Performance Ensembles

MOD kcawthon@ufl.edu
The Florida MOD Project is the University of Florida, School of Theatre and Dance contemporary dance repertory ensemble. Celebrating the talent of local and international artists, MOD is a fusion of dance, physical theatre, art, and technology that reaches beyond the proscenium. The company presents the creative vision of some of today's most outstanding choreographers, and the spirit of the next generation of performers and designers. It engages the audience with a new understanding of contemporary dance, and a new perspective on their world.
A collective of 10 University of Florida student dancers are the heart of the MOD. Selected through an extensive audition process, student membership in the company is for a minimum of one year and a maximum of three years. The program requires the imaginative and physical commitment to training at professional standards; and it provides numerous creative and performance opportunities, from outreach to professional touring.

MOD aims to challenge the barriers that divide this country's diverse artistic communities and to foster innovative partnerships that reduce the geographical and cultural isolation of artists from their peers and public communities.

We advocate:
Interdisciplinary explorations to create change
Responsibility
Collaboration
Audience education and growth
Dance as a vehicle for expression
The beauty of the human spirit in motion

We believe:
The arts have the power
Things are not always what they seem

mod., (mod), adj. 1. bold and unconventional 2. contemporary in style or form-n. 3. a person of modern times 4. modern original dance.

 

GatorTones tmata@ufl.edu
GatorTones is the student song-and-dance troupe from the School of Theatre and Dance and School of Music at the University of Florida. This group of students, primarily from the College of Fine Arts, is under the direction of Tony Mata and performs frequently at university events and throughout the community.

Agbedidi Africa dacosta1@ufl.edu or jfrosch@arts.ufl.edu
Agbedidi Africa was founded in the fall of 1995 during UF's Center for World Arts inaugural African Artist-in-Residence project with celebrated Ghanaian musician, Godwin Agbeli. In Ewe, Agbedidi translates as "long life:" agbe meaning "life," and didi meaning "long." In addition to honoring Mr. Agbeli ("there is life"), the name Agbedidi holds promise of a long and prosperous life for the performance of African dance and music in the New World. Indeed, the ensemble's purpose is to impart human values through performance in African dance and music. Using the dynamic processes of practice and performance, students deepen their understanding of issues of internationalism, embody cultural diversity and, through defined interaction and outreach, share their growth with the greater community.

Agbedidi Africa's UF team collaborates with dancers and musicians at New World School of the Arts (NWSA) each fall in the presentation of a mainstage show for the University of Florida and the greater community, which tours to Miami and NWSA. Since 1995, approximately 20,000 student and general audience members have enjoyed the popular, fully-produced productions, which have featured guest artists from Guinea, Senegal, Cote d'Ivoire, Ghana, and more. In spring Agbedidi focuses its efforts on outreach to some of the most treasured members of our community: our youth. Heartfelt outreach to such schools as Sidney Lanier and Terwilliger Elementary are annual events; hundreds of youngsters across Gainesville and Miami enjoy the reach of Agbedidi annually. Mohamed Da Costa and Joan Frosch direct Agbedidi Africa; membership is through enrollment in DAA 2381: World Dance and Intercultural Performance (Gen Ed /I).

Theatre Jazz Rep rarose@ufl.edu
Theatre Jazz Repertoire is an ensemble of UF dancers dedicated to the creation of original dance works that explore the use of traditional jazz dance forms in exciting new formats. Directed by Associate Professor Ric Rose, the group is selected through auditions identifying dancers with abilities to adapt to new styles, diverse skills as performers, and creative flexibility.

Shadow Dance Theatre rarose@ufl.edu
Created by Associate Professor Ric Rose, Shadow Dance Theatre provides UF dancers, actors and designers the forum to collaborate on a unique form of storytelling, culminating in an original dance theatre production. Based on the director's vision of how light and shadow perform as a metaphor for various layers of reality, the storytellers take the audience on a journey through the imagination to gain a deeper understanding of the human condition. The ensemble trains in improvisation, yoga, dance and acting techniques, and shares in the creative collaboration that has created four successful full-length productions to date.

Theatre Strike Force
Theatre Strike Force is a student organization with the purpose of presenting improvisational theatre that focuses on social concerns. The group performs primarily in a street theatre context to reach an audience of those who would not ordinarily think of attending a theatre.

UF Summer Dance Intensive: "Think Globally and Dance Locally" neta@ufl.edu
The main objective of the UF Summer Dance Intensive is to offer a comprehensive dance and art experience aimed at providing a daily studio practice (technique), opportunities to take part in the creation and performance of a new movement based work, opportunities to learn works from the repertory of The Neta Dance Company and guest artists and teachers, and an opportunity to experience the breadth of possibilities within dance, movement, theatre, art and music in an environment that empowers the students to find their individual artistic voice as part of a community of artists, thinkers and life-long learners. The Summer Dance Intensive is supported in part by the UF Office of the Vice President of Research.

Program: Daily classes in technique (Ballet and Modern), repertory & creative process; The intensive culminates with 6 performances featuring students and the guest company at University of Florida School of Theatre and Dance. Additional projects include site-specific projects at the Harn Museum of Art, boating dance and movement event at Lake Wauburg, and a water ballet inspired by the likes Busby Berkeley and Esther Williams. The Summer Intensive company in residence is the Neta Dance Company: www.netacompany.org