The History of Moving People Dance Santa Fe
Moving People Dance Santa Fe (MPD), the only home-based contemporary dance company in Santa Fe, was founded in 2001 by Ronn Stewart and Layla Amis, both recognized for their excellence in teaching by The Youth America Grand Prix. Stewart continues as MPD’s Artistic Director while Amis now directs the LINES Ballet School. In 2003, the Moving People Dance Centre dance school was established, offering professional quality training in mixed genres including ballet, jazz, contemporary, modern, and more recently incorporating Flamenco and Native American movement. The Company’s co-founders developed a unique training formula that, in a short time, has prepared young dancers for admissions to the Nation’s most exclusive colleges of performing arts including Julliard and New York University’s Tisch School of the Arts. Others have won acceptance into professional dance companies such as Cleo Parker Robinson, some to prestigious training programs such as The American Ballet Theater, Alvin Ailey, Joffrey, Alonzo King’s Lines Ballet, and the San Francisco Ballet. MPD’s extraordinary success in training students is reflected in the school’s motto- “Train like a Machine, Dance like a Soul.”
Seasonal performances such the spring “Louder Than Words” and the holiday “Swingin’ Suites” have become traditions for the Santa Fe Community. These performances are a fusion of classical and contemporary styles ranging from ballet to hip hop with Indigenous and Hispanic traditional movement and mythology. “Swinging Suites”, for example, is a rendition of the Nutcracker set in NM before statehood. The protagonist, “Maria Montoya” dreams of spectacles, among them, an Eagle Dancer, swing dancers, and break dancers. MPD’s cross-cultural approach to choreography works as an effective bridge for engaging many youth who otherwise might remain indifferent about movement as an art form.
Every summer, MPD produces and hosts the Santa Fe Dance Festival and the simultaneous Santa Fe Summer Dance Intensive. Together, these two events have drawn the attention of the national dance community to Santa Fe, rounding out the city's reputation as an arts mecca. The Festival's world-class performers have included Cleo Parker Robinson Dance Ensemble (Denver), Giordano Jazz Dance (Chicago), special guest artists from Alonzo King's Lines Ballet (San Francisco), Yjastros: the American Flamenco Repertory Company (Albuquerque), Dancing Earth Indigenous Dance Creations (San Francisco), and others, as well as MPD. The Festival also includes showcase performances by local dance companies. Some 600 tickets to Festival performances are made available free to area students. The Santa Fe Summer Dance Intensive brings nationally recognized choreographers and teachers together with over 60 highly motivated students for three weeks of work culminating in a student performance.
In a recent review, Janet Eigner, writer “Dance Magazine” wrote “What energy, choreographic excellence, and technical mastery (MPD) fuses into its performances! Led by a generous force-of-nature Ronn Stewart, Moving People Dance Santa Fe has become a precious jewel in the crown of Santa Fe’s performing arts scene.”
Without fail, these seasonal performances pack the house, sending its audiences away with a new perspective on the world of contemporary dance. What makes an already extraordinary performance that much more exhilarating is the deep love for dance and artistic dedication demonstrated by the performers, all whom are local youth from our beloved Santa Fe.
As part of it’s growing commitment to embracing local traditions, MPD is nurturing collaborations with local companies including American Flamenco Repertory Theater, Danza Folklorica de Mexico, and resident choreographer Rulan Tangen of Dancing Earth, (named one of Dance Magazines “Top 25 to Watch” in January 2007) with whom original works are being created.
MPD continues to create innovative and evolutionary choreography for both the students and company members.