Dance – Mitzi Adams

Going Solo Concert Replay! 9/26 at 8p going LIVE TONIGHT!

Watch our REPLAY of our Going Solo Concert TONIGHT, 9/26 – *here on this site**, where the link will go LIVE at 8p!*

Six talented dancers performed their solos on the eve of May 4th, 2019 at the Triskelion Arts Center in Brooklyn, NY. Read about that magical night here in my blog! Tonight you will get to see a REPLAY of that night, along with LIVE interviews with the dancers, where they described the process of their individual pieces.

The dancers performing are:

Julie Firoenza
Abby Marchesseault
Heidi Sutherland
Christopher Taylor
Joshua Tuason
Evita Zacharioglou
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Concert Order:

1) Flight (2014): Christopher Taylor

2) Mother’s Day (1998): Julie Firoenza

3) Dust Devil (2013): Abby Marchesseault

4) Going Solo (Premiere): Heidi Sutherland

5) My Room (2010): Julie Firoenza

6) Small Voice (2004): Evita Zacharioglou

7) It’s Easy To Drown (2018): Heidi Sutherland

8) Lost & Found (1999): Joshua Tuason

(This replay tonight is solely the performances, and not the films which were featured in the live concert.)

Videography/Editing: Faith Marek

GOING SOLO PIECE DESCRIPTIONS:

FLIGHT: Performed by Christopher Taylor

Exploring the emotional depths of the willingness to survive no matter the odds, this rare solo touches the heart with beauty and grace. The film Sea Chapter is based on this solo.

MOTHER’S DAY: Performed by Julie Fiorenza

This dramatic solo explores dreams that the choreographer and her mother had before her mother’s death. Set to an original text, combined with a haunting music collage, this solo forms a partnership to arouse imagination about the mother/child relationship.

DUST DEVIL: Performed by Abby Marchesseault

This thematic solo was choreographed to enliven the spirit of a poem. The athletically danced, theater-style piece, reminisces about life on the plains, with the swirling, little tornadoes that the poet recalls in the beanfields of the Midwest. (Music granted by Maria Schneider).

GOING SOLO: Performed by Heidi Sutherland

This solo digs into depths of expression, creating a terrain of movement exemplifying the unsteady nature of life, yet allowing for the ground to provide a place for sanctuary and hope.

MY ROOM: Performed by Julie Fiorenza

An opening slideshow with images from Korea, combine with a sensitive, heartfelt dance about a young woman’s adoption. This tender solo, danced to neo-classical piano music, interprets a story from the Far East.

SMALL VOICE: Performed by Evita Zacharioglou

This capricious solo portrays the loss of innocence from childhood, into the complications of adulthood. From the fondness of hopscotch to the gestural entanglements of emotion, this piece reads like a storybook of memories and makes a statement about the process of growing into responsibility.

IT’S EASY TO DROWN: Performed by Heidi Sutherland

This solo was inspired by the delicate nature of the human spirit and how easy it is to drown in life, yet resolves to achieve hope and strength to overcome.

LOST & FOUND: Performed by Joshua Tuason

This whimsical solo, with narration by the choreographer’s first dance teacher, Hedy Tower, connects past and present in a tribute to healing and hope. Lifted from a desolate reality and shown a renewed passion for life, this piece contracts and expands, depicting these rippling themes through jagged edges and graceful exuberance. Imbued with the strength to overcome, this light-spirited, colorful dance pays respect to the sentimental journey of the heart.

A NOTE FROM THE ARTISTIC DIRECTOR

“The stuff of solos” chronicles the messages from a lone voice that speaks through the pores of the soul. Its very essence is founded through the dancer that “puts it on,” like a new outfit that you buy at the store. Stepping into the skin of the solo awards the dancer the right to interpret his or her own meaning, loosely based on the original script. In rehearsals, I use pencil instead of pen to allow for the artists to erase what might have been, so they can etch their own branding into the storyline. Ultimately, it is through their letting go of all my notes when they finally go paperless. When I no longer see the choreography, but just see a beautiful dancer expressing themselves, I know I’ve done my job. I am honored to be in the company of such elite artists, who have chosen to dive deep into “the stuff of solos.”

~ Mitzi Adams

*****

(This film is for scholarly and research purposes only. This film is not designed or intended for monetary gain, nor does the producer or the company receive private compensation for the film. Distribution of this film is strictly prohibited.)

Thank you for joining us for our concert REPLAY! Look for us again in October for the RE-SCREENING of Behind the Lens: Adams Company Dance~

Fall Screening

**Behind the Lens: Adams Company Dance at the Bowtie Criterion Cinema**

Fall has always been a fertile time for me. The harvesting of artistic endeavors with the crisp autumn air seems to be the perfect mix. October 10th was a day to remember. With fits and starts to the day, the final showtime at 7:00p at the Bowtie Criterion Cinema in Greenwich went off without a hitch. Well… there were some hitches, but what happens in Vegas, stays in Vegas, shall we say. Describing the events leading up to “pressing play” will remain in the vault, but I will share this one funny incident. Well, not so funny to me at the time, but it proved to be a talking point after the show.

The projectionist was using his laptop with my portable hard drive plugged into it. He said he put it in airplane mode, but did he? While in the middle of one of my films, Ancestry.com downloaded and covered the screen with all the details of the projectionist’s profile. 911! He was out of the room managing other films at the time, so I texted him, “hurry quick!” About a one and a half minutes went by until he rectified the situation and got things back to normal. It seemed like an eternity to me. The biggest joke going around afterward was, “imagine if he had erectile dysfunction in his genetic make-up!” Okay, don’t sweat the small stuff. It all went well in the end and everyone seemed to enjoy the evening, despite the hiccup.

Our new partner, Greenwich’s Neighbor-to Neighbor, attended and spoke prior to the film about their organization and how there’s real need even in affluent Greenwich. ACD in association with Peace Community Chapel, stipulated in our event that our film night would donate half of the proceeds to them. It was a real eye opener to have their director describe in detail about food insecurity in the town. We all were so humbled and grateful to know that what we were doing was serving the greater good of humanity.

Behind the Lens, already having had three runs in NYC prior, gained a few films in the line-up, somehow completing a big cycle for me, with my final film, “Crooked Dreams,” taking front and center in my schedule this Fall. I took out my documentary on the making of a dance, leaving room to fill in the space with the newer films I’ve created. Blending the old with the new seemed to round out the evening, and I owe everything to my executive editor, Faith Marek, without whom I couldn’t have pulled this off. We spent hours and hours editing, and enjoying dinners together, as we witnessed the days getting shorter in the process.

It may seem from the outside looking in that I have all my ducks in a row, that I’m highly organized, and endowed financially to be able to produce the way I do. A big NO! My brother once gave nicknames to all my family members when we were young. My nickname was “beautiful mess.” Indeed, that’s me. All the stars have to be aligned to produce a film, but trust me, I continually was off in outer space getting caught in one black hole after the next to make them. My karma has been to have no umbrella, but good visibility in the rain — to have no idea where I’m headed, but to end up in the right place — to have only two nickels to rub together, but to end up abundantly pleased. The messiness of life has stirred-up my inner terrain a large percentage of the time — the advantage; however, is that it colors all that I’ve created, and with this Fall of 2019… all is at its peak!

Check out Behind the Lens: Adams Company Dance on Vimeo

Image from Crooked Dreams
Dancers L to R: Misaki Hayama, Evita Zacharioglou, Brandy White, Tailys Poncione, Heidi Sutherland

Dancer in feature image at top of blog: Heidi Sutherland

Knee Deep in 2018

2018 has been a year of feeling knee deep in the funk of our current political climate. Just when you thought nothing could get any worse, another story would unfold, making yet another stain in the fabric of our society. Out of this chaos always comes an artful depiction from artists all over the globe. February was when I felt the urge to go to my small corner of the universe, and create a piece for dancer, Heidi Sutherland. The solo we created, It’s Easy To Drown, was created and taped in Brooklyn at Triskelion Arts, then went on to be performed at the Ailey Citigroup Theater in KoDaFe in June. Heidi soared in her performance reaching new heights with her incredible technique and talent. See more of Heidi here.

Copy of 20180629_KoDaFe_WhitneyBrowne-9717 - Edited — Heidi Sutherland

Copy of 20180629_KoDaFe_WhitneyBrowne-9736 - Edited — It’s Easy to Drown

Putting one foot in front of the other, I imagined how I might allow for a catharsis of the angst I was feeling about the Trump Administration. The collective sludge that started a mud slide of turmoil was gradually pushing me toward making a short film. My ideas came together in an array of scenes crafted for four dancers on a oven-hot day in July, back again at Triskelion Arts. Lights, camera, action and with no time to polish, the footage we got that day went in the can, as the guts to my new film entitled, “Something Fake.” With fits and starts to schedules and then my editor moving, the process of editing was as slow as molasses. Being a Jiffy Mix choreographer, it took all the patience I could muster to work on this project only here and there; however, I’m happy to announce that the premiere will be very soon!

P1090602.MOV.05_56_09_03.Still002 — Jeremy Neal

Sequence - SELECTS.00_10_33_16.Still003 — Jeremy Neal, Paulo Gutierrez, Annie Heinemann

P1090595.MOV.05_37_32_14.Still002 — Jeremy Neal, Heidi Sutherland, Paulo Gutierrez, Annie Heinemann

My catharsis continued into late summer when I created a site specific work at the Halibut State Park in Rockport, MA. This time, my dancer-self came out to play, as serendipity met nature in three hours of improvisation, in the most beautiful place in New England. Footage from this day is on the back-burner, but the cooling effect of finding my peace is seen in these stills.

20180902_152850_Film1 (1) — Soaking in the beauty

Fall went a little weirder and far from nature as I went into the studio again, making a piece that should’ve been premiered on Halloween, but ended up making its debut in November — again back in Brooklyn at Triskelion Arts. That theater has my footprints all over it, and I’m grateful for the tab not being too steep. Somewhere amidst the #MeToo Movement and the tumult of our times, came a dance trilogy hinting at a darker shade of pale. Coaching the dancers to find their own meaning within the work paid off, as each of them told their own inner story. In fact, I titled the piece, “Short Story.” It begins with a duet, goes into a solo, then ends with a trio– all of which were performed with fierce commitment to the movement. They sweat through several rehearsals before knowing what it all meant, but in the long-run, it’s up for interpretation — the ending, however, leaves no doubt about man’s evil spirit.

So, as the political scene continues to shred all sense of balance, and 2018 comes to a close, I find my strength in dance and the dancers that makes it all happen. It’s in their fluidity, their power, and their artistry that allows me to go knee deep into the magic of dance — and at least for the moment, helps me to rise above it all!

Post Archival Rehearsal Shot With Videographer, Joel Stephen

Wade Watson, Evita Zacharioglou, Heidi Sutherland

Short Story from Mitzi Adams on Vimeo.

ACD Archival Taping at Triskelion Arts Brooklyn

Adams Company Dance will premiere a new work, “Short Story” at Triskelion Arts in Greenpoint, Brooklyn tomorrow. Our videographer, Joel Stephen, will be on deck with two cameras going to capture the dancers while they dive deep into the material. The piece is a trilogy inspired not only by the #MeToo Movement, but also the massive disintegration we are witnessing on our world stage now. The three sections, a duet, solo, and trio, describe the burdens and hardships that we are undergoing in our society, but touch on the resolve we can find if we lean on each other for comfort and healing. Ultimately, the sinister nature of man is revealed at the end — a familiar feeling with where we are right now with our current administration. Please visit our photo album of “The Making of Short Story.”

Our dancers: Heidi Sutherland, Wade Watson, and Evita Zacharioglou.

If you’d like to attend, please call Don Adams, Managing Producer: 203-829-4767.

Stay tuned for future performances of this piece!

27 and counting…

Adams Company Dance reached year twenty-seven! Each year breeds some form of artistry made manifest by the superb dancers that have joined into the weave of my choreographic fabric. Reflecting on the masterful work of so many dancers that have worked with me, and the talented photographers that have captured the beautiful moments of my work, I’ve been lucky to have a gallery of images to remind me of our special times together. This upcoming Fall season, we look forward to launching ACD’s combined event with Peace Community Chapel’s coat drive. Stay tuned to our announcements on that! In the meantime, enjoy a small sampling of beauty of these artists below…

To Dance Is To Be Human

Dancers: Chris Jackson, James A. Pierce III, Ryan Schmidt, Milan Misko, Catherine Barrone, Julie Fiorenza, Sarah Wiechman, Heidi Sutherland, Annie Heinemann.
Feature photo: Claire Hancock, Paulo Gutierrez

Photographers: (top to bottom) – Cathryn Lundgren, Jack Martin, Judy Lieff,
Bill H., Amelia Golden. Feature photo: Noel Valero

Dream Spell

A whirlwind of energy propelled our day on August 30th, at The Secret Theatre in Queens, NY, where seven dancers came together to stir up another one of Adams Company Dance’s Jiffy-Mix creations! This event was coined as our ACD Summerstock Fundraiser, in association with Peace Community Chapel (PCC). Using my Jiffy Mix model (short time-framed dance making, in an effort to reduce production costs, yet a chance to give dancers an opportunity to work), dancers are utilized for their talents, given a paycheck, and an opportunity to perform a new work that is professionally videotaped in front of a live audience. We were thrilled to have reached our goal and then some, through GoFundMe!

50% of the donations went toward ACD’s “Keep Dancers Working” Jiffy-Mix project; and the other 50% of the donations ACD donated to Peace Community Chapel’s “Summer Stock” Fund Raiser, which aided in putting food in the bellies of the homeless by helping to stock food pantry shelves in CT & NYC-based food pantries. A win-win for all involved!

Back to the theater… we aimed at starting at 1:00p and ending at 4:00p, but by the time we loaded in and got started, it really was about 1:20 or so. Yikes! I had a self-imposed goal of creating an 8:00 minute piece in about two and a half hours -how was I going to do that when I just lost so much time?

Well, with inspiring music and eager, talented dancers ready and willing, I was able to light a match under my butt and away we went. I really had little clue as to what I was going to do. In fact, I only really had the opening sequence, where I was hoping to set a tone, but from there, I was flying by the seat of my pants. It’s daring and exciting to be in this circus-like atmosphere, where we’re walking a tightrope without a net. I had themes in my head swirling around about disjointed dreams, iconic retro-style images from the 40’s and 50’s, a temptress-like woman who seduces the characters in her dreams, and yet becomes a lost dreamer–all seemingly poignant, child-like and slightly mad all at the same time. Stuff comes out when you’re put in a dark, steamy theater, complete with Grecian columns teetering on the edge of falling down at any moment. In fact, during the taping one of the columns did fall! How apropos! Nothing is firm, or steady around my process. It’s a risky, scrappy, undertaking of organized chaos–Jiffy-Mixes tend to be that way. I’ve grown to allow for the unrehearsed product that comes out just the way it’s supposed to be — a batter coming together with all the right ingredients to make up a quick batch of irregular dance muffins. How imperfectly perfect!

Dream Spell ended up being created and performed twice in front of a live audience all within our time frame allotted. Not only did we capture it on tape, but we also have a film being made about the process of the day. I sat with my editor and sorted through all the footage the next week until our dream landscape came to be a finished piece. Taking a step back and actually really watching what I had created, I was taken by the dancers abilities to throw themselves into the material — movement I threw at them! I honor them with all my heart, and value the day that passed like a blink of an eye. My dreams came true to reach our goals, but then again… I always knew that dreams do not solely consist of illusions!

Watch Dream Spell here!

See the photo gallery from our day’s work by clicking here!

Sweating it Out in June’s Master Class

June 28th was the perfect day for a Master Class at Ripley-Grier. It was one of those sunny hot days in late June where you either want to be at the beach, or in a steamy hot dance class. That’s when we as dancers can move our best–when our muscles are malleable, and kicking our legs up high is not really a problem. Other seasons we need a bit more warming up, but during this class, during this Summer season, all bodies were sufficiently heated up, where the sweat was beading off the many faces attending, and all dance attire was completely soaked by the end of the class. These dancers were not faint of heart. They worked hard and displayed a high level of confidence and talent as they dug into my technique and combinations.

Typically, I don’t hold auditions, as I feel that dancers don’t do their best under pressure, so I look for new dancers in performances, class or most commonly, I go on a recommendation. Holding my Master Class allowed me to invite a wide variety of dancers, and not only look for new talent, but also bestow what I feel is so important these days in the realm of knowing a higher potentiality with dance and self-care. This seems not to be talked about in most classes in our current climate.

I was honored to have William Ruiz to accompany our class. Somewhere in my past travels in the subway, I heard William playing and grabbed his business card. Thankfully, I was able to find it in my wallet and called him to ask about playing for my class. Luckily he was available, and we immediately were speaking the same language. Pulling out all the stops, he effortlessly went from his Conga drum to his tongue drum, all the while blending his ankle bells into the music. William supported my combinations with exciting rhythms and the dancers really enjoyed the synergy of the class!

I loved seeing the transformation of the dancers within our short two hours. Once you give them an allowance to be themselves — to take risks and fall down if you have to — you really see them rise to another level of their craft! I look forward to our next time together, sweating it out and sharing our bliss of dance and music!

The bonus of the day was finding out that Ripley-Grier will be taking over the DANY studios up the street! How did I find that out? I ran into Stas that day, the studio’s right hand-man. After a big reunion hug, he asked if I wanted to say “hi” to Butch, the studio’s owner. “Of course,” I replied, and happily accompanied him to his office. “It’s been too long,” we both said. After two-plus decades of renting from them, I got to know Butch, and always valued his kindness and keen entrepreneurial ways. NYC would not be the same without him. He shared pictures of his daughter’s graduation, which blew me away, as I remember her back when she was just a toddler. Time flies when you’re having fun dancing all these years! He pointed out the window and explained that he took over the DANY… “See the sign? Coming soon?” Oh wow! I was thrilled to know someone of such high caliber took over that iconic space which has been a New York treasure for many years. With all the spaces closing in NYC, it’s nice to know there’s a decent takeover happening — the likes of which will keep dancers sweating for many generations to come!

Mitzi's Master Class — Mitzi’s Master Class

A Look Back at 2016

After 25 years of making dances depicting the human condition, relationships and the comically absurd, this year allowed me to look back and honor the dancers, the dances, and the archives of Adams Company Dance through the ages. What a gift to have been able to do the work I have been doing for all these years! I surely could’ve given up many times when the going got rough. I recently told a former student, who just started her own company, that the key to success is tenacity. It’s not all about talent or luck in this field, but it is about how well you can stick to it when the odds are against you. Balancing it all has been a challenge, but passion always trumps — oh dear, there’s that word… Talk about challenges we faced this year, and one can only imagine what is to come with this guy in office. Ughh!

Through trials and tribulations on both a personal and global scale, I marched through 2016, with a bit of a ball and chain feeling I was dragging around. However, I know I was not the only one. My steadfast and stalwart rehearsal studio, ” The DANY,” closed their doors from the weight and pressure of the economy. Oh no! Thank God for trials though, as that is the stuff of creativity and art — but c’mon — enough already, 2016! I chose to celebrate my dancers, however. They are the committed ones that came through the muck and mire of their own personal trials, and like the phoenix rising from the ashes, they helped navigate through, using their ultra-talented gifts to fuel our choreographic endeavors. I owe everything to them! Take a look here at their beauty in motion!

So looking back at the tenacious doings of 2016, I will remember fondly my Jin Shin Jyutsu Self-Help class for dancers at Greenwich Academy’s dance department, in Greenwich, CT; a fun podacst called “Quest Hands,” with one f my former dancers, Robert Halley, who started his own business; a summer into fall rehearsal schedule with James A. Pierce, III, working on our new dance “Sentimento Spirituale”;” our archival video shoot at Gelsey Kirkland Theater and our near-debacle, where we lost, then found all the video footage; our “Behind the Lens,” screening at the Bryant Park Hotel: our 25th anniversary celebration event; and lastly, the spiritually uplifting performance of James A. Pierce, III, in his new solo on the bill of Aries in Flight, at the West Park Presbyterian Church in NYC, where two performances that day allowed for a divine experience!

Most fondly, I will remember the dancers who showed up this year and performed in and attended our events — a reunion of my saints — who marched in some way, for some part, through these dance fields for the past twenty-five years, all who contributed to the essence of ACD; and, just like the postmen — through rain, sleet, snow, and hail — they delivered, no matter the weather… and that’s tenacity!

f300_27a (1) — Throwback artistic director’s moment

Glenn Lonetybeing honored by Debra Levine at "Behind the Lens" — Dr. Glenn Loney being honored by Debra Levine at “Behind the Lens”

A moment with the dancers after the Bryant Park event: Milan Misko, Alana Kirzner,Chris Jackson, Mitzi Adams, Meredith Fages, Julie Fiorenza, Annie Heinemann

Behind the Lens: Screening October 14th!!

Adams Company Dance Presents:

Behind the Lens

Friday, October 14th, 2016 at 7:30p
Venue: The Bryant Park Hotel Screening Room
Location: 40 West 40th Street
New York , NY, 10018

Mitzi Adams, Artistic Director and Choreographer of Adams Company Dance, will present “Behind the Lens,” a 90 minute film screening of her award-winning documentary, “Except At Night: The Making Of A Dance,” and a compendium of short dance films. From the Baryshnikov Arts Center to the shores of Silver Sands State Park in CT and everywhere in between, Adams and filmmakers Amelia Golden and Benjamin Moss, weave dancers into their unique settings to create film shorts that are visually stunning, whimsical and emotionally stirring. ACD is celebrating their 25th anniversary this year!

This event is in collaboration with Peace Community Chapel’s annual coat drive for the homeless. Your tax-deductible donation will go toward this year’s goal of 100 new coats.

Prior to the screening, acclaimed author and dance/theater critic, Dr. Glenn Loney, will be honored with a lifetime achievement award for his many accomplishments.

Adams Company Dance Screening at:
40 West 40th Street
New York , NY, 10018
203-829-4767 (for more info)

For tickets:
https://www.eventbrite.com/e/behind-the-lens-2016-tickets-27363124843

Vintage Mother’s Day

In an attempt to overcome my deep emotions over the loss of my mother, I choreographed a solo entitled, “Mother’s Day,” circa, 1998. It took me three years and six months, after my mother’s death in 1994, to be able to get my legs under me enough so I could go back into the studio just for me. It’s easy to work with others, but putting myself into the ring with my shadowy self, was like walking into a dark alley, facing the fear that I might be accosted, or trip on a crack and fall unconscious. So, that time came and went, and I am still alive to tell about it. Phfeww!

As all artists draw upon their pain and suffering to create their art, I, too, was going to revel in my psychological pathos, and use the tools I had, to be responsive to what was lurking deep within me. I had a red chair. That was my tool. It was after my Mom told me that she had a dream that she saw me on a chair, dancing on a stage, that I found it. That was just before she died that she told me that dream. I, in turn, told her the dream I had. It was a dream that she died. She said, “sometimes dreams of death are not always about the person dying.” However, Mom, that dream was a prophetic, and so was yours.

I used my Mom’s and my dream as part of the narrative of my piece. It turned out to be more of a theatrical dance, rather than a “dance-y dance,” and it just seemed to pour out of me. It was just before Mother’s Day in May, when I premiered this solo at the Cunningham Dance Studio, back when Merce was still alive. Backstage, against a dusty, dirty wall, I placed a picture of my mother, took a deep breath, and walked out onto the stage to perform. I felt her presence with me on the dance floor, stirring me to tears.

So, now May 2016, with all cobwebs cleared away from the past, I can engage fully with my mother at any given moment. Though I have no children, I have felt like a mother for most of my life. The joy of functioning as a nurturer has brought enriching experiences into my life, and has even allowed me to help when one of my dancers lost her own mother. The hurt and broken places, within many of the dancers that have worked with me, has opened doors to healing while we have been in the creative process together. Sharing this closeness, through which transformation has always been the result, is what makes me continue to want to create. Without a mother’s love, there’s no telling what might appear in your dreams. Happy Mother’s Day!

See Mother’s Day here.

Watch our REPLAY of our Going Solo Concert TONIGHT, 9/26 – here on this site, where the link will go LIVE at 8p!

Concert Order:

Watch our REPLAY of our Going Solo Concert TONIGHT, 9/26 – *here on this site**, where the link will go LIVE at 8p!*