to be responding. Only a year old, FuturPointe has already scored several New York City performances (one at Dance Theater Workshop, for instance) and throughout the state, including a hometown appearance at this summer's Nazareth College Art Center Dance Festival.
The company uses art installations, short films, and direct images to help convey emotional themes or develop an idea. "We enjoy collaboration," Thorne says. "That is the way dance should be heading - sharing talent. Creating together. Enhancing your work with our work and our work with your work. Connecting."
The diversity of the company's global dance styles will be in evidence during its run at Geva. Work presented will include Thorne's "Mashramani," which blends contemporary dance with Jamaican folklore; "Tangere," an Argentine tango-inspired suite by Roffe; and a modern African piece by company member Melinda Phillips.
Missy Pfohl Smith created Biodance in New York City in 2002; a few years later she relocated to Rochester and, slowly, filled her company with new dancers. Its first official performance was in 2008 at the University of Rochester, where Smith is now director of the dance and movement program. Biodance is a contemporary company notable for Smith's sleek choreography, the social consciousness of many of her pieces, and the dancers' ability to infuse their movements with meaning and humor.
Smith is excited about this weekend's premiere of "Our Story is Your Story," a piece that she was inspired to create after holding a public series of multi-generational dance workshops in which participants moved from sharing memories and conversations to channeling that content into movement. An art grant from the Arts and Cultural Council of Greater Rochester financed the project. The cast ranges in age from 15 to more than 60 years and includes a wide array of guest artists, including dance therapist Danielle Fraenkel, who will dance the stories of her mother surviving the Holocaust.
"The dances tell people's stories, but they're more metaphorical, not always clear cut," Smith says.
During the Geva residency Smith's group will also take on another weighty topic, but lighten it with humor. "Guzzle!" includes multimedia special effects to take consumers to task for their blind consumption of dwindling natural resources. "Web We Weave" is a quartet Smith choreographed in 2008; it features Julie Schlafer, Courtney World, Laura Regna, and Stuart Tsubota portraying people in intermingling relationships. The dancers push and tug each other, then counter with supporting lifts and holds, depicting the intricate balancing inherent in relationships.
FuturPointe Dance
October 21-22 & 30-31
Biodance
October 23-24 & 28-29
Geva Theatre Nextstage, 75 Woodbury Blvd.
$15-$20 each; $30 for both companies | 232-4382, gevatheatre.org
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