An Evening of Modern Dance was presented last month as part of The Putnam County Dance Project series of performances and workshops. An Evening of Modern Dance was envisioned and produced by dancers Marie Carstens and Erin Jennings. Both transplants from New York City, Jennings and Carstens now live near the Putnam/Dutchess county line.
The project is sponsored by the Town of Southeast Cultural Arts Coalition and made possible in part through the Putnam Arts Council’s Arts Link Grant program with public funds provided through the NY State Council on the Arts with support from Governor Andrew Cuomo and the NY State Legislature.
At the Saturday evening performance, audiences saw dances ranging from classic modern dance pieces to new works set to contemporary, choral and classical music. Marie Carstens and Faith Kimberling, both dance in companies focused on the choreography of Isadora Duncan, sometimes thought of as the Mother of Modern Dance.
Kimberling dances with and performed courtesy of Lori Belilove & The Isadora Duncan Dance Company based in NYC. Carstens dances with Catherine Gallant and Dances by Isadora.
Carstens, Kimberling and Jennings performed brief dances to Brahm’s Love Song Waltzes, which they had premiered earlier this year with the Putnam Chorale. Other performers came from the Hudson Valley area, New York City and North Carolina.
Gaspard Louis, formerly of Pilobolus Dance Company, now directs Gaspard & Dancers, a company that performs NY and NC seasons as well as touring. They presented a partnering duet titled, Magical Cusp. Alison Cook-Beatty, a Paul Taylor 2 Dance Companyalum who now heads the NYC based Alison Cook Beatty Dance,showed a duet that had premiered at the Joyce Theater. Ivanova Aguilar, of Loteria Performing Arts, showed a contemporary solo and will return this fall to perform a dance with Mexican roots.
Audience members hailed from Dutchess, Putnam, Westchester and Ulster counties, as well as from New York City.
Carstens and Jennings are looking forward to the next presentation in the fall. “We are excited to show some dances at Studio Around the Corner this fall. We were so grateful to Seven Star School of Performing Arts for hosting the evening in July and to Putnam Arts Council, and the Town of Southeast Cultural Arts Coalition who helped make the project possible”. The next presentation will be October 27 at Studio Around the Corner in Brewster and will feature performers bringing dances from their cultures – Bali, Israel, Japan and Mexico.
Jennings says, “Marie and I met as neighbors and found we had a lot in common – including dance and the wish to share it. It was such a pleasure to share what we love and what we have been working on. It’s also a joy to bring a diversity of performers from the dance world to this community, which is already rich in arts and culture.”
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