On Oct. 24 and 25 at The Launchpad, locals Meagan Londy Shapiro and Emily Fifer will host the inaugural show of their newly created contemporary dance company — the name of which is currently pending — that’s fiscally sponsored by Dance Initiative. The show, “Re:Collection,” will include a combination of new movements and throwbacks to dances the two have done before.
The show, which Shapiro described as a repertory, will feature the new company’s current cast of dancers: Jen Campbell, Dana Ellis, Caitlin Evans, Lindsay Marquino, Micha Schoepe, Sam Stableford and Vicki Tobia.
“We’re excited to be taking this brave step forward into other work that we want to make, rather than just saying, ‘Let’s do a project here and a project there,’” Shapiro told The Sopris Sun.
Shapiro and Fifer have been friends and collaborators for over a decade, working together as performers throughout and choreographing the annual Carbondale Arts Fashion Show since 2019. They are excited to bring their combined talents and camaraderie to this new company.
As the duo takes the time to listen to feedback regarding the company’s name — “Emme” was originally considered — they are mainly focusing their attention on the type of choreography they’d like to incorporate and the general direction of the company.
The name of the show reflects their past creative ventures and, as Fifer noted, can be interpreted two ways. Either way, it’s bound to unlock even more inspiration.
“For now, we are putting our thoughts and creative efforts into this upcoming show and [will] see what evolves from that. The title, ‘Re:Collection,’ can also be seen as ‘recollection,’” Fifer clarified. “We talked about that and both really enjoy that it can be said both ways. We felt like we wanted to put our effort and energy right into the show, and then afterwards kind of decide what we want to be called, and what type of company we are.”
As opposed to curating the repertory by simply resetting what’s been done, the collaborators are instead opting for a more nuanced process.
“There are a lot of interesting and important ways to do repertory work, and one of those ways is to go in and reset that work almost precisely as it was created,” explained Shapiro. “It’s interesting and valuable … and not what we are doing with the show. We are instead going into that repertory work in a remembering state. We are asking a lot of questions about what we remember, what we don’t remember [and] what doesn’t serve anymore in the piece.”
“These are pieces that we created for an audience of between 500 and 700 people in a big space that are now being performed in a very intimate space,” she continued. “We’re seeing that as an opportunity to look at past work as a springboard or a starting point.”
There will also be moments of improvisation throughout the performance, which may be surprising for both the audience and the performers.
“I hope that the community that comes to see the performance gets to experience that sort of intimacy with dance,” concluded Fifer. “The idea is to see how our performers will respond and hopefully that brings some surprise and delight to our audiences as well.
In a nutshell
What: “Re:Collection”
Where: The Launchpad in Carbondale
When: 7:30pm on Oct. 24 & 25
Tickets: www.danceinitiative.org/events/recollection