Several works from Peter London Global Dance Co.’s latest program, “Ancestral Ground” — playing at Miami’s Adrienne Arsht Center for the Performing Arts through Dec. 31 — recall the time when pandemic lockdown restrictions finally began to lift. .
For example, the program’s centerpiece, “La danse vie,” is a three-part movement bacchanal that Peter London created in the wake of the initial two-month blockade.
When the restrictions were eased, London took his dancers to the beach.
“It was great to be outside and in the fresh air,” says London. “We made the jump just as the sun was rising.”
[ RELATED: Directory for South Florida’s cultural venues and organizations ]
London conceived the opening of “La danse vie” as a ritual to the sun.
The choreographer calls the first movement “Kalinda Wash”. Performed by nine dancers and set to the percussive composition, “D Train to Prospect Park,” by Palms Down, “Kalinda” is a Sanskrit word that refers to health and replenishment.
:quality(70)/cloudfront-us-east-1.images.arcpublishing.com/tronc/NVH3EBDM7ZCA5CYX3RV3LOD74I.jpg)
A native of Trinidad and Tobago, London drew inspiration for the second movement, “Carnival King,” from his country’s annual celebration. The accompanying score, “Creole Soul,” is the creation of Etienne Charles, a Trinidadian-born musician and 2015 Guggenheim Fellow.
“In Trinidad, during Carnival season, it’s like Carnival comes alive at 4 in the morning,” says London. “The second movement is an all-male quartet with solo and group sections and is fiery, lively and intense.”
The third movement is “E Marta Bachanale”, a piece for nine dancers whose title refers to the Tuesday before Lent.
“That’s when all the big masquerades come out and everyone’s drinking and eating,” says London. “All hell breaks loose. It’s a physical and spiritual explosion.”
London returned to Charles again to capture the spirit of Carnival. The result is music that not only exudes explosive energy, but also tells a story of creative musical resistance on the part of Trinidadian slaves.
“If he was caught playing drums, he could have his hand cut off, as drumming created a code language that plantation owners tried to subvert,” explains London. “When the plantation owners forbade the slaves to use drums, we picked bamboo and cut it into different lengths and sizes and that’s what we used to play the rhythms.
“The music makes you want to jump up and dance in the theater.”
[ RELATED: Christmas is over, but holiday events aren’t: See roundup of ongoing South Florida festivities ]
A longtime professor of dance at the Miami School of the Arts in New World, London says many of the company’s dancers and choreographers are former students. Some started with him even younger, in the Dance Empire studio.
London students have gone on to work in leading companies including Alvin Ailey American Dance Theatre, Martha Graham Dance Co., Paul Taylor Dance Co. and Dance Theater of Harlem. They include Robert Battle, Alvin Ailey’s current artistic director, and Jamar Roberts, Alvin Ailey’s first resident choreographer.
Another of London’s alumni, dancer-choreographer Justin Rapaport will premiere the eight-minute duet “Around, Would You Turn.” The work grew out of Rapaport’s reflections on the idea of individual progress.
“No matter how much we may change, we return to a place where we were before,” says Rapaport. “Circumstances may be different: new people, new environment, new sense of self, and yet there is a sense of return and familiarity.”
The program includes “I am My Brother’s Keeper” by Haitian-American choreographer Vitolio Jeune, as well as “Embers” by choreographer Terry Springer. Performed to the music of Woodkid, Ambrose Williams and Jonatan Szer, “Embers” deals with the theme of coming back to life during the pandemic, which for Springer happened like embers reviving in a flame.
:quality(70)/cloudfront-us-east-1.images.arcpublishing.com/tronc/LQ4QYB63ENBD3DEAMKIP4VOSPQ.jpg)
Eden Collier, who first encountered London as a dance student at New World, says she strongly identifies with his work, The Eye of Zimbabwe.
“It reminds me that I’m not alone, and I remember to be grateful … Many times we talk about racial trauma, but we often forget to talk about the blessings that our ancestors passed down to us,” Collier says. , who is in her second season with the Peter London company and dances most of the program.
The first act closes with, “And So I Run,” choreographed by Kashia Kancey, a New World London alumna who grew up in Miami’s Overtown. Kancey’s new work reflects the 2020 death of George Floyd, who was killed in police custody in Minneapolis.
“Black people a lot of times run from the police and run for their lives,” London says of Kancey’s article. “And so, all the time you live, you must run.
“The energy of the dancers [in ‘And So I Run’] it is breathtaking and sometimes painful to watch. We run for 500 years. Running is part of the experience of being free and trying to stay alive. And with all that running, a lot of creativity happens.”
WHAT: Peter London Global Dance Company’s “Ancestral Land”.
WHEN: Until December 31, 2022
WHERE: Adrienne Arsht Center for the Performing Arts, Carnival Studio Theatre, 1300 Biscayne Blvd., Miami
COST: 53 dollars
INFORMATION: 305-949-6722; arshtcenter.org
ArtburstMiami.com is a non-profit source of dance, visual arts, music and performing arts news.
