Year: 2025-2026
DanceForce Member: Cynthia Williams
Partnering DanceForce Member: Robin Collen
Artists: Monica Bill Barnes; Robbie Saenz de Viteri
Community Partner: Hobart & William Smith Colleges Department of Dance & Movement Studies
Audience: 350
County: Ontario
We plan to bring Monica Bill Barnes’ “The Running Show” to Geneva, NY in September 2025. This acclaimed production combines a cast of sixteen local dancers, Barnes, and her co-creator and performer Robbie Saenz de Viteri. “The Running Show” is a live, physical documentary about the life of a dancer. The show mixes Monica Bill Barnes’ athletic, rigorous dance with stories and interviews told by Robbie Saenz de Viteri. The show is remade with a cast of local dancers during a five-day residency every time it is performed, including a young (12-14 year old local dancer) and an older (70 year old local dancer) who perform alongside Barnes and Saenz de Viteri.
We anticipate two workshops in addition to the rehearsal and performance activities which may include a dance technique class and a dance composition or improvisation class; the details have not yet been finalized. The schedule of activities includes Barnes, Saenz de Viteri, and a company rehearsal assistant holding auditions on the first day of the residency (Monday, September 29) followed by daily rehearsals through the performance on Friday, October 3, 2025.
Partnerships with the local dance community (college dance students, local studio young dancer, and the HWS Colleges department of Dance and Movement Studies) will generate excitement about dance and dancers that our typical guest artist companies do not. The inclusion of local dancers provides a sense of community engagement that we are really excited about. We believe this community partnership will not only bring new audiences into our theatre, but lay the ground work for future collaboration.
Monica Bill Barnes & Company was founded in 1997, beginning in New York with a suitcase of costumes and a collection of solos that could be performed anywhere. Since 2013, MBB&CO has been co-led by Monica in partnership with Robbie Saenz de Viteri where the mission evolved to “bringing dance where it doesn’t belong.” The company’s work crosses genres between dance, theatre, storytelling, creative nonfiction, feminist treatises, and comedy. While we firmly believe that dance belongs here in Geneva, NY, we appreciate the mission and broad reach of MBB&CO in their quest to make dance accessible and celebrated by audiences across the globe.