By Steve Sucato
Rebounding from the effects of the global pandemic, this past year has been one of reflection, rejuvenation and resurgence at GroundWorks DanceTheater. Here are some by month highlights of the organization’s goings on in 2022:
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January
GroundWorks welcomed new company dancers Maddie Hanson, Madison Pineda, Teagan Reed and Victoria Rumzis. They, along with Nicole Hennington began work on Executive Artistic Director David Shimotakahara’s dance film, Transcendence. GroundWorks third annual Winter Intensive at Cleveland State University’s Department of Theatre and Dance (CSU) studios returned in-person and masked the 6th-8th. Eleven participants immersed themselves in 18 creative and collaborative sessions over the three days including classes in ballet, modern dance, improvisation, the creative process, and instructional strategies. GroundWorks’ teaching artists also began Kinection for Learning residencies at Warrensville Heights’ Green Inspiration Academy and Cleveland’s Warner Girls’ Leadership Academy. In addition, they continued a decade-long partnership with Rainey Institute, beginning an 8-week program of community-based dance instruction that consisted of a series of mini residencies in dance instruction for 3rd-8th grade students of the pre-professional afterschool program at Rainey Dance Academy (RDA).
February
The company’s first creative residency of the year begin with choreographer Peter Chu who sourced influences at the intersection of Tai Chi, Qigong, and Jazz Dance to create two new works, (un|re)cover and will(O) for the company. The month also included GroundWorks DanceTheater’s inaugural collaboration with CityMusic Cleveland Chamber Orchestra, Transcendence. A socially-distanced, capacity audience of 400 attended the program on the 27th at The Shrine Church of St. Stanislaus. The performance featured the aforementioned dance film, which was accompanied by CityMusic Cleveland musicians performing live French composer Olivier Messiaen’s poignant masterwork, “Quartet for the End of Time.” The composition was the inspiration for the dance film and the program.
March
Peter Chu’s residency wrapped up with a work-in-progress showing at CSU, and GroundWorks Artist in Residence Antonio Brown began his creative residency that would result in the work Mixtape 2.2. As part of his residency Brown also taught a masterclass for CSU Department of Theatre and Dance students. The masterclass was a continuation of GroundWorks ongoing partnership with the CSU as their professional dance company in residence. GroundWorks teaching artists also began a Kinection for Learning residency with Cleveland’s Willson School. On the 17th, company dancers participated in a creative exploration session at CSU’s Department of Theatre and Dance studios with choreographer Ashwini Ramaswamy. The session included a masterclass in Bharatanatyam classical Indian dance and a choreographic creative exchange. The exploration session was part of The National Center for Choreography at The University of Akron’s Ideas in Motion: 21st Century Dance Practices capsule series and Ramaswamy’s research residency. And on the 24th and 25th, the company gave a preview performance of Peter Chu’s will(O) as guest artists in CSU’s Department of Theatre and Dance’s Spring Concert at Playhouse Square’s Allen Theatre.
April
On the 7th, GroundWorks staff, dancers and board members came together with 2022’s It Takes Two! celebrity dancers for a launch party at Saucy Brew Works. The company then took to the Knight Stage at The Akron Civic Theatre the 9th and 10th for GroundWorks’ Spring Performance Series 2022 premiering Chu’s (un|re)cover and will(O) along with Brown’s Mixtape 2.2. Brown also held a series of ChoreoLab workshops with the company’s dancers where he introduced them to some of the techniques he uses to mix soundtracks for his works.
May
On the 6th and 7th the company continued its Spring Performance Series 2022 in Cleveland at the LatinUs Blackbox Theater at The Pivot Center for Art, Dance and Expression. The company’s dancers, along with seven It Takes Two! Celebrity Dancers, then spent most of the rest of the month rehearsing for GroundWorks’ annual It Takes Two! Gala Benefit held on the 28th at Cleveland’s Tenk West Bank. Over 200 attendees helped the organization raise nearly $120,000 to support GroundWorks DanceTheater’s groundbreaking contemporary dance performances and life-enriching educational and outreach programs in Northeast Ohio. Taking home Grand Champion honors was celebrity dancer Terri Bradford Eason who performed with partner David Shimotakahara. The Fan Favorite award for most votes went to Felton Thomas.
June
GroundWorks welcomed new company dancers Ahna Bonnette and Matthew Saggiomo and said goodbye to dancers Maddie Hanson and Nicole Hennington who left for other pursuits. On the 14th the company announced Joan Meggitt as its new Education Director. Meggitt followed in the dance steps of longtime Education & Community Engagement Director, Rebecca Burcher. Prior to coming to GroundWorks, Meggitt was an Associate Professor of dance at Kent State University and the founding director and principal choreographer of Antaeus Dance, a professional modern dance company in Cleveland that ran from 2001–2017. Creative residencies also began for Nicole Hennington, back as a choreographer for the company developing her work As I Am, and in-demand choreographer Rena Butler, who began her new work for the company, Sheep’s Gothic. On the education front, GroundWorks’ teaching staff began residencies at Paul L. Dunbar Elementary School and St. Martin de Porres Family Center.
July
On the 7th in partnership with Akron’s Summit Artspace, the company and education staff began the latest round of GroundWorks’ 4-part Action/Reaction series. GroundWorks’ 2022 Summer Performance Series then headed back to Cain Park, this time at the larger Evans Amphitheater on the 15th, 16th & 17th where they performed Hennington’s As I Am, Butler’s Sheep’s Gothic and a revamped version of Shimotakahara’s 2019 work, Aperture. The company also began work on a stage version of Shimotakahara’s Transcendence, incorporating both film and live performance.
August
The month began with the second leg of the Summer Performance Series in Akron as part of The Heinz Poll Summer Dance Festival. GroundWorks has performed annually at the festival since 2007. An estimated 2000 people took in the free performances on the 5th and 6th. During the month, Pittsburgh choreographer Pearlann Porter also began her creative residency to develop her first work for the company, The Visual Sound of Color that incorporated her use of improvisation and her unique approach to using projected lighting.
September
The company kicked off the month with a performance of Hennington’s As I Am at Playhouse Square’s annual Dance Showcase on the 16th. They then ended the month with the first leg of their Fall Performance Series 2022 at Playhouse Square’s Outcalt Theatre on the 30th and October 1. Presented by CSU’s Department of Theatre and Dance, it was the first time GroundWorks had performed at the venue. On the program was Porter’s The Visual Sound of Color to original music composed and performed by PJ Roduta and Renée Copeland, and the stage version of Shimotakahara’s Transcendence. The program also featured a special video tribute honoring GroundWorks’ retiring resident lighting designer Dennis Dugan. The Fall Series program also included GroundWorks’ exCHANGE education program at the Outcalt Theatre with students from Bard High School Early College and the Cleveland School of the Arts showcasing their own movement studies onstage and seeing the company in performance.
October
On the 5th GroundWorks presented a special pop-up preview performance of Porter’s The Visual Sound of Color for the Ohio Arts Council’s Arts Impact Conference at Akron’s The Knight Stage at Akron Civic Theatre. On the 7th and 8th at the same venue, the company continued its Fall Performance Series 2022. The performance on the 8th was also a part of GroundWorks and DANCECleveland’s joint Make It A Day Of Dance In Akron event featuring a 2 for $40 ticket promotion that included a ticket to both GroundWorks and Gibney Company’s performances that day as well as a discount at El Patron Tequileria & Cuisine, and a special Gibney Groundworks Duo ice cream flavor (Pistachio and Sour Cream) at Chill Artisan Ice Cream. On the 17th and 20th the company’s dancers engaged in a 2-day creative exploration with Urbana, Illinois choreographer Alexandra Barbier at CSU’s Department of Theatre and Dance, as part of her Ideas in Motion, Community Commissioning Residency at NCCAkron. The company closed out the month with the first part of Antonio Brown’s latest creative residency to develop a new work for the company’s 2023 Spring Performance Series.
November
The month kicked off with company dancers Teagan Reed and Victoria Rumzis performing a duet from Transcendence as part of the Cleveland Art Prize’s Annual Awards Event held on the 2nd at the Cleveland Museum of Art. Education Director Joan Meggitt then performed and participated in a panel discussion as part of Eleanor Danced!, celebrating Cleveland modern dance pioneer Eleanor Buchla Kubinyi (1910–1972). The presentation, in conjunction with Cleveland Arts Prize’s Past Masters events, took place on the 5th at Cleveland Public Library’s Main Campus Auditorium. On the 10th, company dancer Teagan Reed led a masterclass for CSU students at the University. And on the 11th, GroundWorks’ dancers took part in an exchange with DanceWorks Chicago that included the two companies taking part in a ballet class led by DanceWorks Chicago Artistic Director Julie Nakagawa, a rehearsal session with Antonio Brown, and a joint outing to see the DANCECleveland presentation of Stephen Petronio Company at Playhouse Square. Lastly on the 29th, GroundWorks’ supporters, and fellow champions of The Curious Child, generously contributed nearly $3000 to our 2022 Giving Tuesday campaign.
December
GroundWorks has kicked off its 2023 Annual Fund and invites you to play an integral part in their making great art for the stage, in the classroom, and in the community by contributing to the Annual Fund. Click here to donate. The company began work on a new creation by David Shimotakahara. In education news, GroundWorks’ dancers and education staffbegan a 4-month residency at Firestone Community Learning Center in Akron and on the 8th held an observation and creative process workshop with students from Hawken School, and also attended Rainey Dance Academy’s recital.