Peterson troupe dances at 10th Anniversary Concert

BY VICTORIA STUART

While Karen Peterson & Dancers is widely recognized for innovative and contemporary choreography, the troupe also is internationally known for presenting dancers with a broad range of varying abilities.

The Karen Peterson & Dancers troupe featured a multimedia piece about the varied roles of wives and mothers at a recent 10th Anniversary Concert

Since 1989, Karen Peterson Corash -- the group's founder and lead choreographer -- has been a pioneering advocate for dancers of mixed abilities, including mentally and physically challenged individuals. She has brought the artistic discipline and philosophy of dance into an area previously unknown, while holding many dance and movement workshops for organizations such as the Post-Polio Association, Easter Seals, Very Special Arts and Lighthouse for the Blind.

Karen Peterson Corash is a pioneer in breaking the boundaries of dance and movement for dancers of all abilities. Her troupe includes able-bodied as well as wheelchair dancers.

"I try to allow each individual to discover their own movement vocabulary, the physical expression of movement that comes naturally to them, and develop it, rather than impose a pre-existing set of movements," said Peterson Corash.

Karen Peterson & Dancers, Inc. will demonstrate their innovative style at a series of free public performances at regional libraries throughout Miami-Dade County through June.

Her unique and daring blend of physical differences into a singular artistic vision has touched the hearts and minds of audiences throughout the United States and most recently Brazil.

A year ago, Peterson Corash was invited to Brazil's renowned LAPA school for the disabled to teach dance and movement. Her efforts were so successful that students from LAPA will come to Miami this summer to perform in the annual Florida Dance Festival in June.

"There is a worldwide trend to push the boundaries of traditional ideas of dance," said Peterson Corash. "I like working with a mix of able bodied and mixed-ability dancers."

The Karen Peterson & Dancers troupe has performed all over Florida and will host a series of free presentations throughout Miami-Dade County through June, when the season will end with performances and work shops during the Florida Dance Festival.

The group's tenth Anniversary Concert last month at the New World School of the Arts showcased the troupe's innovative contemporary style, which ranges from classical to New Age and beyond. One piece, for example, was performed in a layer of sand, while another incorporated multimedia such as spoken text.

For another piece entitled Open House, Peterson Corash interviewed, taped and synthesized the voices of women who are mothers and replayed the resulting sound as music during the dance. Each sequence took place in a different room of a house, symbolizing the varied roles and responsibilities of women.

A graduate of the Boston Conservatory of Music, Peterson Corash always has loved to dance.
"Ever since I was a child I remember loving dance," she said. "When I was ten years old I made the decision that dance was essential to my well-being and that I would do it as long as I was able."
Peterson Corash moved to South Florida in 1978 and was a company performer and teacher for the Grovedanstheatre, Fusion Dance Company and Bratcher and Company. She co-founded and co-directed Momentum Dance Company from 1981-84. She has received several grants and fellowships to teach dance and explore the common movement vocabulary of mixed-ability and able-bodied dancers.

"As both a dancer and a choreographer, as well as manager of the troupe, teacher, wife and mother, I am discovering new challenges every day," she said. "I feel like dance is a gift I can share with others."

FREE PERFORMANCES BY KAREN PETERSON & DANCERS:
 
May 6 Kendall Library, 9101 SW 97 Avenue, 2 p.m.
May 6 Performing Arts Network, 505 17 Street, 7 p.m.
May 13 North Shore Library, 7501 Collins Avenue, 2 p.m.
May 27 Coral Reef Library, 9211 Coral Reef Drive, 11 a.m.
June 3 North Central Library, 9590 NW 27th Avenue, 2 p.m.
June 10 Miami Lakes Branch Library, 6699 Windmill Gate Road, 2 p.m.

From May 10­15 a special non-credit workshop will be held at Miami-Dade Community College Wolfson Campus for mixed-ability and able-bodied dancers. There is a fee of $50. For more information, please call Jenny Lynn at 305-237-3832.