When Beth Jucovy, the artistic director of Great Neck-based Dance Visions NY, last rehearsed a performance with her troupe at University Settlement back in 2011, she knew she wanted to deliver a powerful performance there.
“Once I saw that space, I knew this is where I would want to do it,” Jucovy, who founded the dance company in 1990, said in an interview.
Now, 14 dancers of Dance Visions NY will take the stage for their first season there in New York City, fusing the style of Isadora Duncan with ballet and modern features. In addition to repertoires of Duncan, it will also feature some of Jucovy’s own works, including “Through the Portals” and “Blurred Boundaries.”
“It’s just so expressive,” Jucovy, a protégé of Anna Duncan, said. “It’s a type of dance where you’re so open and it has so many universal themes and timeless themes and themes that everyone can relate to.”
“It’s amazing. You just feel so connected to humanity,” Jucovy added.
Many of Isadora Duncan’s choreographed works to be featured in this show, paired with Alexander Scriabin’s “The Crossing” and “Revolutionary” etudes and other music, are particularly relevant in today’s political climate, Jucovy said, as they touch upon themes of humanism, hope and the environment.
“We can’t give up, we can’t be apathetic,” Jucovy said, “so I’m trying in the way I can to move people and inspire people, to have people think and care and have them act.”
“Through the Portals,” created by Jucovy, in particular will feature the paintings of New Hyde Park-based artist Susan Ruth Cohen. Her work will be projected to the background as the white-clad dancers weave their way through time, Jucovy said, while serving as “portals into worlds of color and relationships.”
“It’s like they are a part of it,” Jucovy said of the dancers, noting them as personifications of certain colors. “As time and space changes, the dances evolve with that.”
Another Jucovy work being shown is “Blurred Boundaries,” which aims to explore reactions to death through various different planes of existence.
Jucovy said that she first decided on the venue about a year and a half ago. It takes that much time to organize, secure the venue and raise funds, Jucovy said.
But, Jucovy said, she knew that both she and her company were ready for it and that they hope to propel both the audience and her group onto a whole new stage of dance.
“It definitely felt like it was time to get out there and get out to the city,” Jucovy said.
Adrienne Ramm, who studied under Julia Levien and Hortense Kooluris, will make an appearance in the show, as will Jucovy, her sister. Both women were childhood students of Anna Duncan, the daughter of Isadora Duncan.
Other dancers will include Danielle Atkinson, Anastasia Benedetti, Louisa Cathcart, Vanessa Ferranti, Ligia Gaissionok, Beth Jucovy, Hope Kroog, I-Nam Jiemvitayanukoon, Laura Marciano, Shannon McMullan, Rebekah Mulkey, Elena Notkina and Hyo Jin Rim.
The pianists are George Shevstov and Mark Fiedler, while Farah Chandu and Patti Dunham will be vocalists. Great Neck actress Shirley Romaine will also be providing poetry and insights.
Dance Visions NY’s shows will be on Thursday, Dec. 14 at 8:00 p.m., Saturday, Dec. 16 at 8:00 p.m., and Sunday, Dec. 17, at 3:00 p.m. at Speyer Hall, University Settlement House, 184 Eldrige St.
Tickets can be reserved online at brownpapertickets.com or by calling 1-800-838-3006. General public tickets cost $15, student and senior tickets cost $12. Tickets at the door cost $18 for the general public and $15 for students and seniors, respectively.
