SARASOTA COUNTY (WSNN) – Sarasota Contemporary Dance is turning 15 and kicking off its “Quinceañera” year with its first show, Evolving/Revolving. The show’s theme connects to the Spanish celebration.
SCD is celebrating its “Quinceañera” year, marking the passage from girlhood to womanhood. Their first show EVOLVING/REVOLVING debuting at the Historic Asolo Theater.
It’s a production different than others. Instead of SCD’s usual quick, eclectic programming with multiple pieces; it has longer, more in-depth performances with only two pieces; ‘Departed’ and “The Unofficial Biography of Marilyn Monroe.” Artistic Director Leymis Bolaños Wilmott, says there’s a sense of endurance on stage that parallels with this ‘new normal.’
“And I think during these times, we have to be resilient and keep pushing, pushing, pushing,” Wilmott said.
The show is bringing back past artists who’ve had an impact on the company. Guest choreographers, Erin Cardinal and Brian Fidalgo are expanding on a work they did two years ago; called ‘Departed.’ It focuses on migration, exploring thoughts of home.
“Insecure and unsafe place to be,” Cardinal said. “And making that decision to have to leave home to find a better place to find a safer place, bring your family and not really know where that place is, and not being welcome.”
They were inspired by the world around them.
“In the last 2/3 years, just especially, we’ve kind of been visible to the mass amounts of people across the globe that are leaving their homes, and are going somewhere else,” Fidalgo said.
They’re creating movement from documentaries, visual art, and photographs. Wilmott says ‘empathy’ comes to mind when watching the 30-minute piece. At the end….
“All the dancers come together and they’re creating this image again, where they’re looking straight at the audience and it’s like ‘I see you, you see me, we are human,'” Wilmott said.
It then transitions to Erin Fletcher’s 70-minute choreography, “The Unofficial Biography of Marilyn Monroe,” an exposé into an iconic figure, exploring the dualities of a woman celebrity – what those on the outside see, and what is real.
“I think there’s a lot of struggle for women where they’re looking at that duality of themselves, even if they’re not in that star setting of what they feel like they are and the ways they feel pressured to present society,” Dancer Eugenia Titterington said.
50 Patrons are allowed to sit in-house, socially distanced, and other audience members can watch from SCD’s Digital Theater online, multi-camera experience.
Again, the performances will be held at the Historic Asolo Theater from Thursday, October 1 – Sunday, October 4. Performance times are 7:30pm Thursday-Saturday and on Sunday at 2:00pm. In-performance and virtual tickets can be purchased online at www.sarasotacontemporarydance.org or by calling 941.260.8485. Box office hours are Monday, Tuesday, Thursday, and Friday, 10:00 AM – 4:00 PM.
