Repertoire

Dating, Love Stories, Couples, Friendship, Psychology, and Dieting through Dramatic and Comedic Dance

“Coupled”

Runtime: 18 minutes

Dancers: four

Musical Style: New Age with custom heartbeats by Adam Shield

Walk through the stories of consecutive couples: one lesbian, one heterosexual, and one in which one mate is transgender. Taken together, they depict universal, magical love regardless of sexism, sexual preference, or gender identity. The piece is uniquely feminist, putting women on equal terms with each other and with men, using equal partnering to do it.

“The Mind’s I”

Runtime: 25 minutes

Dancers: three

Musical style: post-modern jazz

Dancers 1, 2, and 3 personify the Id, Ego, and Superego, respectively, of Freudian psychology. They emerge and battle within the imaginary world of the human mind. They interact to develop coping styles and defense mechanisms that shape the individual’s behavior. With maturation, the three become more complex and finally learn to coexist adaptively by adulthood.

“Anticipation”

Runtime: 9 minutes

Dancers: one

Musical Style: Afro-Caribbean/classical

A woman gets ready to go out on a first date. She tries to pick out just the right outfit while freaking out occasionally about how afraid she is to meet this stranger. In the end she calms down and triumphantly heads out the door.

“BFF”

Runtime: 13 minutes

Dancers: two

Musical Style: classical

Two women meet and eventually become best friends. As the years roll by, they fight, make up, support each other, fail to support each other, advise each other, let each other down, and so on — it’s a real, imperfect, lasting relationship.

“Ode to Chocolate Cake”

Runtime: 13 (+  interaction) minutes

Dancers: two

Musical Style: Spanish/jazz/classical

A diabetic woman longs to eat the chocolate cake her neighbor brought over. She goes to sleep, still craving it.

In a waking dream the cake comes to life. In various animated forms, it menaces and seduces her. The audience feels her ambivalence, alternately rooting for her to refuse and submit. She ultimately rejects its charms and awakens. By audience vote, she either throws it away or consumes a tiny, carefully-measured portion of the mouthwatering cake.

  • Beauty's Possibilities

    “Like I was getting a glimpse into someone’s intimate world in a way that reminds us of beauty’s possibilities”

    (Mike B., audience member, Psychosocial, Pittsburgh, PA)

    Beauty's Possibilities
  • A Different World

    “Unlike any other ballet I’ve seen” (Anon., audience member), “Coupled: Autonomous Love,”

    Philadelphia, PA)

    A Different World
  • Loved It

    “Loved It”

    (Dr. Yang C., audience member, Excerpt from “The Mind’s I,”  Pittsburgh, PA)

    Loved It

PHOTO CREDITS: Coupled: Image: Kevin Michael Smith | Dancers: Nadine Azoulay/Melissa L. Tyler
© Kevin Michael Smith The Minds I: Image: Mitchell Straub I Dancers: Abigail Dias/Maria Uriarte
© Mitchell Strau Anticipation: Image: Bill Shirley | Dancer: Kerra Alexander  
© Bill Shirley BFF: Image. Maverick Visuals | Dancers: Jacquelyn Buckmaster-Wright/Jessica Hillier  
© Davida Rae Ode to Chocolate Cake: Image: Valentino Saas | Dancer: Stephanie Hrabar
© Davida Rae