Year: 2025-2026
DanceForce Member: Margarita Espada
Artist: Gloria Llompart
Community Partners: Brentwood School District; Fresh and Nova Music; Jard Lerebours; JVC Radio; Legislator Samuel Gonzalez; NYS Senator Monica Martinez
Audience: 113
County: Suffolk

Inspired by the concept that regeneration has the power to heal the earth, our communities, and ourselves, this proposal outlines a multidisciplinary project that explores the interconnectedness of environmental and community well-being.

This project draws inspiration from the idea of “propagating” resilience, just as plants can be rooted and replanted to flourish in new environments. Through a combination of Dance Contact and improvisation, hip hop, film, , storytelling, and dance, we aim to foster a sense of hope and agency in addressing environmental challenges and building stronger, more resilient communities as we nurture diversity art programs at Suffolk County.

This year Teatro Yerbabruja will be inviting Gloria Llompart, a pioneer of Contact Dance in Puerto Rico and teacher at Brooklyn College. Gloria Llompart will be leading a series of workshops for the community in addition to having creative space to create your own piece.

These workshops will include Structured Movement Improvisation, using improvisation techniques to reconnect intuitive responses and release acquired limitations. By exploring the spaces between memory and dream, participants can expand their range of motion, spatial awareness, and expressive potential. The workshops will also include Creative Composition, where participants will design a shared experience by juxtaposing images, sounds, silence, movement, stillness, and technology. The final product will be informed by the participants’ creative input, drawing from life experiences, reactions, and personal and collective interactions.

Community musicians and filmmaker Malcolm Bunce, Michel Ruff, and Jared Jard Lerebours will join forces to explore the interplay between body, music, images, and memories, and to develop a new performance narrative.

This project has received additional funding from Legislator Samuel Gonzalez, NYS Senator Monica Martinez, and JVC Radio (who will also support with promotion). The Brentwood School District will also provide additional support.

This project is open to the public (ages 15 and up) and is a response to the growing interest in contemporary/experimental dance in our community. By offering exposure to diverse movement styles, it aims to expand the dance experience beyond the traditional and folkloric forms prevalent in our communities.