By Shana Simmons, Shana Simmons Dance

Three choreographers, three creative minds, three cities. How does one put a tour together? With today's struggle for voice, exposure, trying to make your own way, and getting recognized in your field, performance opportunities are becoming more difficult to find while overcoming other challenges. We have to get creative about finding outlets as choreographers which help promote company work. Enter Elevate: a triple bill of female choreographers, highlighting ideas of boundaries as female artists, whether self-imposed or societal, and how we overcome them. Featuring choreographers Heather Bryce (Bryce Dance Co, NYC), Erin Carlisle Norton (The Moving Architects, NJ/NYC) and Shana Simmons (Shana Simmons Dance, Pittsburgh) these three minds will experiment with whether their individual choreographic voices will be heard when combining three works together to form one artistic statement.

I first met Erin Carlisle Norton in Pittsburgh, PA, as she trained at the Civic Light Opera, where my mom was a teacher. This tall redhead, who commanded attention, was nice to the untrained dancer (myself), but it was clear she had one focus: dance. We later shared an apartment at the American Dance Festival and (MANY) years later collaborated on professional projects, most recently in 2015. Heather Bryce and Erin Carlisle Norton met over one of the Movers and Shapers podcast episodes, through an interview process featuring collaborative ideas and movement for every body. Erin had the idea to combine the three of us together to make something new. She states:

"Each of us are experienced in the field, have multiple dance degrees, have run our own companies, are interested in expansion, and….. I like working with women." (Erin's company is a female based company.)

What can you expect when entering these theaters? Three styles of dance are prominent; the first half boasts unique repertory pieces giving you the flavor of each company. The second half of the show is the featured title, Elevate, which demonstrates each choreographer's interpretation of the boundary theme. The companies are each bringing 4-6 dancers, aiming to provide them with professional experiences through meaningful performances. The three of us are collaborating on each transition to string together all three works together through Skype dialogue and in-studio filming; we are developing ways each company's dancers will be on stage together interacting. These meetings usually occur late at night, with everyone looking a little sleepy. Erin's 5-year old occasionally makes an appearance with his pink toy car, Heather and her long hair draped to one side diligently types away as the meeting progresses, uploading files and keeping us on track, while I tend to let my dog out mid-sentence, because he's the cutest shih tzu alive and deserves my attention. 

The tour is self-produced, which means we are individually fundraising in our own ways to attain the necessary amount to take each company to one another's cities. We launched a collaborative fundraiser in March to help alleviate the costs to rent theaters, pay dancers, and make sure we all have housing for each trip. We are aiming to provide the best audience experience, connecting you to the female voice, and spreading awareness about local female organizations in our communities! Through the trips and toils of creation and organization, it is so worth it to provide you with an amazing show and express ourselves through our art form.

We are excited to share our works with three cities: Boston, New York City, and Pittsburgh, and hope you can join us in the theater!

Elevate: A triple bill of female choreographers 

April 17-18 Actors Fund Arts Center (Brooklyn, NY)

April 19-20 The Dance Complex (Cambridge, MA)

May 4 Point Park University, George Rowland White Performance Center (Pittsburgh, PA)

 

 

Shana Simmons is a Pittsburgh based choreographer and dancer. Simmons graduated from Point Park University with a BA in Dance and from Laban, in London, England, with an MA in Choreography. Her works have been seen in London, Belgium, New York City, Chicago, and Pittsburgh. Shana Simmons Dance aims to encourage artistic voices in everyone and communicate through the ultimate human expression: movement.

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