Figures in Time

An Evening of Tap Dance and Jazz Music

Still fresh from a summer performance at the 77th Jacob’s Pillow Dance Festival, The Peggy Spina Tap Company presents FIGURES IN TIME in four performances at 6pm and 8:30pm on March 5th and 6th in the warm and intimate Spina Loft, located on Prince Street in the heart of New York City’s vibrant Soho community.  Composer and pianist Joel Forrester pairs his quartet and original scores with Spina’s award winning dancers and choreography.

Founder and Director Peggy Spina has created hundreds of dances for her company over the last 29 years.  Deborah Jowitt of the Village Voice once said, Spina’s choreography is full of “visual and aural complexity… Sitting so close you  see as much as hear the difference between a purling stream to that of a waterfall.”  Her work has been honored repeatedly.  In the Spring of 2008 she received the Flo-Bert Award from the New York City Committee to Celebrate National Tap Dance, for her lifelong achievements as a master tap dancer, choreographer and producer.  Spina is strongly influenced by both her early tap training, and her many years of study with the late, great Merce Cunningham.  These influences have inspired her to create a unique visual and sound experience rarely found in the tap world, where dances stop and start with nuanced accuracy, and flow together into a unified elegance.

This year’s season will include the world premiere of “Peggy’s Blues”, which was composed by Mr. Forrester when the company and quartet were performing at Jacob’s Pillow this past summer.  The score and the choreography carry on a witty conversation that exchanges bluesy rhythms with upbeat syncopations.

The program will also include favorites such as “Jam”, a piece that always has both the performers and audience members on their toes by the end with its alternating boogie woogie and swing rhythms.

“Stop the Music” is a surging piece of choreography.  Paired with Mr. Forrester’s forward moving cascade of a score, the dance becomes a non-stop vehicle of tightly interwoven taps.  In stark contrast is the dance-

“Evelyn’s Dream”, premiered at Spina’s 25th Anniversary Season and is characterized by it’s 11-beats-per-measure structure and a serenity of mood and movement quality.

In a recent review in Attitude about the dance “Where To?”, Madeline Dale wrote, “Where To?” This show went places!  Ms. Spina created a slow, cool, metropolitan texture with unpredictable groupings.  The dancers never rush and could stop on a dime.”

Other company favorites on the program will include “Crystal Epitaph”, “Helen’s Heart”, Buster Brown’s “Laura”, “Savvy” and last year’s hit premiere “Soar”.  This is a show and a company not to be missed!

Dancers: Sarah Buscaino, Noreen Carruthers, Laura Coleman, Maya Krishnasastry, Kathleen Voss, Alison Manning, Misty Owens, Katy Wood.

Musicians: The Joel Forrester Quartet with Joel Forrester (piano), Dave Hofstra (bass), Matt Garrity (drums), Vito Dieterle (sax)