Dimensions Dance Theatre of Miami to Return to the South Miami-Dade Cultural Arts Center’s Lab Theater

March 10, 2022 Admin

Dimensions Dance Theatre of Miami to Return to the South Miami-Dade Cultural Arts Center's Lab Theater

Dimensions Dance Theatre of Miami will return to the South Miami-Dade Cultural Arts Center’s Lab Theater on March 12 and 13 with another exciting salon program, featuring an insider’s glimpse at five works, all in different stages of progress, being prepared for premiere later this year. This program spotlights the work of four cutting-edge neo-classical & contemporary choreographers including: 2021 Guggenheim Fellow Helen Simoneau, their own 2021 “Dance Miami Choreographers” prize awardee Yanis Eric Pikieris, 2017 Princess Grace Dance Fellowship winner Lyvan Verdecia, and DDTM’s esteemed Master Choreographer in Residence, Yanis Pikieris. This popular program of dance and discussion, will be followed, as always, by an open floor Q&A opportunity for the audience.

Saturday night’s tickets include a post-show cocktail reception with the artists complete with complimentary champagne, wine, water, and passed hors d’oeuvres. Tickets to this intimate evening of dance are available on SMDCAC’s website: https://bit.ly/3p8WNAA. Tickets start at $45.

This performance is presented by South Miami-Dade Cultural Arts Center.

Helen Simoneau – Helen Simoneau is a choreographer, teacher and Guggenheim Fellow (2021). She has been commissioned by the Ailey School, BalletX, The Juilliard School, Oregon Ballet Theatre, the American Dance Festival, and colleges, dance companies and festivals throughout the US, Canada, and Switzerland. She was a resident artist at Baryshnikov Arts Center, NYU/Tisch, Bates Dance Festival, The University of Buffalo, and a fellow of The NYU Center for Ballet and the Arts, the Bogliasco Foundation, and the North Carolina Arts Council. Simoneau’s work has been presented at The Guggenheim Museum, Dance Place, Joyce SoHo, Tangente (Canada), Dance Stages Shanghai Dance Festival (China), The Aoyama Round Theatre (Japan), the L.I.G. Art Hall Busan (South Korea), Jacob’s Pillow Inside/Out, PACT-Zollverein in Essen (Germany), Athens International Dance Festival (Greece), and the 13th Internationales Solo-Tanz-Theatre Festival in Stuttgart, Germany, where she was awarded first place for Choreography. She was recently a Choreographic Fellow at Ailey’s New Directions Choreography Lab and is a current Choreography Fellow at New York City Center. Simoneau is originally from rural Québec.

Yanis Eric Pikieris – Yanis Eric Pikieris is a native of Miami, Florida. He began his training with his parents Marielena Mencia and Yanis Pikieris at the Miami Youth Ballet. He also trained at Miami City Ballet School and with Jean-Pierre Bonnefoux and Patricia McBride at the Charlotte Ballet Academy. With Charlotte Ballet he performed in several company productions, including Jean-Pierre Bonnefoux’s The Nutcracker and Peter Pan, and George Balanchine‘s Tarantella. He joined Dimensions Dance Theatre of Miami in 2016 as an inaugural member of the company.

Lyvan Verdecia – Lyvan Verdecia was born in Havana, Cuba. He graduated from the National Ballet School of Cuba in 2013 and joined the ranks of the National Ballet of Cuba through December 2014, where he developed as a dancer and choreographer. He has had the opportunity to participate in festivals and has won gold and bronze medals at international competitions. He has shared the stage with Carlos Acosta in his Tocororo and with Viengsay Valdes in Annabelle Lopez Ochoa’s Celeste. In 2017, Verdecia was awarded a Princess Grace Award in Dance. Lyvan is in his 6th season with Ballet Hispánico.

Yanis Pikieris – Dancer, Director, Choreographer, was the recipient of the silver medal at the first Jackson International Ballet Competition in 1979. In 1981 he was the first dancer from the western hemisphere to win the prestigious gold medal at Moscow’s International Ballet Competition, launching an international career that would take him to over 50 countries around the world as one of his generations’ premier dancers. He has been a principal dancer with the International Ballet of Caracas, Bavarian National Ballet-Munich, Deutsche Oper am Rhein-Dusseldorf, Miami City Ballet and Ballet du Nord-France. In 1986 Artistic Director Edward Villella invited him to join a new company; Miami City Ballet. As a founding member he astounded with his power and passion on stage and was instrumental in the initial success of the company. Along with David Palmer, Mr. Pikieris co-founded and directed Maximum Dance Company from, 1996 to 2005, and together with his wife Marielena Mencia he founded the Mencia-Pikieris School of Dance. He previously served as Artistic Director for Ballet du Nord, Juegos Dance Ensemble and the Ballet Metropolitano de Medellin. During the 06/07 season, he served as Program Director for Miami City Ballet’s Contemporary Dance Series and Young People’s Programming. Also in 2006 he founded the Miami Youth Ballet, a non-profit organization with the mission of providing opportunities for local young artists. He serves as National Dance Panel Chair for the YoungArts and is a member of the jury for the World Ballet Competition in Orlando, Florida. Mr. Pikieris also serves as Executive Director of the Nebrada Foundation, whose mission is to oversee the licensing and production Vicente Nebrada’s choreographic works. He currently directs the Mencia-Pikieris School of Dance, the Miami Youth Ballet and works as a freelance master teacher and choreographer. He is excited to be a Founding Artistic Member of Dimensions Dance Theatre, as well as serve as a member of the company’s esteemed Advisory Council.