FringeArts: Dancefusion & Sokolow Theatre/Dance Ensemble – Envisions

Dancefusion, Philadelphia’s dynamic modern dance repertory company will present ENVISIONS in collaboration with The Sokolow Theatre/Dance Ensemble from New York City, known for radical works that dissolve the boundaries between theater and dance. The program will feature both companies in powerful works by Pauline Koner and Anna Sokolow.

Dancefusion will present two masterpieces by Pauline Koner, a visionary dancer, choreographer, and pioneering maverick of modern dance. Concertino (1955) is set to music by Unico Wilheim van Wassenaer. The dance, for a Lady and her Ladies in-waiting, uses the flavor of court dances to depict three facets of a lady’s life. The second work is an excerpt from Koner’s Monumental solo The Farewell (1962), set to Gustav Mahler’s The Song of the Earth and danced by Janet Pilla Marini. This work is dedicated to Doris Humphrey. Dancefusion will add a third innovative, fun work for the company, Forces in G: Ode to a Ball, music by J.S. Bach Brandenburg Concerto, choreographed by Rachel Kantra Beal.

The Sokolow Theatre/Dance Ensemble will present excerpts from two masterworks that showcase Sokolow in artistic dialogue with beloved painters. In Magritte, Magritte (1970), inspired by the painting of the Belgian artist Rene Magritte, Ms. Sokolow creates an extraordinary surrealist dance-theater piece that carries Magritte’s images into action. Frida (1997) is an intimate portrait based on Sokolow’s personal relationship with Mexican painter Frida Kahlo. At 87, Sokolow created a multimedia homage to her friend’s internal life and public persona. Both women harness the transformative power of art to allow us to face pain and grief. Sokolow Theatre/Dance Ensemble will be joined by guest artists Clarence Brooks and Christine Dakin, former artistic director of the Martha Graham Company.