Island Moving Company Gets "Staged" at Stanford White Casino Theater

Photo credit: Thomas Palmer

What better title for its first performance in the architecturally significant and newly restored Stanford White Casino Theatre than "Architecture in Motion"?

The Island Moving Company, Newport's own dance company. presented its first performance at the historic and newly renovated Stanford White Casino Theatre at the International Tennis Hall of Fame in Newport recently, after a hiatus of 30 years. The evening featured the premiere of choreographer Miki Ohlsen’s "Struggle for Comfort", and Colin Connor's "Bodies of Water".

IMC Board Member John Brooks with Bill and Alison Vareika

Says Island Moving Company Director Dominique Alfandre, "Architecture in Motion" has a lot of innovative partnering and Miki’s signature organic and dynamic shapes. We haven’t seen the dancers in a theatre, with a curtain and full stage lighting for a long time. It was a thrill – they looked absolutely beautiful."

Adapting to the parameters of stage and proscenium after performances in Rosecliff , at Fort Adams State Park, and the Great Friends Meeting House, the dancers were rewarded with sustained applause. Supporters of the Company joined the IMC Board for drinks before the performance in the beautifully restored theatre. The evening was sponsored by Saverio De Ruggiero and Newport architect Paul Weber.

Michelle Burgess, Paul Weber and Bethany diNapoli

Among the dance aficionados watching intently were the evening's Co-chairs Monique Burgess and Bethany di Napoli, Ruth Orthwein, John Brooks, Bill and Alison Vareika, Island Moving Company Board Chair Kate Spinella, former Chair Spencer Berger, Theodora Aspegren, Robert Bailey, Marilyn Woloohojian, and Don Jagoe.

The work "Architecture in Motion" was the centerpiece of a New York performance on May 6 and 7th at the at the Manhattan Movement & Arts Center. For full schedule of performances, go to www.islandmovingco.org

--L.P.

Photos courtesy of Island Moving Company