A Fiery and Passionate Return to Live Dance

Metamorphosis Dance Company partners with the Peter London Global Dance Company

“A fiery and passionate return to live dance performance” is the description for two fundraising dance shows being hosted this weekend by the Metamorphosis Dance Company. The group takes to the stage at the National Academy for the Performing Arts (NAPA) on Friday 22nd and Saturday 23rd July at 7:00 p.m.

The show titled, ‘Meta Dance Live’ will signal the return of the Metamorphosis Dance Company to live performances with the showcase of a new company of dancers, the excitement of world premiere choreographic works, and a visit from the Peter London Global Dance Company (PLGDC).

Gracing the stage at NAPA for Metamorphosis will be Anika Robertson, Azara Hosein, Cheyenne Carrington-Greene, Chinara Bereaux, Danica Sealy, Emilee Padmore, Isabelle Julien, Jada Marie Motilal, Jenique Blanc, Mayhaylia Grffith, Sade Flemming, Sarah Woo Ling and Tristan Dillon. There will also be a special guest performance by critically acclaimed, medaled & awarded Contemporary dancer Nathalia Molina-Springer of Venezuela.

Meta Dance Live will also be a fundraising effort for the first phase of a dance exchange programme between the two companies, with this visit incorporating both dance and choreography collaborations.

“Projects like these expose international audiences to dance productions by Trinidadian dance and theatre artists made in Trinidad, foster international cultural exchanges and touring opportunities for dance theatre,” explained Nancy Herrera, Co-Founder and Artistic Director of the Metamorphosis Dance Company in an exclusive interview with Arts Agency, Black Collar Creative.

“(Dance exchange programmes) create opportunities to educate, build awareness and share knowledge and experiences in dance from the best dancers to upcoming generations of dancers and creates high level performance for young and talented dancers of Trinidad and Tobago,” she shared.

The visit by the PLGDC to Trinidad, is sponsored in part by the State Department Division of Cultural Affairs, the Florida Council on Arts and Culture and the State of Florida (Section 286.25, Florida Statutes) the NEA, Miami-Dade Department of Cultural Affairs and the Cultural Affairs Council, the Miami-Dade-County Mayor and Board of County Commissioners, the Knight Foundation, the Miami Foundation, Miami Beach Department of Cultural Affairs, AVRAM Corporation, the Adrienne Arsht Center for the Performing  Arts of Miami-Dade County, Funding Arts Network (FAN), Coral Gables Department of Cultural  Affairs, The WEGE Foundation.

“My expectation is that it continues to build on the very successful partnership between the Metamorphosis Dance Company and Peter London Global Dance Company, as together we conducted educational dance residencies on Zoom during the pandemic,” she continued.

“Two choreographic dance works, ‘Embers’ (Terry Springer) and ‘Fire & Gold’ (Peter London, with the music Fire & Gold composed by Etienne Charles) were created out of these sessions and were filmed and edited to international standards by Advanced Dynamics Limited. The work premiered with a virtual performance September 27th, 2021, and now it’s time to showcase these and other new exciting works LIVE – first here in Trinidad and then in the USA, when Metamorphosis goes on tour.”

Peter London is an award-winning performer, teacher and choreographer who graduated with honors from the Juilliard School in in 1987, and since then, he has been a distinguished Professor of Dance at the Miami-Dade College/ New World School of the Arts in Miami. He has danced with the internationally renowned Martha Graham Dance Company, which is the oldest American dance company in the world, and eventually became principal dancer, Rehearsal Assistant, Associate Artistic Senior, and faculty at that company.

As a dancer, London is well travelled, having performed at the Paris Opera House, The Metropolitan Opera House in New York City, the Odeon of Herod Atticus in Athens, Greece, at the ancient amphitheater in Pompei, Italy, Ephesus in Turkey and at the Teatro Colón in Buenos Aires, Argentina. He has performed for the crown prince of Japan at the Shinjuku Bunka Center, Tokyo; for two US Presidents – President Gerald Ford in Palm Desert, California and President Ronald Reagan at the Kennedy Center in Washington, DC; toured internationally with the José Limón Dance Company and the Elisa Monte Dance Company; danced alongside legendary Soviet Latvian-born Russian-American dancer, choreographer, and actor Mikhail Baryshnikov, and also worked creatively as a dancer with the late American fashion journalist, stylist, creative director, and editor-at-large of Vogue magazine – Andre Leon Talley.

PLGDC dancers who will perform on stage alongside the ladies of the Metamorphosis include Margaret Bryant, Eden Collier, Clinton Harris, TtShaylah Lightbourn, Aaron Lopez, Briley Rowan, Macey Rowan, Jesus Sandoval, Ethan Telfort, Isabelle Vazquez and Rafael Ruiz del Vizo.

Four (4) other dance masters will present choreographic works including Nancy Herrera, Bridgette Wilson – Rehearsal Director & Assistant Artistic Director also of the Metamorphosis Dance Company, Dr. Sat Balkaransingh, Artistic Director of the Kathak Kala Sangam Institute of the Performing Arts and finally, Terry Springer, Internationally acclaimed Dancer, Teacher and Choreographer.

Tickets for ‘Meta Dance Live’ are available at the NAPA Box Office from 12 noon to 6 p.m. at TT$150, with a group special of TT$100 for purchases of five (5) tickets or more. Patrons are invited to NAPA from 7:00 p.m. on Friday 22nd and Saturday 23rd to be in the audience for an explosion of renewed and invigorated movement, motion and emotion – vital ingredients to every Metamorphosis Dance Company show.