Dance! Dance! Dance!

Dance companies may face a challenge in drawing audiences, but more and more Tampa Bay companies are upping their game with first-rate, imagination-fueled art. In addition to Savion Glover’s big upcoming show at the Straz and some notable touring companies, locals are sashaying, strutting and hoofing it with dazzlingly eclectic showcases this week.

Moving Current Dance Company offers an awe-inspiring mix of athleticism and aestheticism, conveying complex emotions and evocative stories through movement, striking visuals and atmospheric music. Big changes are afoot for the nearly two-decade-old company. Beloved co-founder and longtime Co-Artistic Director Erin Cardinal has moved on but plans to return after she pursues her MFA at the University of Washington. Moving Current’s next performance chapter kicks off this weekend with Brian Dean Fidalgo II as new co-artistic director. Fidalgo told CL that he hopes to bring more national attention to the company. The third-generation Tampanian added that he would like to motivate other factions in the arts community to support homegrown organizations like MCDC in defining the city’s diverse cultural landscape. This Moving Current Dance Concert will be the first overseen by Fidalgo with Co-Artistic Director Cynthia Hennessy and dancer/choreograpers Christina Acosta, Alex Jones, Sadie Lehmker and Los Angeles-based artist Bradley Michaud of Method Dance (pictured above).
Feb. 20-21 at 7:30 p.m. and Feb. 22, 3 p.m., at Hillsborough Community College’s Mainstage Theatre in the Performing Arts Building (at the corner of E. Palm Avenue and N. 14th Street). $16 for adults, $12 for seniors. movingcurrent.com.

The University of Tampa’s Spring Dance Concert is an anticipated annual performance known for its impressive diversity. UT dance faculty members, guest artists and students will perform classical ballet, modern, Latin, hip-hop, West African and tap. Recreations of Yankadi and Makru dances of the Susu people of Guinea, West Africa, choreographed by Kya “Mame Diarra” Conner, add to the show’s wildly varied line-up. Conner trained in African dance during her studies in the countries of Ghana, Senegal and South Africa, and her piece will be accompanied by live drummers. If that weren’t enough, a hip-hop piece choreographed by Dreama Davidson, creative director for VYB Dance Company and lead actress in Busch Gardens’ revue Katonga, will be featured. The program also includes new work by Sean Musselman and a “sizzling” Latin piece by Jae Phillips. Other choreographers include UT dance faculty Susan Taylor Lennon, Susannah LeMarquand, Corinne Colon, Ya-Ju Lin, Linda Lopez and Paul Finocchiaro.
Thurs.-Sun., Feb. 19-21, at 8 p.m. with an additional matinee performance at 2 p.m. on Sat., Feb. 21, at UT’s Falk Theatre, across from the campus. ut.edu

The second half of Shoes at the Door Modern Dance Company’s Footnotes — the Tampa company’s titular piece — was created collaboratively. We’re told that director Danielle Boe has spent the last few months in the studio leading dancers, not only through movement exploration, but also through storytelling and investigations into the unique histories behind each individual. The score layers the dancers’ voices on top of dissonant compositions; the lighting design highlights all of the individual choreographic voices. The show features new choreography by Sadie Lehmker, Steven Jones, Boe and a guest performance by Sarasota’s Fuzion Dance Artists. While at the show, be sure to peruse an art exhibit in Stageworks’ lobby curated by USF Graphicstudio and Contemporary Art Museum, including works by Josué Charles, Jacqueline Flavio and Princess Simpson Rashid.
Sat. Feb. 21, at 8 p.m. and -Sun., Feb. 22, at 3 p.m. at Stageworks Theatre, 1120 E. Kennedy Blvd., West Bldg., #151, Tampa, shoesatthedoor.org.

Eisenhower Dance, a premier Detroit-based contemporary company, will visit Tarpon Springs to conduct a master dance class open to the public. Ages 11 and older are invited to the session at the Tarpon Springs Cultural Center, 101 S. Pinellas Ave. (aka Alt. U.S. 19), Tarpon Springs. Sat., Feb. 21, from 10 a.m. to 11:30 a.m. Tickets are $10. TarponArts.org.

Mummenschanz is back! The wild, weird international performance art sensation formed in Manhattan in the 1970s. Mummenschanz broke new ground in the ’70s with a unique mix of mime-masque theater and modern dance. Known as “magicians of silence,” they embody everyday objects from Slinkys to toilet paper and conjure fantastical abstract forms. One of those “you have to see it” acts (if you haven’t on Sesame Street or a number of variety shows).
Tues., Feb. 24, and Wed., Feb. 25, at 7:30 p.m., Straz Center, Tampa. $35-$45. 813-229-7827. strazcenter.org. 

This article appears in Feb 12-18, 2015.