Current Repertoire

ITTY BITTY NITTY GRITTY (2011)
Choreography: Mitzi Adams
Time: 10:15

Using three children's chairs, this thematic, upbeat trio oozes energy as the dancers balletic burts of energy morph into a uninhibited tosses and chair exchanges. Three sections and three pieces of muisc ranging from classical to contemporary, add to the musical-chair-play and folk-frenzy.

SHELTER (2011)
Choreography: Mitzi Adams
Time: 8:45

French composer Nicole Renaud's unconventional accordian music, along with a picture of a red umbrella and people
running for cover, was the inspiration to this piece made for seven dancers. This piece creates a theatrical atmosphere, evoking a sense of urgency and  in a tentative world. Hauntingly beautiful partnering and obscure dance phrases make for a production that combines an medley of drama, in an austere, unsuspecting range of dynamics.

PIE, PICKET FENCES & PURGATORY (2011)
Choreography: Mitzi Adams
Time: 30:00

Through the mediums of film and performance art, this piece attempts to reveal how the euphemistic “American
Dream” falls between the cracks of the perfect picket fence/apple pie-idealism. This stroll down retro lane displays
how the ideal 50s and 60s sometimes painted a picture-perfect image of the American life, but simmering beneath the surface, were always subversive leanings toward immorality and injustice juxtaposing it. A curmudgeonly old man plays the role of the narrator, who shows the skewed side of Americana in comical vein, while the dancer's story-line moves in a variety of funny and thought-provoking scenes.

HEART SONG (2011)
Choreography: Mitzi Adams
Time: 5:20

This duet explores the universal statement of love and passion. The rich, melodic musical score supports the flow of energy between the two dancers, grasping for each other in a soft and tender dance, combining technical prowess with sentiment.

MY ROOM (2010)
Choreography: Mitzi Adams
Time: 5:47

An opening slideshow with images from Korea, combine with a sensitive, heartfelt dance about a young woman's adoption. This tender solo, danced to neo-classical piano music, interprets a story from the Far East.

LOVE LESSON (2010)
Choreography: Mitzi Adams
Time: 8:00

This piece, in three sections, engages a comical, musical-theater playfulness, with humor and guts. An impish male slowly builds his confidence, as a love triangle ensues, with two women vying for his attention. From fast-paced antics, lifts and precise articulations of a rapidly moving hat that cleverly changes from head to head, this fanciful piece scores high on the entertainment meter.

Commissioned by Connecticut Ballet; Stamford, CT

MILES (2010)
Choreography: Mitzi Adams
Time: 9:02

This emotionally driven duet glances into the mirror of the unknown journey of life. The eloquent partnering and passionately danced sequences are supported by the rich, waltz-like adagio music. The graceful lifts are contrasted by vigorous solos, as the dancers showcase their technical virtuosity.Their inner world resolves to a reality that "life goes on," through sensitive carrying, lifting and supporting of one another.

The music for this piece was made possible by two-time Grammy Award winner, Maria Schneider.

CHEAP SEATS (2009)

Choreography: Mitzi Adams

This saucy ballet, for two men and a woman, flirts with the idea of the battle to get the girl, while the centerpiece of a turn-of-the-century couch remains an object of desire for the best seat in the house.

The music for this piece was made possible by two-time Grammy Award winner, Maria Schneider.

SLATE (2009)
Choreography: Mitzi Adams
Time: 9:29

This duet interprets the ebbs and flows of a love relationship that tugs on the heart strings. The daring partnering hangs on the precipice of tension, daring to break boundaries of safety. The subtle nuances of the movement, coupled with the music help to create a landscape of struggle, and eventually, understanding and resolve.

The music for this piece was made possible by two-time Grammy Award winner, Maria Schneider.

AT EASE (2008)

Choreography: Mitzi Adams

This quartet, danced by one man and three women, was created in reaction to the dumbing down of America through our impatient, "instant messaging" approaches to communication. Costumed in formal wear, this high-octane piece attempts to grab your attention through mockery and tongue-in-cheek humor. Chock full of acrobatic tricks and contact-based, lumbering phrases, this grand, energetic dance turns inside out and upside down, capturing the trends of our diminishing thirst for more knowledge. "Lazily we loll... curious beneath our non-chalance."

3 DOORS (2008)

Choreography: Mitzi Adams

This piece, set for twelve dancers, opens three different doors into dream-like settings, all with their unique moods and music. Contrasting upbeat, flirtatious characterizations, to somber passages of building alliances with one another, this multi-faceted dance is like watching a triple feature film. As high heels walk down a quiet hallway, a door creaks open with each new section. Its resolve becomes a meditation on the breath, with a soundtape of an inhale and exhale, leading the dancers into a tranquil state of peace.

This piece was created during a residency at Western Kentucky University, Spring 2008.

BACK LIFE (2008)

Choreography: Mitzi Adams

This piece, set for eleven dancers, commemorates those who have spent their lives serving the welfare of others, but whose lives were cut short by sudden death. It dives deep into the experience of the human condition during times of unrest and times of great strength. This ensemble lifts up hearts and dances its way through technical phrases, interwoven with lyrical passages, gently comforting the fallen angels to their final resting place. 

This piece was created during a residency at Tony Calucci's Dance Extension Studio in Columbus, OH, June 2008.

UNDISCLOSED RECIPIENTS (2008)

Choreography: Mitzi Adams

This solo honors the life of Martin Luther King, Jr. Maneuvering with a brushed aluminum chair, this piece, fervently danced, is about the triumphs and shortfalls of a nation’s great hero.

HOME FOR THE HOMELESS (2007)

Choreography: Mitzi Adams

This solo was created to honor the homeless for their courage and perserverance. Making her entrance jingling change in a paper bag, the soloist portrays the tough life on the streets, through her circular upper body movement and gestural arms. She moves on and off a park bench, until she finally realizes that the only way to gain more money is to give it all away. The dramatic closing sequence involves emptying her paper bag of money into the hands of another homeless person, more unfortunate than she. This graceful, poignant dance is reminiscent of Pagliacci.

I WILL SHOW YOU AN OCEAN (2007)

Choreography: Mitzi Adams

This passionate duet is about the power of the human spirit. Its exhilarating message of possibility and hope is revealed through spiraling undulations and wave-like images. This piece was inspired by a cell phone conversation heard on a New York City subway platform. 

ASHES AND GRACE (2007)

Choreography: Mitzi Adams

This piece, for ten dancers, meditates upon the dualism of flesh and spirit and the symbolism of grace in the midst of strife. Through an eclectic sound score that takes one on a journey through a quiet and serene environment, to a hard-driving, fast-paced tour of duty, then back to a peaceful landscape, this piece depicts war-torn reality in the Middle East. From darkness and chaos emerges grace and hope for a better tomorrow.

Choreographed during a professorship at Western Michigan University's Dance Department

TRUTH BE TOLD (2006)

Choreography: Mitzi Adams

This piece is about the robbing of the sacred human spirit and the right to privacy. Using a harsh interrogation lamp, a simple desk, and aluminum chair, this piece, using eleven dancers, dives into the shifting tides of egocentrism, and how a media-slanted society slowly breaks down the truth. Through a film noir-like lens, this intriguing dance questions our government's equality.

Choreographed during a residency at Alma College's Dance Department

IN THE WAKE (2005)

Choreography: Mitzi Adams

This piece for seven dancers is dedicated to the victims of the season of the hurricanes in 2005, beginning with Hurricane Katrina. To those who lived, and to those who have passed on, we remember them in honor. 

Choreographed curing a residency at Eastern Michigan University's Dance Department

SOUL STORY (2005)

Choreography: Mitzi Adams

The whispering voice of the soul describes a journey in this dance of longing and passion. Through attempts of tenderness and sweeping passages of emotion, this rhapsodic duet portrays a relationship that discovers its ultimate solace in separation.

DANCE FOR PEACE (2004)

Choreography: Mitzi Adams

This piece was a commission for the Bernier Dance Company for a fund raising concert for Darfur, South Africa. Weaving a spiritual theme throughout, this piece idealizes a harmonious state of existence.

GRANDFATHER'S TALE (2004)

Choreography: Mitzi Adams

Using various suit jackets and an old-fashioned coat rack, this piece symbolically seeks to tell the tale of the dancer's real-life grandfather.  Poignantly told through music, movement and authentic sermons from his grandfather's archives, this whimsical piece touches the heart with spiritual metaphors and comedic gestures.

RUBY (2004)

Choreography: Mitzi Adams

Through a veil of mystical images, bursts a jazzy, upbeat solo about a woman daring to confront her fears and overcome tragedy.

SMALL VOICE (2004)

Choreography: Mitzi Adams

This whimsical solo portrays the loss of innocence from childhood, into the complications of adulthood. From the fondness of hopscotch to the gestural entanglements of emotion, this piece reads like a storybook of memories and makes a statement about the process of growing into responsibility.

WATER'S EDGE (2004)

Choreography: Mitzi Adams

With a soundscape of water and a rhythmic overlay of World music, this solo seeks to create a sense of freedom for a woman who abandons her past, and artfully embraces new life.

UNTHINKABLE EQUATION (2001)

Choreography: Mitzi Adams

This septet was created during a three week guest-artist residency at Wichita State University. It was inspired by the events of September 11, 2001 and was included in the Kansas Dance Festival.

Choreographed during a residency at Wichita State University's Dance Department

CROOKED DREAMS (2000)

Choreography: Mitzi Adams

Entangled in a stream of unconscious, this powerful quartet explores the bizarre aspects of dreams. From subversive images to engaging family-like portraits, this piece ensures relatable themes from our dark side.

Commissioned by The Movement Source Dance Company in Phoenix, AZ

7th DEPTH (1999)

Choreography: Mitzi Adams

This piece reveals the efforts in life in channeling our understanding of faith. Through its lyrical design and daring partnering, this energetic quartet, danced by three men and one woman, and set to an imaginative musical collage, seeks to arouse the idea of our passage to truth.

LOST AND FOUND (1999)

Choreography: Mitzi Adams

This whimsical solo, with narration by the choreographer's first dance teacher, connects past and present in a tribute to healing and hope. Lifted from a desolate reality and shown a renewed passion for life, this piece contracts and expands, depicting these rippling themes through jagged edges and graceful exuberance. Imbued with the strength to overcome, this light-spirited, colorful dance pays respect to the sentimental journey of the heart.

MOTHER'S DAY (1998)

Choreography: Mitzi Adams

This dramatic solo explores dreams that the choreographer and her mother had before her mother's death. Set to an original text, combined with a haunting music collage, this solo forms a partnership to arouse imagination about the mother/child relationship.

STILL... WITHOUT WIND (1998)

Choreographer: Mitzi Adams

This duet creates an emotional terrain of tension between a male and female who struggle to embrace love. Accompanied by a stark musical score, this piece provokes questions of devotion.

COLORS MAY BLEED (1993)

Choreographer: Mitzi Adams

This athletic duet blends the tug-of-war between society's pressure to conform and a human's right to freedom of choice. With original narration and a hard-driving musical score, this agitating piece depicts tolerance over fear.

Chosen by Gus Solomons for the Juror's Choice Award in the NewDance New Haven '93 competition