September 22 & 23, 2022, at 7:30 pm

Thalian Hall Main Stage

310 Chestnut Street

Wilmington, NC 28401

Tickets are $25 general admission; $22 for seniors, students, military, & children under 12, plus taxes and fees. Please contact the Thalian Hall Box Office online or at 910.632.2285 for ticket reservations.

Forward Motion Dance Company is back on stage! Our exciting annual performance, Cape Fear Arts in Motion: Visuals, Vocals and Variations connects dancers, choreographers, musical and visual artists, and more to bring the art form of dance to the stage for a varied and collaborative event that showcases the talents of Choreographer Tracey Varga. Presented are new dance performances along with re-creations of works from the past, with a live choral performance featuring Elizabeth Stovall, films by Patrick Ogelvie, and an exciting piece from guest choreographer Gaspard Louis.

New works include a creation with eight dancers set to a new music composition from local artist Joe Cordaro. This high energy piece has three sections with dancers from UNCW, The Dance Cooperative, The Dance Element and FMD Company member Kara Abbott.

A highlight of the evening will be a premier dance to “Only in Sleep”, composed by Latvian composer Eriks Esenvalds in 2010 that includes lyrics from a poem by American author Sara Teasdale (1884-1933), read by Rhonda Bellamy, about remembering childhood friends in her dreams. Joining the dancers live onstage will be UNCW Soprano Elizabeth Stovall with choral group led by Dr. Aaron Peisner, Director of Choral Activities at UNCW. Forward Motion Dance Company dancers Kara Abbott, Nicole Dalier, and Susan Turner are joined by guest dancer Stephanie Nadeau.

A returning favorite is “Stages” (2008), a trio set to music by Nina Simone with remixes by Coldcut and Groovefinders, where the dance explores the artistic and life challenges of Nina Simone. Revisiting her part from the past is dancer Jeneen Cleare along with Stephanie Nadeau and Linda Ann Webb as guests.

Forward Motion Dance Company is excited to have a new piece choreographed by Tracey Varga for teen dancers from local studios including The Dance Element, DREAMS, South East Dance Academy, The Hoggard Dance Team and the Glory Academy of Fine Arts. Music is by award winning composer Dale Cornelius, who is known as a multi-instrumentalist and soundtrack artist for movies, television, animation and feature documentary films. He was commissioned by the Australian Government and recognized as a member of the Australian Guild of Screen Composers 2020.

“Interconnection” from Dance-a-lorus at the 2021 Cucalorus Film Festival is a collaboration with filmmaker Patrick Ogelvie and choreographer Tracey Varga that explores problems and solutions to local and world pollution, hunger and homelessness, and is heightened by poignant music by Marvin Gaye, John Lennon and Louis Armstrong.

Dances titled “Spirited Synergy” (2022) and “So Long Michael” (2020) with music by French guitarist and composer Pierre Bensusan will also be presented, and “So Long Michael” includes an engaging interpretive film by Patrick Ogelvie.

Forward Motion Dance Company is delighted to have guest choreographer Gaspard Louis who will set his creative piece “Around Within” for our Company and guest dancers. Gaspard is the Founder and Artistic Director of the Durham based modern dance company Gaspard & Dancers, who have consistently wowed audiences from the Triangle area of NC and beyond. Led by Gaspard, a former Pilobolus dancer, Gaspard & Dancers have worked with local musicians and composers, many dance and film festivals around the world, and produce an annual performance at Duke University, as well as present across North Carolina as part of the NC Dance Festival.

Forward Motion Dance Company dancers performing are Kara Abbott, Ashley Barnes, Nicole Dalier, Susan Turner, Becky Spivey, and McCall Milligan. Guest dancers are Jeneen Cleare, Melanie Dubel, Jenn Guerra, Michelle Harman, Wells Jackson, Avi Kornfeld, Stephanie Nadeau, Ariana Stefanut, Linda Ann Webb and Vanessa Welch.

In a show not to be missed, come be astounded by an inspired evening of music, film, and modern, contemporary and jazz dance that Cape Fear Arts in Motion brings in this exciting return to the beautiful and historic Thalian Hall main stage.

Forward Motion Dance Company with founder, director and choreographer Tracey Varga is a Wilmington, NC, based non-profit 501(c)(3) dance organization whose mission is to provide local and regional communities with quality modern contemporary dance and education in the art of dance, as well as enhance the local arts community by providing performance opportunities for area dancers and performance artists. We are an all-volunteer organization proudly supported by local, state and national grants, and community sponsors. For more information please visit our Facebook page or www.forwardmotiondance.org.

About our Special Guests:

Gaspard Louis is the Founder and Artistic Director of the Durham based modern dance company Gaspard & Dancers (G&D). Since the first moment they exploded onto the stage in 2009, G&D have consistently wowed audiences from the Triangle area of NC and beyond. Led by Gaspard, a former Pilobolus dancer, G&D have worked with local musicians and composers and many dance and film festivals. Since its inception, G&D has successfully produced an annual performance season at Duke University and presented at Pace University’s Schimmel Center for the Arts in New York City, Cape Fear Stage in Wilmington, Museum of Art in Raleigh, as well as across North Carolina as part of the NC Dance Festival. Internationally, G&D has been presented in Bermuda, Russia and South Korea.

Gaspard received a BFA in Dance from Montclair State University and continued his dance studies on scholarship at Gus Giordano’s in Chicago and Nikolais/Louis Dance Lab in New York. Following his studies, he joined the New York based company called AllNations where he performed traditional dances from many parts of the world for US troupes across the globe, then performed and traveled worldwide with Pilobolus Dance Theater. He collaborated on the choreography of nine major dance works with Pilobolus and taught master dance classes both nationally and internationally. In 2012, Gaspard received an MFA in Dance from the Hollins University/American Dance Festival Program and became the Director of ADF’s year-round creative movement outreach program which provides free dance classes to youth in the Raleigh-Durham-Chapel Hill community. His passion for dance has continued to lead him to work with local dancers and musicians. Since forming his company he has created over 25 works, which have been shared with audiences around the world. Additionally, Gaspard has been a guest teacher and choreographer at University of North Carolina School of the Arts, and Duke, Elon and North Carolina Central Universities.

Elizabeth Stovall received her Bachelor’s Degree in Vocal Performance from East Carolina University in 2017 and her Master’s degree in Voice Performance from the University of Tennessee-Knoxville in 2019. In January of 2021 she accepted a full time position as a lecturer in voice at UNCW. Some of her operatic roles include Frasquita in Bizet’s Carmen, Serpetta in Mozart’s La Finta Giardiniera, Susanna in Mozart’s Le Nozze di Figaro, and most recently, the role of Papagena in Mozart’s Die Zauberflöte with Opera Wilmington. In 2014, Beth was crowned Miss North Carolina and went on to compete in the Miss America competition where she was awarded a non-finalist talent award. While competing in the Miss America system, Beth promoted her platform: Inspiration Art. In addition to speaking to thousands of students across the state of NC, she also spoke to legislators on the House floor in Raleigh about the importance of arts education. Her passion for arts education is still a very important part of her life, and she plans to continue performing professionally and teaching voice for as long as she can.

Cape Fear Arts in Motion: Visuals, Vocals and Variations press materials to email, print for handing out or faxing to alert media outlets of our event.

Press Release AIM 2022

AIM 2022 Poster

AIM 2022 Flyer