Man Dance Company "On Broadway" August 10, 2012

Man Dance Company San Francisco, a seven-member all-male dance company, will perform reinvented crowd-pleasing Broadway scenes in its risk-taking show.

Their groundbreaking show “On Broadway” will be a 70-85 minute concert, which explores an LGBTQ perspective on Broadway productions from the 1950’s to the present including popular dance and song numbers from: West Side Story, Fiddler on the Roof, Victor-Victoria, Cabaret and Chicago. Man Dance Company will reinterpret famous scenes from these earlier Broadway performances with an emphasis on the underlying queer themes subtly expressed in the original famous shows.

Man Dance Company has been formulating this concert since September of 2011. To choose the distinct pieces composing "On Broadway", Artistic Director Byron Heinrich executed extensive research and propositioned input from the company’s supporters, donors, ambassador committee and advisory board. The artistic direction of the show ultimately utilizes a narrative approach that tells an entertaining story with a great deal of energy. Heinrich founded Man Dance Company in San Francisco in 2008 after collaborating with the Kansas City Gay Men’s Chorus to present several musical theatre productions from Cabaret, Chicago and Kiss of the Spider Woman.

The show also explores a diverse set of other musical pieces, including Victor/Victoria and Kiss of the Spider Woman, which will openly express queer nuances. The Man Dance Company will perform these breakthrough pieces along with acclaimed female guest artist Connie Champagne, who will be appearing as Judy Garland in a re-casting of “Get Happy” from Summer Stock and “Le Jazz Hot” from Victor/Victoria.

"There is nothing else like these pieces," exclaims Heinrich. "The pieces explode on the stage. I have choreographed the dances and songs to captivate the audience. It promises to be an exciting show!”
“On Broadway” is thrilled to combine the music from the Bay Area Rainbow Symphony and the San Francisco LGBT Freedom Band with the talented dancers. In total, there are seven performers in “On Broadway,” comprised of four men and three women. The male dancers include: Victor Talledos, Marte Madera, Jeremy Sczepaniak, and Ken Scott. Talledos has previously danced for Labayen Dancers and National Ballet of Mexico. Madera joins Man Dance from Robert Moses Kin & Western Ballet. Also, Sczepaniak belongs to Equity Dancers of NYC, Orlando & Tokyo Disney. Ken Scott: Joins Man Dance for an appearance from Equity Dancers of SF, Spectacles Productions & Pacific Dance Co.

The female dancers also have impressive backgrounds. First, Dominique Larose takes the stage at Man Dance from the world renowned Tanzakademie (TAZ) Zurich Academy of Dance. Dominique has been dancing in Northern California since the age of 3 and now, she is 17 years old with dozens of international ballet performances in her repertoire. Next, Mariko Ishikawa comes to us from Ayako School of Ballet in Belmont and she is the 2009 winner of the Man Dance Youth Competition at age 15. Man Dance is always excited to draw on local talents to round out the program.

Man Dance Company suspects that the show’s audience will be initially comprised of the Bay Area’s LGBTQ community, musical theatre community, dance enthusiasts and musicians’ friends and families. However, this production is intended to appeal to audiences of all backgrounds and the Man Dance Company welcomes a plethora of people to watch their hard-work on stage.

Last year’s production “It Takes Two to Tango” was performed only once, but this year, Man Dance Company intends to hold more shows after a strong response from the community.

“On Broadway” combines ballet, musical theatre, modern dance, and contemporary dance art forms in order to accomplish a well-rounded queer interpretation of classic Broadway moments. The production will rehash and contemporize the taboo material from the McCarthy period of show business, a time in which it was risky for LGBTQ people to freely express their sexual orientations.

By presenting these Broadway vignettes in present-day 2012 San Francisco and re-adapting these famous pieces from a modern viewpoint, Man Dance Company will successfully bring-to-light the suppressed queer undertones of old Broadway shows.

Bios of the talented dancers and singers are available upon request.

Who: The Man Dance Company
What: “On Broadway” dance and music performance
Where: San Francisco Conservatory of Music,
50 Oak Street, San Francisco, CA, 94102
When:Friday August 10, 2012 8pm and Saturday August 11, 2012 8pm
Tickets: Tickets range from $25.00 to $45.00
Sponsorship available upon request.
Info: Online at www.mandance.org ; select the icon marked Box Office.

Official Website: http://www.mandance.org/