BIODANCE, Cordancia Chamber Orchestra, and W Michelle Harris in Hochstein Performance Hall’s first shows in the Rochester Fringe Festival, 2024

Rochester, NY – BIODANCE and Cordancia Chamber Orchestra collaborate on Carnival of Animals, a show for the whole family with music and dance celebrating animals.

Saturday, Sept. 14, 2024 at 7:00pm and Friday, September 20, 2024 at 7:00pm, during the debut of Hochstein Performance Hall in the Rochester Fringe Festival, accompanied by the premier of original media projection imagery by W. Michelle Harris, a long-time BIODANCE collaborator. A beloved and entertaining classic, Saint-Saens’ Carnival of the Animals is a musical portrait of animals including a lion, elephant, and swan, often performed with narration. Rochester storyteller Jay Stetzer joins Cordancia and BIODANCE with his own humorous take on a text by Ogden Nash, with a choreographic premiere by Missy Pfohl Smith, danced by Sarah Johnson, Natalia Lisina, Shanna Pagán, Doreen Prempeh, Wynton Rice, Euridece Seche, and Missy Pfohl Smith. 

The carnival atmosphere will continue with Darius Milhaud’s Le Boeuf sur le toit (The Ox on the Roof), performed by Cordancia, with playful interjections of Brazilian tangos and other dances. It will also feature Compass, a solo dance work that premiered in June 2024, inspired by Paul Klee’s painting “Strong Dream.” The piece features dancer Alaina Olivieri and new quadrophonic music (surround sound) by composer Austin White. This non-narrative, dynamic, and edgy work plays with sound, light, and movement as if a “deer in headlights,” a metaphor for someone in a mental state of high arousal caused by anxiety, fear, panic, surprise, or confusion.

Location:  The Hochstein School, 50 North Plymouth Avenue, Rochester, NY 14614Tickets: $15 for general admission, $10 for students with ID and free for kids 12 and under and are available online at: https://rochesterfringe.com/tickets-and-shows/carnival-of-the-animals-biodance-cordancia-chamber-orchestra

Carnival of the Animals

The premiere of Carnival of the Animals is rescheduled for Aug. 27, 2024 at the Seneca Park Zoo! (The original June date was postponed due to excessive heat warnings.) BIODANCE is thrilled to partner with Cordancia Chamber Orchestra and conductor Evan Meccarello for this special family-friendly evening at the zoo!

Tickets, $35 general and $10 youth, can be purchased online or at the door. https://spzs.myshopify.com/products/2024-carnival-of-the-animals-biodance?variant=45938456527099

The Program:

Enjoy afterhours admission to the Zoo for the whole family from 5:15 p.m. – 8:30 p.m. while three musical pieces about animals are performed as you stroll the paths and come face-to-face with the animals living in conservation care.

5:15pm – Gates open to guests
5:30pm – 10,000 Birds by John Luther Adams on the Genesee Trail featured choreographic direction for the musicians of Cordancia and dancers of BIODANCE by Missy Pfohl Smith
6:25pm – Five Frogs by Jenni Brandon at the Crater Canteen
7:00pm – Carnival of the Animals by Camille Saint-Saens at the Eagle’s Landing Pavilion. A beloved and entertaining classic, Camille Saint-Saëns’ Carnival of the Animals is a musical portrait of various animals ­– including a lion, an elephant, and a swan – often performed with narration. Our narrator, Rochester storyteller Jay Stetzer, describes the animals in words with his own humorous take on a text by Ogden Nash. BIODANCE dancers join Cordancia musicians with new choreography by Missy Pfohl Smith and costumes by Natalia Lisina. 

Site-specific dance by BIODANCE will also surprise visitors in various locations.
8:30pm – Gates closed to guests

Dancers include Sarah Johnson, Natalia Lisina, Shanna Pagan, Doreen Prempeh, Wynton Rice, Julie Schlafer Rossette, Euridece Seche, Missy Pfohl Smith, and Donetta Tchoroleev.

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?

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 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.

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. 

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

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. 

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