Luminarium Dance Company Offers New Approach In Mills Gallery Performances

The original plan for the Luminarium Dance Company was formulated by two dreamers on a Lexington park bench in June, 2010. Less than a year later, co-artistic directors Merli Guerra and Kimberleigh Holman are bringing their one-of-a-kind vision for dance, performance, and visual art to the South End as part of the Movement at the Mills showcase at the .

Their work “Upon | Within” is a merger of two pieces choreographed by Guerra and Holman that explores the concept of external and internal self. Guerra and Holman will also present two individual works during the event.

The pair met as undergraduate students at Mount Holyoke College where they both majored in dance as part of the Five College Dance Department. After graduating in 2009, Guerra and Holman were frustrated by the creative void in their post-college lives and decided to make their goal of starting a dance company reality.

“[We] decided basically that it was now or never,” Holman said. “If we didn’t take some risk and the huge leap into our own organization, it seemed like it would be just that much more difficult as time went by to start a company and jump into the Boston dance scene.”

Three months after initial meetings, auditions, and rehearsals, the company’s debut performance, “Fracture,” premiered to a sold-out crowd on October 8, 2010. Held at the Dance Complex in Cambridge, “Fracture” featured six distinct pieces that when watched in succession presented notions about identity and experience. Stylistically, the pieces encompassed many layers ranging from film to jazz to improvised lighting and sound. These themes and the stylistic points will be addressed and revisited in Friday’s performance.

Movement at the Mills

“Upon | Within” combines pieces choreographed by Guerra and Holman with a focuse on what defines external and internal self and the limitations between the two.

Guerra’s segment is primarily a duet that opens the performance and focuses on external forces.

“Using 66 feet of fabric, I create a physical and psychological limitation on my soloist as she becomes snagged on the cloth and manipulated by those around her,” Guerra explained. Her segment is set to music composed by Peter Jones that subtly links the two movements.

Holman, in comparison, explores internal self through ideas such as mitosis.  Ambient sounds blended with moments of meditative humming and stark lighting set the stage. This all works to examine what Holman calls the “light and spark found within every person.” According to dancer Marica Rotondo, Holman's piece relies heavily on “all the dancers being attuned to each other and the movement around them… It is definitely a living a breathing work.”

In addition to the main stage performance, Luminarium Dance will present two individual pieces Friday night. Guerra has created a “breathing installation” that showcases the concept of movement as visual art, while Holman experiments in lighting and a dancer’s use of unfamiliar space.

“Upon | Within” marks the first time the two choreographers have co-created a piece, although Holman sees their work as complimentary. While it may be difficult for them to share inspiration and a common theme, in this instance “we were both motivated by the notion of self and thought it would provide an easy segue into a piece we plan on choreographing after Movement at the Mills,” Holman said.

Movement at the Mills is Friday, March 4 from 6 - 9 p.m. and is free and open to the public. For more information visit www.bcaonline.org.