Author Archives: Missy Pfohl Smith

Wander & Wonder IV – Aug. 8-10, 2024

Wander & Wonder IV
A Site Specific Dance Tour

Founded in 2021 by Ethan Beckwith-Cohen and Missy Pfohl Smith/ BIODANCE, Wander & Wonder returns for year four!

Join us August 8 through 10, as we wander through the grounds of the RMSC and view site-specific creations of local choreographers, musicians, and movement artists.

This year we we are presenting two different programs.

Program A
Thursday August 8  at 6:30pm
Saturday August 10 at 5:30pm

Program B
Friday August 9 at 6:30pm
Saturday August 10 at 2:00pm

The final program will be followed by an open improvisation jam at 6:45pm! All movers and music makers are welcome to join us in the garden.

Tickets are free, with a suggested $10 donation. Ticket donation link!

Money raised at the event will between the artists presenting, and and Refugees Helping Refugees, a non-profit organization in Rochester, NY that serves refugees of Western New York. Huge thank you to the Rochester Area Community Foundation and Wegmans for their support of these events!

A Day Without a Clock

Join us at the Everson Museum of Art on Thursday, June 6, 2024, in Syracuse, NY as Missy Pfohl Smith, Nanako Horikawa Mandrino, and Doreen Prempeh perform as part of “A Day Without a Clock” with DeepTime Collective (Amanda Leigh Evans and Tia Kramer). The full schedule of events is at the link below – but this durational performance will take place from 11am to 8pm! https://sites.google.com/view/a-day-without-a-clock?

Carnival of the Animals with Cordancia and BIODANCE at the SENECA PARK ZOO! June 15 & 18, 2024

JUNE 18 EVENT: POSTPONED Due to Emergency Heat Advisory. Rescheduled date will be announced soon!

You bet giraffe it’s going to be good! This is a very rare after-hours event at the Seneca Park Zoo that is family-friendly with access to Zoo grounds after-hours as well as the chance to hear and see very special programming. Missy Pfohl Smith will choreograph Saint-Saens’ Carnival of the Animals (June 18) for the dancers of BIODANCE to perform with the live musicians of Cordancia. Smith will also choreograph for the musicians themselves in John Luther Adams 10,000 Birds (both June 15 & 18)!

June 15 (Rain date June 16) – “Dance and Music with the Animals with Cordancia and BIODANCE”
A double “bill” with dance! John Luther Adams 10,000 Birds, 10:15 a.m. Genesee Trail, inside the Seneca Park Zoo
Anthony Plog Animal Ditties for Brass Ensemble with narrator Thomas Warfield, 12pm, Animals of the Savanna

Site-specific dance by BIODANCE will also surprise visitors in various locations. These performances are free with Zoo Admission on Saturday, June 15.  (Please note: Carnival of the Animals will not be performed on June 15/16)

BIODANCE is grateful to the Rochester Area Community Foundation for support of this project!

JUNE 18 – POSTPONED Due to Emergency Heat Advisory. Rescheduled date will be announced soon! June 18 – Carnival of the Animals with Cordancia and BIODANCE: A double “bill” with dance! 6 p.m. entry, $35/adults $10 youth ages 3-18.

Camille Saint-Saens Carnival of the Animals with narrator Jay Stetzer the Storyteller and BIODANCE premiere, 6:30 p.m, Eagle’s Landing Pavilion

Jenni Brandon Five Frogs for Woodwind Quartet, 7:15 p.m., Baboon Camp

John Luther Adams 10,000 Birds with BIODANCE, 8:00pm, Genesee Trail

Site-specific dance by BIODANCE will also surprise visitors in various locations. 

BIODANCE performs at Monroe Community Hospital 11/17/23 2pm FREE

BIODANCE is thrilled to share choreography and performance with the residents, staff and guests at Monroe Community Hospital on Friday, Nov. 17, 2023 at 2pm in the auditorium. All are welcome and admission is free.

This performance is made possible with funds from the Statewide Community Regrants Program, a regrant program of the New York State Council on the Arts with the support of The Office of the Governor and the New York State Legislature and administered by the Genesee Valley Council on the Arts.

Wander & Wonder III in Fringe!

Presented by BIODANCE/Missy Pfohl Smith and Ethan Beckwith-Cohen, Wander & Wonder III celebrates its first appearance in the Rochester Fringe Festival, and its third year of outdoor site-specific performances by local dance artists. Wander & Wonder III makes its debut in the Rochester Fringe Festival on Saturday, Sept. 23 at 1pm. Audiences meet at the Garden of Fragrance and wander the grounds of Rochester Museum and Science Center following the artists for site-specific performances by local dance artists including Ethan Beckwith-Cohen & Zaire Sprowal, Neyda Colón-DiMaria & Luis Carrión, Donna Davenport & Michelle Ikle, Natalia Lisina, Laurie McFarlane & Nanako Horikawa Mandrino, BIODANCE/Missy Pfohl Smith & OSSIA New Music (with music influenced by audience participation and composed by Logan Barrett), Claire Spenard & Roy Marshall, Harold Taddy/The Velvet Noose, Grace Myers & Evan Courtney, Gabrielle Samuel, and Sabrina Bui. FREE – no tickets required.

As a non-profit organization, we always welcome tax-deductible donations.
40% of donations to Wander & Wonder 2023 will go to the MOCHA center, a non-profit that promotes LGBTQ+ health and wellness for communities of color in New York State. The other 60% will directly pay the artists for their performances. Thank you!

This project is made possible with funds from the Statewide Community Regrants Program of the New York State Council on the Arts with the support of The Office of the Governor and the New York State Legislature and administered by the Genesee Valley Council on the Arts, and the Rochester Area Community Foundation. 

Stories From the Living Tree

On Sept. 13 at 7:30pm and Sept. 17 at 4pm, Mount Hope World Singers and BIODANCE will present a collaborative evening of song and dance: Stories from the Living Tree at the Theater at Innovation Square as part of the Rochester Fringe Festival. Telling each other stories of how to understand, we explore a reverent connection to nature as represented in the universal by cultures from around the world. Featuring animation by Christine Banna and sound design by Greg Woodsbie

Tickets can be purchased at: https://rochesterfringe.com/tickets-and-shows/stories-from-the-living-tree-1
$15 General/$10 Students with ID/Free for Children 12 and Under

Dancers and choreographers include Yaa Adenike Cunningham, Sarah Johnson, Nanako Horikawa Mandrino, Euridece Seche, Katherine Serna, Missy Pfohl Smith, Donetta Tchoroleev. 

We greatly appreciate the support from the following that has made this project possible: Rochester Area Community Foundation, Ralph C. Wilson Jr. Arts and Cultural Initiative, administrated by the Community Foundation for Greater Buffalo, the Statewide Community Regrant Program of the New York State Council on the Arts, with support from the office of the Governor and the New York State Legislature, administered by the Genesee Valley Arts Council, and the Greater Rochester Choral Consortium.

The Canandaigua Treaty is a treaty between the United States of America and the Six Nations of the Iroquois Confederacy – Seneca, Cayuga, Onondaga, Oneida, Mohawk and Tuscarora. We are beneficiaries of this Treaty. May we acknowledge the harms done by colonization in the past and that continue in the present and work toward understanding, reconciliation, and sharing the land in a good way.

To support the Tulalip Tribe’s efforts to revitalize Lushootseed, the native language and culture of Chief Seattle, please visit: https://www.lushootseedresearch.org/support-us/

To support Seneca art and culture, please visit: https://ganondagan.org/Support/Giving/Donate

Wander & Wonder III – Aug 23, 24 & Sept. 23

Presented by BIODANCE/Missy Pfohl Smith and Ethan Beckwith-Cohen, Wander & Wonder III celebrates its third year on Wednesday, August 23th @6pm & Thursday, August 24th @6pm in two wonderful evenings of performance by local dance artists. Wander & Wonder III will also makes its debut in the Rochester Fringe Festival on Saturday, Sept. 23 at 1pm. Audiences meet at the Garden of Fragrance and wander the grounds of Rochester Museum and Science Center following the artists for site-specific performances by local dance artists including Ethan Beckwith-Cohen & Zaire Sprowal, Neyda Colón-DiMaria & Luis Carrión, Donna Davenport & Michelle Ikle, Natalia Lisina, Laurie McFarlane & Nanako Horikawa Mandrino, BIODANCE/Missy Pfohl Smith & OSSIA New Music (with music influenced by audience participation and composed by Logan Barrett), Claire Spenard & Roy Marshall, Harold Taddy/The Velvet Noose, Grace Myers & Evan Courtney, Gabrielle Samuel, Sabrina Bui, and Amya Brice. TICKETS —> https://www.eventbrite.com/…/wander-wonder-iii-tickets
“Pay what you can” Suggested $10 Donation. 
40% of donations go to the MOCHA center, a non-profit that promotes LGBTQ+ health and wellness for communities of color in New York State.This project is made possible with funds from the Statewide Community Regrants Program of the New York State Council on the Arts with the support of The Office of the Governor and the New York State Legislature and administered by the Genesee Valley Council on the Arts, and the Rochester Area Community Foundation. 

An Evening of RPO Jazz, Dance, and Ice Cream Outdoors – Aug. 1 5:15pm – Free

BIODANCE is excited to partner again with the Joseph Avenue Arts and Culture Alliance! On August 1, we will offer a free performance of excerpts from Stories from the Living Tree in collaboration with Mount Hope World Singers. Our performance is from 5:15pm-5:45pm, followed by Herb Smith and the Freedom Trio at 6:30pm. Free ice cream and T-shirts will also be supplied by JAACA.

Open to all!

Location: Neighborhood Services Center of the Northeast Quadrant; 5:15-7:30pm. For more info, visit https://josephavearts.org/events