HISTORY

Our repertory includes the following:

Goya and the Sleep of Reason explores the life of the Spanish artist. The company worked with the National Theatre of the Deaf to incorporate sign language to portray Goya's struggle with deafness. Performed at NYU.

Waltz for a Shattered World, with a score for seven musicians by Avishai Ya'ar and conducted by Mimi Stern-Wolfe of Downtown Music Productions, depicts the cruelty of discrimination in pre-Nazi Germany. Performed at the 92nd Street Y.

Backstreet, in which a despondent man is guided by a guardian angel towards redemption, premiered in Helsinki and was performed in 2016 in Savonlinna, Finland and St. Petersburg, Russia.

Passing was created as a solo for Felicia Nortonto honor a dear friend who died of breast cancer. Premiered at the Cunningham Studio.

Bending Toward the Light, a Jazz Nativity, a Kindred Spirits production at the Lambs Theater in New York, starred jazz greats Lionel Hampton and Tito Puente and the fabulous tap dance legend, Jimmy Slide. It featured Ms. Spielvogel's choreography.

Dark Angel, Ms. Spielvogel's dance film starring Finnish dancer Hannu Hyttinen with a cast of 20, is a study of Lucifer's fall from grace and examines the origins of evil. It was filmed and premiered at Orensanz in Manhattan and in Castle Olavinlinna, Finland.

Sacred & Blue, a series of live performances with Felicia Norton and Mr. Hyttinen, premiered in Helsinki, Finland.

Auditioning for the Celestial Follies starred Lonne Moretton as the ballet mistress who must choose among the angel ballerina wanna-be’s vying for a spot in the heavenly chorus line. Hilarious! Performed at the DiCapo Opera Theatre and the New 42nd Street Theater.

Slither, is a new take on Eve's erotic relationship with the serpent; a duet with Saar Harari and Felicia Norton.

Tango Sweet, created for Valentines Day, is a series of sensual and erotically funny tangos performed at St. Mark's Church.

Sixth Street Tango is a solo for Felicia Norton with music written and played on accordion by Marni Rice.

Go Away Tango was danced by Rod Ferrone with Elizabeth Auclair, Katherine Murphy and Felicia Norton to music by Isabel Ganz.

La Cumparsita, one of the most beloved tango pieces, was written by Gerardo Matos Rodriguez; with dancers Elizabeth Auclair and Fernando Carrillo.

Entre Nosotros, a tango suite with music by Astor Piazzolla played by a six-piece orchestra featuring Jofre Romarion, bandoneon virtuoso, was performed by Fernando Carrillo, James Kinney and Katherine Murphy at the Baryshnikov Arts Center.

NOOR, with an original score by award-winning composer David Majzlin, is a 40-minute solo based on the life of Noor Inayat Khan, a Sufi pacifist-turned-allied spy during WWII who was captured, brutally interrogated and shot at Dachau. NOOR garnered dancer Felicia Norton standing ovations and rave reviews in London, Paris, the Fringe Festival in Edinburgh and New York.

The Restless Yearning Towards Myself, scored by composer Paula Kimper for 6 musicians to poetry by Perry Brass and conducted by Mimi Stern-Wolfe was performed by Jose Arturo Chacon, baritone and Felicia Norton, dancer.

The following five pieces center around themes of social justice as experienced by the gay community in Greenwich Village from 1965 to 1995. Performed at the Fringe Festival in Edinburgh, Jacob's Pillow inside/out through American Dance Guild, St. Mark's Church, Merkin Concert Hall, Clemente Soto Velez, BAAD!, the Ailey Theater and Judson Church.

Fury, with music from the AIDS Quilt Songbook, portrays anger at the government and medical establishment for ignoring the AIDS crisis. Dancers: Fernando Carrillo, Ramon Flowers and Michael Leon Thomas.

Not Even If I Try to music and lyrics by Kevin Oldham (1960-1993): An older man sings of the loss of his lover to AIDS years ago. Jose Arturo Chacon, baritone; Brice Payet, dancer.

The Promise of Rest, with a score by Isabel Castellvi, was created for dancer Michael Leon Thomas to honor all those bullied for their sexual orientation. To his delight, he finds there are no bullies in heaven.

Quickening, Sarita Allen portrays a mother whose son died of AIDS.

Taboo, created for Ramon Flowers, depicts a drag queen who discovers she might be HIV positive; if she's going to die, she will do so beautifully.

These pieces form the basis for Come Back Once More So I Can Say Goodby, an evening-length work featuring a cast of 25 dancers and 7 musicians. The work is a fusion of dance, live newly-written music, vintage recordings, historic footage, political sound bites and stunning visuals. The show premiered at the Alvin Ailey Theater in June of 2015 and was co-produced by Dancers Over 40 as a benefit for Broadway Cares/Equity Fights AIDS and the New York City Anti-Violence Project.

 

Hannu Hyttinen in Ms. Spielvogel's dance film DARK ANGEL.