This evening curated by Vervet Dance director Loren Groenendaal includes two dance works directed by Groenendaal and one from Adam Kerbel, which are semi-composed, meaning partially pre-composed and partially open to improvisation in the moment. Semi-composed work has a balance of agency between the directors planning the artistry in advance and the performers expressing in the moment, which leads to an incredible synergy for composition with focus, presence, and ephemerality.
Groenendaal will be presenting Be[ ]ing, which is inspired by Nancy Stark Smith's participatory Underscore, reframing it for performance. This iteration will include dancers Miryam Coppersmith, Paul Matteson, Abigail Mosier, Michelle Stortz and saxophonist Steve Davit. This emergent composition explores beginnings, embodiment, presence, rapport, and developing within the unknown.
Groenendaal will also present Render, which explores many meanings of the word, render - to repeat, to give back, to return, to restore, to reduce, and to represent. The performance is made and remade through repetition, reaction, re-creation by the performers Groenendaal and dancers Miryam Coppersmith, Curt Haworth, Abigail Mosier, Leigh Huster and musician Steve Davit.
Performing artist Adam Kerbel will also be contributing a new dance work, Living/edge to the evening in response to a mother’s passing and the politics of play through improvisation, percussion, and memory problems. This performance will use some recorded sound material gathered by Joshua Cabitac.
Vervet Dance is a Philadelphia-based contemporary dance company directed by Loren Groenendaal. The dance works draw on both the legacy of modern dance and cross-cultural influences to create innovative movement vocabularies and imaginative choreographies. Vervet strikes a unique balance between classic forms, new ideas, and ancient purposes for dance. Although subject matter varies, what is characteristic of the company is an ongoing intellectual diligence meeting a curious playfulness and an exploration of the visual, visceral, and musical components of dance. Vervet Dance’s Semi-Composed series provides a platform for unique work that is partially set and partially improvised.
Website: https://www.vervetdance.org/ IG handle: @vervetdance
Loren Groenendaal (they/she) is dancer, improviser, choreographer, curator, and movement educator who lives on Lenape land known as Philadelphia. Loren was born in rural central Pennsylvania and nurtured on a forested mountain in the ancestral homeland of the Susquehannock. She has been actively creating, curating, and presenting work in Philadelphia and beyond since 2003. Loren is the founder, artistic director, and choreographer for Vervet Dance. Much of the work is interdisciplinary, collaborative, references patterns in nature, and investigates the community building possibilities of live art, the spectrums between improvisation and composition, and between ritual and performance. Movement vocabulary draws influence from Loren’s experience with varied dance forms of modern, Balinese, social, breakin’ and contact improvisation. Loren’s work has been performed from Canada to Mexico and many places in between and has been supported by multiple venues and organizations including Abington Art Center, CEC, fidget, FringeArts, Green Space, Movement Research, and more.
Loren has co-produced concert series providing opportunities for dance/theatre work in the round through Making the Rounds (2017), for dance work that is partially set and partially improvised through Semi-Composed (2017, 2023, 2026) and for freely improvised music and dance via The H-O-T Series of Philadelphia (2013-2019, 2026-) and Free Float (2023-2024). Notable works of Groenendaal’s choreography include colorFULL (2014), a series of music dance/duets each exploring individual colors with sculptural costumes and original music, BOING! (2015), a collaboration with percussionist Flandrew Fleisenberg for a cast of performers blurring the lines between dance and music working with a thousand ping pong balls and a dozen pots and pans, In the Light (2018), a durational exploration of natural rhythms and for a large cast of musician/dancers from sunrise to sunset once a season, and most recently Quartet for the End of Time (2024), a contemporary dance set to Olivier Messiaen’s work of the same title, resisting facism via eco-somatics and mysticism. Education: MFA in Choreography: University of North Carolina at Greensboro; BA: Oberlin College; CMA: The Laban/Bartenieff Institute of Movement Studies.
Steve Davit is a world-touring saxophonist, vocalist, producer and creativity coach. Improv is a big part of his life and work, using it as the creative fuel for every project. When he's not on tour with electro-pop duo Marian Hill or taking care of his two young children, Steve can be found making and mixing music in his home studio in Havertown, PA. You can find more about Steve and his latest musical releases on his website. Education: Drexel University.
Website: stevedavitmusic.com IG handle:@stevedavitmusic
Adam Kerbel (he/him/el) spans dance, improvisation, and hybrid forms as tools for reflection and action. Based in Philadelphia and Los Angeles, he established Performa Choreographic to support independent artists through a community approach. The next Performa runs April 4-26 in Philly. Previous presentations: Philadelphia Dance Projects, Cannonball, NYLA, Jacob’s Pillow, Music Center, Skirball LA, WIP-LA, and Breaking Walls in Cairo, Egypt. Education: Headlong Performance Institute; Marymount Manhattan. Website: www.adamkerbel.com IG handle: @adam_kerbel
Josh Cabitac is a drummer, composer, and producer based in Los Angeles. His principal aim is to arouse action for causes of liberation and inspire agitation over sedation, through music and other forms of cultural work. Cabitac frequently records and tours with the band, Moon Panda. Education: Berkeley College of Music.
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