Year: 2015-2016
DanceForce Member: Toni Smith
Artist: Stephen Petronio Company
Community Partners: Dance Alliance, Ballston Spa; Skidmore College; Tang Teaching Museum
Audience: 445
Counties: Rensselaer, Saratoga
The Skidmore College Dance Program has not presented a professional dance company in many years during the academic year, as presentation resources have focused on student performances and guest artists who teach and set work on the students. Students have also been encouraged to create and perform their own choreography or commission work by professional artists for capstone performances. The Skidmore dancers have recently worked with the Cunningham Foundation to adapt and perform a Cunningham “Event” in the exhibit space of The Tang, a museum on the Skidmore campus. The Stephen Petronio Company is entering into a five-year project called “Bloodlines” in which the company will explore the roots of the choreographer, Stephen Petronio. The project includes the honor that the Petronio Company is now the receptacle for works by Trisha Brown and Merce Cunningham. This grant will encourage Skidmore to host the company on campus during the academic year, allowing for opportunities for the company to rehearse, offer master classes, visit a local private school and offer a public performance at the Tang.