Karen Peterson & Dancers to Celebrate 32nd Anniversary With REPERTORY FAVORITES

Karen Peterson & Dancers to celebrate their 32nd anniversary with REPERTORY FAVORITES, a multidisciplinary dance concert on May 27-28, 2023 at The Dennis C. Moss Cultural Arts Center's Lab Theatre. KPD's dynamic program features 8 company members dancing pieces by acclaimed physically integrated (PI) choreographers from across the US, a documentary on KPD's dance program for teens with special needs in Miami-Dade County Public School System, and the premiere of their latest work. This concert presents a curation of works from the KPD repertoire to honor over 3 decades of their inclusive, mixed-mobility dance, education, and advocacy worldwide.

"We're thrilled to feature the culmination of our repertoire to celebrate our 32nd anniversary," says Karen Peterson-Corash, KPD's Founder and Artistic Director. "We're proud to continue our commitment to the development of physically integrated dance and to advocacy for DEI: diversity, equity and inclusion."

The program presents "TIME BEING," a dance piece by award-winning, LA-based choreographer Victoria Marks, which premiered at the 4th Annual Forward Motion Dance Festival in October 2022. Five KPD dancers (Shawn Buller, Marjorie Burnett, Adam Eckstat, Narieka Masla, Sun Young Park) perform with both mobility devices and static dining room chairs. This piece playfully flips the script on the kind of PI dance that seems to feature the non-disabled performers at the expense of the dancers with disabilities.

Also included in the program is "REMEMBER WHEN" created by acclaimed PI choreographer Marc Brew. This multimedia piece features veteran KPD dancer Jesus Vidal framed by video vignettes to open a conversation of remembrance. Premiered in East London in 2008, its themes portray a peeling away of layers, using line and extension, intricate folding, placement and replacement.

Other performances include an excerpt of a duet from "LOST AND FOUND" performed by Penelope Huerta and Jesus Vidal. New to the repertoire, KPD premieres their latest work called "A CURIOUS DISTRACTION" featuring four KPD company dancers (Monica Lynne, Adam Eckstat, Sun Young Park, and Jesus Vidal) utilizing a bench and cane as props.

The KPD concert series will also premiere a new film by Dinorah de Jesus Rodriquez entitled "foot loose," which spotlights 6 groups of teen dancers with special needs in the Miami-Dade County Public School System who had the opportunity to create choreographies with professional dancers from KPD. The film documents the experiences of each group as they choreograph and rehearse their final culminating performance.

Performances are held at The Dennis C. Moss Cultural Arts Center's Lab Theatre (10950 SW 211 St, Cutler Bay, FL 33189) on Saturday, May 27th at 2 and 8PM and Sunday, May 28th at 2PM. Tickets can be purchased for $20 online at MossCenter.org or by calling the box office at 786-573-5300. Seniors, military, students with ID and patrons with disabilities get a 10% discount. For more information about Karen Peterson & Dancers and their upcoming events, please visit their website at karenpetersondancers.org.

All venues are fully wheelchair accessible and have free onsite parking. To arrange for group sales and discounts (10 or more people), for any questions, and to request materials in accessible format, sign language interpreters, and/or any disability accommodation call 305-298-5879 or email karen@karenpetersondancers.org.

Support for KPD comes from the National Endowment for the Arts, SouthArts, The Miami Foundation, Citizens Interested in the Arts, Miami-Dade County Department of Cultural Affairs and the Cultural Affairs Council, the Miami-Dade County Mayor and Board of County Commissioners and the State of Florida, Department of State, Division of Arts and Culture, and the Florida Council on Arts and Culture.

Karen Peterson and Dancers

Karen Peterson and Dancers was founded in 1990 and is dedicated to the development, education, and presentation of physically integrated dance (PID), bringing together dancers with diverse abilities as a role model for the dance and disability communities for thirty years. The organization has presented an annual season of new work at multiple venues throughout South Florida. The troupe has performed nationally at festivals in New York to Washington, D.C., and performed in nine countries. In 2019, in honor of her work, the company was named "Best Dance Company" in Miami by the New Times, and received the 2017 Boston Conservatory Alumni Entrepreneurial Award to support the presentation of "Warmamas: a Performance" at the Judson Memorial Church, NYC. KPD has produced the annual international festival of physically integrated dance, "Forward Motion," in 2018- 2022 with the support from the Knight Foundation and the National Endowment for the Arts, and has brought together leading PID companies from around the country. Visit www.karenpetersondancers.org.

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