ST. LOUIS — An acclaimed contemporary dance company in St. Louis opened, "(RE)Imagine," inside the Center of Creative Arts on Thursday night.
St. Louis Dance Theatre, formally known as The Big Muddy Dance Company, is made up of 16 dancers from across the world and St. Louis this year.
A top-notch contemporary repertory dance experience was what brought 26-year-old Californian Arpege Lundyn to St. Louis. She said exposure was key for her growing up and St. Louis Dance Theatre works hard to provide to the region.
"It started with Janet Jackson's All for You Tour. I knew I wanted to be a dancer and through that, I got to see lots of Alvin Ailey when I was younger through field trips and it was like ok this is what I want to do," the first-year dancer Lundyn said. "Dance is freedom. It's joy. Connectivity."
Sergio Canancho, 24, has been with the company for three years. His photo can be seen outside the dance company's newly branded window on Washington Avenue.
"I feel really impactful in the community here. I think especially being the only Mexican American in the community. I feel like I have a duty to kind of express myself in that way," Canancho said.
The movement has been his voice when he has struggled to confidently speak.
"I feel like dance for me personally allows me to tell my story. To really like be myself authentically without having to say a thing," he added.
The two are releasing their talent to stages all across the city in the next few months.
The company partnered with St. Louis Symphony Orchestra this upcoming weekend, and with Jazz St. Louis to put an exciting new spin on Duke Ellington’s Nutcracker as a way to bridge the gap between music and performing arts in the city.
"As we are on this new trajectory. It really felt good to stake our claim in terms of being of St. Louis," said Kirven Douthit-Boyd, artistic director.
The Alvin Ailey alum stressed he wants audiences to embody pride by attending at least one performance, recalibrating their relationship with dance and the theater.
"Our work is grounded in humanity. In humanness right and so naturally if you see something that makes you feel a way. We don't want you to hold that back. We want you to let it out," Douthit-Boyd added.
The creatives are on the floor rehearsing five days a week with movement anchored by choreographers, forms, and styles from across the globe.
"We are visual storytellers and so I'm making sure that the creative voices in front of the room are from varied backgrounds and from different perspectives and that all translates into the movement of the body."
The dancers were glad to be examples of the strides that are being made in the art space.
"Having people know that this is what they can do. Young girls know that they can do this no matter where they are from," Arpege said.
"It brings like a comradeship between the dancers, the company and the audience of like we know who we are, we know where we are, we know who we represent," Canancho added.
The theatre will hold its Fall Concert "Reclaim" on Friday Oct. 25 at 7 p.m., Saturday Oct. 26 at 7 p.m., and Oct. 27 at 2 and 7:30 p.m. inside COCA's Catherine B. Verges Theatre.
The performances will be in addition to the Movers and Shakers Ball fundraising gala to celebrate the company's next chapter on Saturday night.
5 On Your Side reporter Travis Cummings will return as Master of Ceremonies.