Choreographer Mariana Bekerman found her artistic voice in the NYC underground nightlife scene of the early '90's. Born in Odessa, Ukraine, and raised in Flushing, Queens, Bekerman is nostalgic for those NYC decades of openness and artistic freedom. She says, "...these clubs where my life outside the dance class, regardless of weather conditions, personal situations, and so forth. I had my parties and battles to attend, and I was there."This Saturday night, celebrating their ten year anniversary and returning to LPAC, Mariana Bekerman Dance Company debuts, Black and White. With a heavy dose of irony in the title, Bekerman says this work is not about polarization, "Black & White is a show meant remind us that life is not Black & White. In each section, the work questions the essence of human existence in some way and, more specifically, focuses on uniting artists and audiences together."
Bekerman began working on B&W in 2007 and has finally settled on a group of dancers and collaborators that add new dimensions to the project (in a good way). To Bekerman B & W is in its early stages and would like to take the scale of the show bigger by adding small vignettes to the program.
Discovering LPAC LAB through Queens Council on the Arts, was a huge help to the development of B&W. "Steven was very hospitable to us and welcomed us to LPAC. In 2007, LPAC LAB presented our program at the Little Theatre (well, actually it was an edited version of Taro, along with a few early works-in-progress pieces of B & W, since The Company had already started on it by then)."
Today Bekerman lives a much quieter existence in Howard's Beach, Queens with her husband and cat. This perspective gives Mariana the space to find the "underground" visions that are so inherent in her work. "I don’t go out dancing too much and if I do, I would probably rely on Facebook to inform me where. Perhaps it is time to tweak my mission statement or, better yet, return to the clubs!"
To watch MBDC on Youtube click here.
BLACK & WHITE
Mariana Bekerman Dance Company
December 5th at 8pm
Little Theatre
General Admission:
$15 advance
$20 at the door
$10 Students
Click here to purchase your tickets


