SYREN Dance members Rivkins Christopher and Lynn Peterson coordinating an improvised dance.
Two dance crews collaborated to create improvised choreography in front of a live audience and towering pencil-drawn cityscapes — and in turn brought new energy to a West Street arts gallery.
That artistic intersection took place Saturday afternoon inside the Hill Museum of Arts, a 210 West St. arts space founded and run by Krikko Obbott to showcase his own pencil drawings of cities ranging from New Haven to New York to Lagos, Nigeria.
The event saw performers from two troupes — SYREN Modern Dance and kamrDANCE — perform individual sets before coming together for an improvised session incorporating audience input.
Audience members had an opportunity to not only watch the dancers move, but to observe Obbott’s drawings and try out refreshments provided by Katalina’s Bakery, Olmo Bagelry, and OddBins Bottle Shop.
Food and other essentials were also donated and collected at the museum to support the New Haven Inner City Enrichment Center’s food pantry.
SYREN Modern Dance is a New York based dance company, though its co-founder Lynn Peterson is a New Haven resident. Peterson said she wanted to join forces with the Hill Museum to “bring more dance to the New Haven community.”
“We make dances to share universal things in humanity that we all feel,” Peterson said. “We just happen to do it through movement. But I guarantee, if you come out and try and take a peek, you might find yourself surprised with what you can connect with and what we’re doing.”
The music selection was from Calimossa, a Los Angeles-based music producer and composer. Co-founder and choreographer of SYREN Kate Sutter narrated the audience through the improvisation process while Peterson and dancer members Rivkins Christopher and Victoria Ellis made up a spontaneous performance.
Alexis Robbins performing alongside Luiza Karnas.
Vocalist Sarah Robbins provides the music.
Alexis Robbins, 29, the artistic director and choreographer of kamrDANCE said that the inspiration for her piece came from her father Mark Robbins and his 1990s band Mercy Velvet. She grew up around her dad’s musical talents, listening to “feminist 90s alternative rock” and wanted to share that influence with others.
“I’m having those feelings of like, ‘Where am I headed in life? What legacy am I leaving?’ Like, people haven’t heard this music and it’s like, deeply affected me so much. Can I bring it back to life?”
The performance meant a lot to her because her parents were in the audience and came down from Rhode Island to see her dance. The work was set to Addiction, one song out of a 10-track album. Robbins hopes to expand the routine and create choreography to the whole album accompanied by a live band performance.
Robbins said she was grateful for their support. “I was feeling extra nervous because I was like, ‘I’m gonna share this brand new, half-baked, partially-baked thought in front of the person that made the music over 20 years ago.’ So that was a lot of feelings wrapped up at once. But also just grateful that they made the trip and that they’re here just to experience anything.”
Robbins also emphasized the importance of financial funding for arts and support from outside audiences. “We’re making magic happen as opposed to what could be happening outside in this insane world. Art could save our lives if we spent more time doing it. So let’s spend more time doing it,” she said.
SYREN and kamrDANCE will be performing Dec. 2nd at Arts on Site, New York and in May 2023 at Gibney in New York City.
