Smaller ‘Dance Sampler’ To Go On Despite Effects Of State Arts Budget Cuts

Written By Orlando Taquechel

September 30, 2024 at 9:43 AM

Suzuka Matsumoto and Remina Tanaka of Arts Ballet Theatre of Florida in “Le Papillon.” (Photo courtesy of @patriciasphotography)

For years, the Daniel Lewis Dance Sampler (DLDS), an event colloquially referred to as the “Sampler” and named after an iconic figure in the Miami dance world, has symbolically kicked off the dance season in South Florida.

This year, the Sampler, which in previous editions reached as far as Vero Beach in the north and Naples in the west, will offer a stripped-down version, with a single performance and program by six groups.

Each group will present a short work selected from the best pieces in their respective repertoires. In 2023, ten groups participated in three performances.

The 14th edition of the Daniel Lewis Dance Sampler is set for 8 p.m., Saturday, Oct. 5, at the New World School of the Arts dance theater in a production of the Florida Dance Education Organization (FDEO) in collaboration with the New World School of the Arts, Dance NOW! Miami (DNM), and Miami Dance Futures.

Hannah Baumgarten and Diego Salterini, the founders and artistic directors of DNM, recount the circumstances that almost prevented the annual event from happening this year.

“By now, the whole country has heard about Florida Governor (Ron) DeSantis cutting the state’s arts budget,” says Baumgarten. “But I don’t think many people realized that this came on the heels of a legislative action that eliminated over $4 million in funding for an entire category called Culture Builds Florida.”

Additionally, according to Salterini, a large portion of its funding had been cut via the slashing of Culture Builds Florida before the governor’s $32 million veto in June.

“Fortunately, FDEO was able to continue to provide a minimum fee to artists from a county grant, and NWSA continued its partnership with the use of its theater, box office, and administrative support,” says Salterini, adding that the program “essentially lost almost 75 percent of its funding.”

FDEO, of which Lewis is general manager and treasurer, is a state affiliate for The National Dance Education Organization, a non-profit member organization supporting dance educators based in Maryland.

The pair says they had to make difficult choices in programming. “We did it during COVID, turning the programming online for more than a year and we would do it again,” says Baumgarten.

They pared down the program selecting groups that they say had become “anchors” over the years of the Sampler: Arts Ballet Theatre of Florida (ABTF), Dimensions Dance Theatre of Miami (DDTM), Ballet Flamenco La Rosa (BFLR), and their Dance NOW! Miami troupe. “(We also) included Zest Collective, one of the newer troupes, and New World Dance Ensemble,” says Salterini.

For Ilisa Rosal, founder, and artistic director of Ballet Flamenco La Rosa, participating in the Sampler is essential, “because it allows us,” she says, “to collaborate with some of the best dance companies in Miami, representing different dance styles, and allows us to introduce flamenco to new audiences and educate them about this complex, sophisticated and unique art form.”

This year, the company is presenting “Tarantos/Tangos,” a traditional flamenco “Palo” or rhythm, choreographed by Manolete, Eloy Agular, and Rosal, performed with live music.

Ruby Romero-Issaev, executive director of ABTF, believes that participating in the Sampler is “an opportunity to establish yourself as part of the dance community in Miami and South Florida.”

This year, the company will perform the pas de deux from its original ballet “Le Papillon” choreographed by Vladimir Issaev and featuring music by French composer and German-born Jacques Offenbach.

The Sampler also doubles as a celebration of Lewis’ 80th birthday, which will be celebrated with a program at 3 p.m. Sunday, Oct. 6 at NWSA.

“Daniel Lewis is a friend, a colleague, and a mentor,” says Baumgarten. “When he reached out to me last October and asked me to organize his 80th Birthday Celebration, I was honored, to say the least, but wondered how I could fulfill this request. We chatted with him, and he brought in Mary Lisa Burns, the current dean of dance at NWSA, to join the party planning.”

Salterini adds that “Danny is beloved worldwide, first as a timeless and renowned modern dancer with and then directing the Limón Dance Company, and for codifying the Limón technique.”

Lewis joined the NWSA in 1987 as its founding dean of dance. Before that, he was assistant to Martha Hill, the director of the Dance Division at The Julliard School where he was a faculty member since 1967.

Salterini says he has been impactful since arriving in Miami “for his vision as founding Dean of Dance at New World School of the Arts, for his contribution to the regional and National High School Dance Festivals. And for his own non-profit Miami Dance Futures, that nurtured and mentored dance organizations and choreographers such as National Water Dance, the Haunted Ballet, Chris Rudd and so many others.”

The birthday celebration evening will include tributes and performances by NWSA dance students, with a special participation of Masha Dashinka Maddux, a former principal dancer with the Martha Graham Company and an NWSA graduate. DNM will perform “Open Book,” one of Lewis’ seminal works from 1981.

Guest speakers offering tributes will be Donna H. Krasnow, co-author of the celebrated Lewis biography “Daniel Lewis: A Life in Choreography and the Art of Dance;” his friend and colleague Michael Uthoff, artistic director of Dance St. Louis; Dante Puleio, current artistic director of the Limón Dance Company; and Robert Battle, former artistic director of the Alvin Ailey American Dance Theater and an NWSA graduate.

“It will be an evening to remember,” says Baumgarten, adding that after the performance “everyone is invited to the NWSA Art Gallery for a catered reception and a dance costume exhibit.”

Ticket proceeds from the evening support Miami Dance Futures, “so that Danny can continue his work growing and mentoring dance in South Florida,” says Salterini.

Lewis remains president of Miami Dance Futures as well as teaching, lecturing and choreographing. He also continues to stage his own and Limón works throughout the world.

“Does this man ever get tired?” Baumgarten says jokingly. “He seems unstoppable, but we all think his 80th birthday is a good time for us to stop and thank him for everything.”

WHAT: 14th Annual Daniel Lewis Dance Sampler and Daniel Lewis 80th Birthday Celebration

WHEN: Sampler performance, 8 p.m., Saturday, Oct. 5; birthday celebration program, 3 p.m., Sunday, Oct. 6.

WHERE:  New World School of the Arts Dance Theater, 25 NE 2nd Street, 8th floor, Miami.

COST: Sampler, $25 general admission, $15 students / Birthday Celebration, $100 per person, $150 per couple. Tickets can be purchased in advance online for both events at www.dancenowmiami.org.

INFORMATION:  305-975-8489 or dancenowmiami.org 

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