Author Archives: Missy Pfohl Smith

Elemental Forces Redux 9/13 and 9/17 in RocFringe22!

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE:                                                         

July 11, 2022

MEDIA CONTACT: Missy Pfohl Smith

Email: [email protected]

Phone: 585-201-1002

www.biodance.org

Elemental Forces Redux at the new Theater @ Innovation Square

BIODANCE/Missy Pfohl Smith, W. Michelle Harris and Dave Rivello/Dave Rivello Ensemble collaborate for the 2022 Rochester Fringe Festival!

ROCHESTER, NY— Choreographer Missy Pfohl Smith, director of BIODANCE, media artist W. Michelle Harris, and the Dave Rivello Ensemble return to the Rochester Fringe Festival again with a new version of Elemental Forces, created for the 2021 KeyBank Rochester Fringe Festival. The same artistic collaboration who produced the sold-out phenomenons Anomaly, Labyrinth and Aria, are thrilled to once again join one of Rochester’s favorite jazz-inspired bands, the Dave Rivello Ensemble led by Eastman faculty member Dave Rivello. The newly realized version, Elemental Forces Redux, is a live and in-person, family friendly show (kids 12 and under are free) featuring 12 musicians, 11 dancers and media projection that together create an interwoven tapestry of dance, sound, and media inspired by the catastrophic climate change now catapulting beyond human control. 

The metaphor of climate catastrophe as it parallels rising human-to-human conflicts in our world are explored, but we look to humanity for a future with hope. Elemental Forces Redux will feature music composed by Dave Rivello, and will include the premiere of poetic dance narratives created by Missy Pfohl Smith, sharing stories of places that once existed. The choreography and imagery considers the fragility of our earth in the face of climate change, a concern that the 2019 The Fragile Corridor also explored.  

Missy Pfohl Smith, who also directs the University of Rochester’s Institute for the Performing Arts and Program of Dance and Movement, shares her excitement about this new project, “The making and performing of dance has become more challenging than ever, with interruptions in rehearsal processes and the residuals of the pandemic still very much at the forefront. I am incredibly proud of these artists for their dedication and can’t wait for audiences to see their hearts and souls revealed in this work.” Smith and W. Michelle Harris, an Associate Professor of Interactive Games and Media at Rochester Institute for Technology, are no strangers to large scale multi-media collaborations in The Fringe.  Their 2018 Fringe premiere was called “an absolute masterpiece” by Rochester City News. 

There will be only two performances of Elemental Forces Redux, and there is plenty of space to distance in the huge Theater at Innovation Square (131 Chestnut St. Rochester, NY 14604). Show are Thuesday, September 13 at 8pm and Saturday, September 17 at 6:30pm. Tickets are $15 General Admission, $10 for Students with ID, and Free for Children 12 and Under, available at https://rochesterfringe.com/tickets-and-shows/biodance-elemental-forces-redux

BIODANCE website: www.biodance.org, Phone: (585)-201-1002

BIODANCE Social Media: facebook.com/BIODANCE1 and Twitter: @BIODANCE1

NOTE TO MEDIA: Interviews and photos are available upon request.

BIODANCE is a Rochester-based repertory dance company under the direction of Missy Pfohl Smith, who also directs the University of Rochester Institute for the Performing Arts and the Program of Dance and Movement. BIODANCE collaborates with multi-disciplinary artists, such as W. Michelle Harris, an Associate Professor in Interactive Games and Media at RIT. Established in Rochester over 15 years also, BIODANCE works with some of the area’s top dance artists and collaborators, and has a focus on community-based work, offering many free and low-cost performances to neighborhoods across the city. It’s long-term history offering dance experiences to older adults at Community Place in Beechwood happily continues. Visit Biodance.org and connect with us on Facebook, Twitter, YouTube, Vimeo and Instagram.

Missy Pfohl Smith (Artistic Director/Choreographer/Performer) is the founder and Artistic Director of BIODANCE, a non-profit contemporary dance company based in Rochester, and the Director of the University of Rochester Institute for the Performing Arts and the Program of Dance and Movement.  Smith enjoys collaborating with multi-disciplinary artists in music, visual art, sculpture, film and technology. She was selected for City News’ “The Rochester 10: Rochesterians doing great things behind the scenes” in 2015. BIODANCE’s Anomaly, in collaboration with Sound ExChange and media artist W. Michelle Harris at the Strasenburgh Planetarium, won a 2013 Best of Fringe Festival award for Best Use of Venue and enjoyed another sold-out run in 2016. To follow up, Smith and Harris co-conceived a new work for the Planetarium in 2017 titled Labyrinth, which sold out its shows playing to over 1000 audience members and critical acclaim. In 2018, they were proud to collaborate with soprano Kearstin Piper Brown in an acclaimed production entitled Aria at the majestic Lyric Theater, for which critics said “Every bit of the performance was an absolute masterpiece.” In 2019, the duo collaborated with Michael Burritt and the Eastman Percussion Ensemble to premiere The Fragile Corridor, again selling out at the Planetarium. Based in NYC for 12 years, Smith performed and toured with Randy James Dance Works as a founding company member from 1993-2003, with Paul Mosley from 1997-2004, and with Philippa Kaye Company. She also worked as an apprentice for the Erick Hawkins Dance Company. Missy has performed and taught across the U.S. and in Greece, Finland, Poland, Germany, Estonia, Latvia & Japan. Missy earned her MFA from Sarah Lawrence College and her BS from SUNY Brockport and she has recently developed various new courses including a community-engaged course called Dance and Interdependent Community in the UR Program of Dance. She has received various grants from The New York State Council on the Arts and the New York State Legislature, administered by the Arts and Cultural Council of Greater Rochester and Genesee Valley Arts Council. Smith and/or BIODANCE have also received support from Ames Amzalak Charitable Foundation, The Max and Marian Farash Foundation, the Rochester Community Foundation, Hobart and William Smith Colleges’ Center for Teaching and Learning, among others. www.biodance.org

W. Michelle Harris (Media Artist) is a media artist and a New Media professor at Rochester Institute of Technology. She is also a member of Rochester’s WOC Art Collective. Her video installation work (solo and collaborative) has been shown at such diverse venues as the ACM SIGGRAPH, World Maker Faire, and INST-INT, as well as regional venues such as Gallery 74, Community Folk Art Center, Schwienfurth Memorial, and Squeaky Wheel. She has done live-mixed visuals for performances in collaboration with Juanita Suarez, fivebyfive, Dave Rivello, Reenah Golden, Sound ExChange orchestra, and most prolifically, BIODANCE. Michelle has been an ongoing collaborator with Missy Pfohl Smith and BIODANCE since 2013. She received her BS from Carnegie Mellon University, and a MPS from New York University’s Tisch School of the Arts (where she had the honor of interning with Troika Ranch).

The Dave Rivello Ensemble was formed in 1993 by composer/conductor Dave Rivello as a vehicle for his original work and is celebrating 25 years as a band in Rochester, New York. The 12-piece ensemble includes a standard jazz rhythm section (piano, bass, drums) three reed players and six brass (including flugelhorn and tuba). The scope of Rivello’s music encompasses the jazz tradition and modern classical music, creating a unique blend of improvised and notated music. Rivello’s compositions have been referred to as ‘dreaming in color’. In addition to having held a steady gig for more than fourteen years, they have performed at Saint Peter’s church in New York City, the Rochester International Jazz Festival, performed with Bob Brookmeyer, Rich Perry and Dick Oatts, held a week long residency at Proctor’s Theater in Schenectady New York, performed at Cornell University, Alfred University, the Monroe Community College Jazz Festival, the Coudersport Fine Arts Festival, perform an annual concert in Kilbourn Hall at the Eastman School of Music, have appeared several times on the Bop Shop record store’s concert series, and WGMC’s ‘Meet The Artist’ series. The ensemble includes some of the best musicians in Rochester, and is continuing to be more in demand for festivals and clinics. Their debut recording, Facing The Mirror, received strong praise from reviewers in the United States, Italy and Ireland. The Village Voice Jazz Critics Poll chose Facing The Mirror as the Debut release of that year. Their second recording is in progress. Dave has recently launched a version of the band in New York City and a more electric version of the band called DRE | RED.

The Theater at Innovation Square is Rochester’s new center for Performing Arts and Community Engagement. Formerly known as Xerox Auditorium, The Theater has been a much-loved space in Rochester for generations and will come alive once again with programming for all ages and demographics. As we emerge from this world-wide pandemic, one that has impacted every aspect of our lives, we at Innovation Arts Management look forward to what is ahead. Arts throughout the world have been devastated, but together we can rebuild and breath new life into our Rochester Arts Community. Visit our Events page to see a comprehensive calendar of what’s happening at The Theater and Subscribe now to stay up to date with new additions. Come show your support for Rochester’s artistic organizations who have been courageously and tirelessly pronouncing “the show must go on!” To get in touch with us directly, please visit the Contact & Hours page, or email The Theater: [email protected] 

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Tripping the light fantastic – 3/6/22 at Eastman Theatre’s Kodak Hall

Tripping the light fantastic is a collaboration between Cordancia Chamber Orchestra and BIODANCE, with two premieres on March 6, 2022 at 4:30pm at Eastman Theatre’s Kodak Hall! Join us for this FREE concert featuring 40 live musicians and 11 live dancers as we premiere two new dances choreographed by BIODANCE artistic director Missy Pfohl Smith. The first is to Eastman School of Music faculty composer David Liptak’s premiere of Pierrot in America, a 22-minute orchestral work that follows a mythical character, Pierrot, on his migration adventure from Europe to America in the early 20th century. Featuring performers Heather Acomb, Rose Pasquarello Beauchamp, Yaa Adenike Cunningham, Andrew Evans, Sarah Johnson, Nanako Horikawa Mandrino, Alaina Olivieri, Wynton Rice, Solange Rodrigues, Jean Michael Rubingu, Donetta Tchoroleev, this work navigates this score with delight and surprise. The second premiere is a dance for five to Ingelbrecht’s La Metamorphose D’Eve – a wonderfully energetic and ethereal work evoking nature and it’s dualities. Heather Acomb, Solange Rodrigues, Jean Michael Rubingu, Missy Pfohl Smith, and Donetta Tchoroleev perform this new dance.

Sunday, March 6, 2022, 4:30pm

Eastman Theatre – Kodak Hall, 26 Gibbs St. Rochester, NY 14604

Tickets are free and available at the door to this magnificent theatre, which originally contained 3,352 seats. It was built by George Eastman as a center for music, dance, and silent film with orchestral and organ accompaniment. An architectural gem, its opulent décor reflects the taste and elegance of the 1920s. Vaccination is required, and there is plenty of room to spread out and enjoy!

For more information on this concert and on Cordancia, visit https://www.cordancia.org.

Dance and Film at MuCCC

BIODANCE performs live at the Dance and Film at MuCCC Festival on December 15 and 17, 2021 at 8pm. We are sharing the Air excerpt from Elemental Forces (2021), and The Life Estatic from Bridge to Paradise (2020) with live projection by W. Michelle Harris and choreography by Missy Pfohl Smith in collaboration with the dancers. Thank you to W. Michelle Harris, Donetta Tchoroleev, Caelan Tchoroleev (viola), Zachary Frazee, Sarah Johnson, Nanako Horikawa Mandrino, Solange Rodrigues, and Wynton Rice for your wonderful performances in this festival!

Elemental Forces Sept. 14 and 18 at The Fringe!

Sept. 14, 2021 at 8pm and September 18, 2021 at 6pm, Theatre @ Innovation Square, 131 Chestnut St. Rochester, NY.

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE:                                                         

Sept. 9, 2021

MEDIA CONTACT: Missy Pfohl Smith

Email: [email protected]

Phone: 585-201-1002

www.biodance.org

Elemental Forces premieres at the new Theater @ Innovation Square

BIODANCE/Missy Pfohl Smith, W. Michelle Harris and Dave Rivello/Dave Rivello Ensemble collaborate in BIODANCE’s 10th Fringe Show in the 10th Rochester Fringe Festival!

ROCHESTER, NY— Choreographer Missy Pfohl Smith, director of BIODANCE, and media artist W. Michelle Harris return to the Keybank Rochester Fringe Festival again for an all new work, Elemental Forces, created for the 2021 KeyBank Rochester Fringe Festival. The same artistic collaboration who produced the sold-out phenomenons Anomaly, Labyrinth and Aria, will be joined by one of Rochester’s favorite jazz-inspired bands, the Dave Rivello Ensemble led by Eastman faculty member Dave Rivello. The live and in-person, family friendly show (kids 12 and under are free) features 12 musicians, 10 dancers and media projection that together create an interwoven tapestry of dance, sound, and media influenced by natural elements and forces now catapulting beyond human control. 

Elemental Forces will feature music composed by Dave Rivello, including the premiere of a new work and an improvisation. The choreography and imagery is all-new, and designed for this show that continues to consider the fragility of our earth in the face of climate change, a concern that the 2019 The Fragile Corridor also explored.  This multi-sensory performance will follow-up multiple sold-out shows from Fringes past will not only dynamically consider climate catastrophe as it parallels rising human-to-human conflicts in our world, but also will look to humanity for a future of hope. 

Missy Pfohl Smith, who also directs the University of Rochester’s Institute for the Performing Arts and Program of Dance and Movement, shares her excitement about this new project, “Dave Rivello and I have been talking about collaborating for years, and we are proud to get this significant show off the ground after over a year of existing as performing artists inside a tiny screen.” Smith and W. Michelle Harris, an Associate Professor of Interactive Games and Media at Rochester Institute for Technology, are no strangers to large scale multi-media collaborations in The Fringe.  Their 2018 Fringe premiere was called “an absolute masterpiece” by Rochester City News.  Smith says, “The opportunity to open the first season of the new Theater @ Innovation Square, and to celebrate our 10th Fringe show together in the 10th Anniversary Season of the Rochester Fringe Festival is meaningful in a lot of ways. I don’t think there are many artists who have performed and premiered works each and every year here at the Fringe in Rochester, and one year, we even carried out two totally different shows in different venues!”

There will be only two performances of Elemental Forces, and there is plenty of space to distance in the huge Theater @ Innovation Square (131 Chestnut St. Rochester, NY 14604)! Show are Thuesday, September 14 at 8pm and Saturday, September 18 at 6:00pm. Tickets are $14 General Admission, $10 for Students with ID, and Free for Children 12 and Under, available at https://rochesterfringe.com/tickets-and-shows/biodance-elemental-forces

BIODANCE website: www.biodance.org, Phone: (585)-201-1002

BIODANCE Social Media: facebook.com/BIODANCE1 and Twitter: @BIODANCE1

NOTE TO MEDIA: Interviews and photos are available upon request.

BIODANCE is a Rochester-based repertory dance company under the direction of Missy Pfohl Smith, who also directs the University of Rochester Institute for the Performing Arts and the Program of Dance and Movement. BIODANCE collaborates with multi-disciplinary artists, such as W. Michelle Harris, an Associate Professor in Interactive Games and Media at RIT. BIODANCE made their debut at the Edinburgh Fringe in August 2017 to sold out houses, and has shared its work nationally and internationally. Visit Biodance.org and connect with us on Facebook, Twitter, YouTube, Vimeo and Instagram.

Missy Pfohl Smith (Artistic Director/Choreographer/Performer) is the founder and Artistic Director of BIODANCE, a non-profit contemporary dance company based in Rochester, and the Director of the University of Rochester Institute for the Performing Arts and the Program of Dance and Movement.  Smith enjoys collaborating with multi-disciplinary artists in music, visual art, sculpture, film and technology. She was selected for City News’ “The Rochester 10: Rochesterians doing great things behind the scenes” in 2015. BIODANCE’s Anomaly, in collaboration with Sound ExChange and media artist W. Michelle Harris at the Strasenburgh Planetarium, won a 2013 Best of Fringe Festival award for Best Use of Venue and enjoyed another sold-out run in 2016. To follow up, Smith and Harris co-conceived a new work for the Planetarium in 2017 titled Labyrinth, which sold out its shows playing to over 1000 audience members and critical acclaim. In 2019, the duo collaborated with Michael Burritt and the Eastman Percussion Ensemble to premiere The Fragile Corridor, again selling out at the Planetarium. Based in NYC for 12 years, Smith performed and toured with Randy James Dance Works as a founding company member from 1993-2003, with Paul Mosley from 1997-2004, and with Philippa Kaye Company. She also worked as an apprentice for the Erick Hawkins Dance Company. Missy has performed and taught across the U.S. and in Greece, Finland, Poland, Germany, Estonia, Latvia & Japan. Missy earned her MFA from Sarah Lawrence College and her BS from SUNY Brockport and she has recently developed various new courses including one called Choreographic Voice: Dance and Social Justice in the UR Program of Dance. She has received various grants from The New York State Council on the Arts and the New York State Legislature, administered by the Arts and Cultural Council of Greater Rochester and Livingston Arts, a member supported organization. Smith and/or BIODANCE have also received support from The Max and Marian Farash Foundation, the Rochester Community Foundation, Hobart and William Smith Colleges’ Center for Teaching and Learning, among others. www.biodance.org

W. Michelle Harris (Media Artist) is a media artist and a New Media professor at Rochester Institute of Technology. She is also a member of Rochester’s WOC Art Collective. Her video installation work (solo and collaborative) has been shown at such diverse venues as the ACM SIGGRAPH, World Maker Faire, and INST-INT, as well as regional venues such as Gallery 74, Community Folk Art Center, Schwienfurth Memorial, and Squeaky Wheel. She has done live-mixed visuals for performances in collaboration with Juanita Suarez, fivebyfive, Dave Rivello, Reenah Golden, Sound ExChange orchestra, and most prolifically, BIODANCE. Michelle has been an ongoing collaborator with Missy Pfohl Smith and BIODANCE since 2013. She received her BS from Carnegie Mellon University, and a MPS from New York University’s Tisch School of the Arts (where she had the honor of interning with Troika Ranch).

The Dave Rivello Ensemble was formed in 1993 by composer/conductor Dave Rivello as a vehicle for his original work and is celebrating 25 years as a band in Rochester, New York. The 12-piece ensemble includes a standard jazz rhythm section (piano, bass, drums) three reed players and six brass (including flugelhorn and tuba). The scope of Rivello’s music encompasses the jazz tradition and modern classical music, creating a unique blend of improvised and notated music. Rivello’s compositions have been referred to as ‘dreaming in color’. In addition to having held a steady gig for more than fourteen years, they have performed at Saint Peter’s church in New York City, the Rochester International Jazz Festival, performed with Bob Brookmeyer, Rich Perry and Dick Oatts, held a week long residency at Proctor’s Theater in Schenectady New York, performed at Cornell University, Alfred University, the Monroe Community College Jazz Festival, the Coudersport Fine Arts Festival, perform an annual concert in Kilbourn Hall at the Eastman School of Music, have appeared several times on the Bop Shop record store’s concert series, and WGMC’s ‘Meet The Artist’ series. The ensemble includes some of the best musicians in Rochester, and is continuing to be more in demand for festivals and clinics. Their debut recording, Facing The Mirror, received strong praise from reviewers in the United States, Italy and Ireland. The Village Voice Jazz Critics Poll chose Facing The Mirror as the Debut release of that year. Their second recording is in progress. Dave has recently launched a version of the band in New York City and a more electric version of the band called DRE | RED.

The Theater @ Innovation Square is Rochester’s new center for Performing Arts and Community Engagement. Formerly known as Xerox Auditorium, The Theater has been a much-loved space in Rochester for generations and will come alive once again with programming for all ages and demographics. As we emerge from this world-wide pandemic, one that has impacted every aspect of our lives, we at Innovation Arts Management look forward to what is ahead. Arts throughout the world have been devastated, but together we can rebuild and breath new life into our Rochester Arts Community. Visit our Events page to see a comprehensive calendar of what’s happening at The Theater and Subscribe now to stay up to date with new additions. Come show your support for Rochester’s artistic organizations who have been courageously and tirelessly pronouncing “the show must go on!” To get in touch with us directly, please visit the Contact & Hours page, or email The Theater: [email protected] 

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Warp & Weft

I was honored to be invited by filmmaker and artist Mara Ahmed to contribute to her Warp & Weft series, a multilingual archive of stories that hopes to capture the zeitgeist of 2020. Learn more about the vision for this project by visiting https://www.maraahmedstudio.com/category/warpweft/. This is an organic, ongoing project, where responses to the archive can renew and expand it. Thanks for watching, Missy

Dances at MUCCC – June 30-July 10

BIODANCE will preview a brand new dance for the camera, captured in May 2021, entitled “Numbered Days,” In program 1 of Dances at MUCCC. Livestreamed on June 30 at 8pm, the program is also available on demand until July 10. Our 2020 video “Pilgrimage” is also showing in Program 3. Join us and many other exciting and experimental dance artists for this virtual festival!

https://www.showtix4u.com/events/dancesatmuccc

PROGRAM 1

Dances filmed at MuCCC, as well as site-specific films created and submitted by the artists. Wed June 30 at 8 PMOn Demand Sat July 3 through Sat July 10.

Donna Davenport

Natalie Marino

Rose Pasquarello Beauchamp

Amy Slocum/Sullivan Dance Company

Frazee Feet Dance

MaryLee Miller

BIODANCE – “Numbered Days” (preview 2021)

PROGRAM 2

Seven dynamic dances filmed at MuCCC in June.Thurs July 1 at 8 PM

On Demand Sat July 3 through Sat July 10

Ethan Beckwith-Cohen

Sophie Nash & Lucy Mundschau

Laurie MacFarlane

Ruben T. Ornelas

Bethany Good

Solange Rodrigues

Anthony Alterio

PROGRAM 3

Five dance films created and submitted by the artists.Fri July 2 at 8 PM

On Demand Sat July 3 through Sat July 10

Gina Bonati

Nancy Hughes

Mariah Steele/Quicksilver Dance

BIODANCE – “Pilgrimage” (2020)

Ayako Kato & Jason Roebke

Wander and Wonder, June 28-July 2

Tickets are “pay what you want/can” with a suggested donation of $15. You can donate in advance here: https://tinyurl.com/ykcttvh3 or at the outdoor in-person event.

Produced by SacatheniaDance  and BIODANCE, “Wander” will take place Monday and Thursday, June 28 and July 1 and feature site-specific walking tour of dances on the grounds on Rochester Museum and Science Center by BIODANCE/Missy Pfohl Smith, Ethan Beckwith Cohen/Sacathenia Dance Theatre, Amaya Bryce, Donna Davenport, Neyda Colon-DiMaria, Roseanne DiMaria, Laurie MacFarlane, Gabrielle Samuel and Roy Wood. “Wonder” will feature a stationary concert in the park behind RMSC (bordering Park Ave.) on Tuesday and Friday, June 29 and July 2 and will feature dances by Alex Alletto, Laura D’amico, Zachary Frazee/Frazeefeet Dance, Austen Kelly, Nydia Padilla-Rodriguez, Zanyla Penn, Solange Rodrigues, Jean Michael Rubingu and Zoe C. Walders.

Funding for the BIODANCE premiere as part of this event is supported by the Decentralization Program, a regrant program of the New York State Council on the Arts with the support of Governor Andrew M. Cuomo and the New York State Legislature and administered by the Genesee Valley Council on the Arts.

For more information, or to volunteer to help at the concerts, email [email protected].

Cincy Fringe Primary Line-up! June 4-19, 2021


BIODANCE is in Cincy Fringe’s Primary Line-up – Virtual On-Demand!

Bridging poetic dance, art, media and nature – safely at home!

Experience BIODANCE at Home from your own living room, backyard, or any comfortable spot from ANYWHERE IN THE WORLD!

Selling out live shows at Edinburgh and Rochester Fringe, Rochester, NY-based multi-disciplinary dance company BIODANCE makes its Cincy debut with this virtual show that brings the outdoors in! Join dancers, musicians, a poet and a media artist for this collection of dances shot in gorgeous settings both natural and conceived. 31 minutes of escape!

Purchase your $15 Love Your Artist Ticket, or $10 Regular Ticket here: https://cincyfringe.com/biodance-at-home/