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For 39 years Dalia Carella has studied, performed and taught traditional dance forms of various cultures. Her journey as a choreographer of world dance has spanned from ancient traditions to the contemporary and the avant-garde. In her early career, she was a risk taker in the near eastern dance scene—bringing the mystical vision into a traditional dance. Over time, her vision evolved to include other world dance forms: customary dances of the Near and Middle East (including Egypt and Turkey), India, Spain, and Latin America as well as modern dance and dance theater. From those roots, her vision became larger and grew into one of global fusion. |
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“The Dalia Carella Dance Collective has bewitched audiences through explosive fusion dances that sweep viewers away on a journey that is often sassy, sensual and fierce all at once.”
Maawia. Performance still. Courtesy of Dalia Carella Dance Collective.
Dalia Carella Dance Collective’s 10 Year Retrospective: From the Ancient to the Avant-Garde!
Dalia Carella Dance Collective
For 39 years Dalia Carella has studied, performed and taught traditional dance forms of various cultures. Her journey as a choreographer of world dance has spanned from ancient traditions to the contemporary and the avant-garde. In her early career, she was a risk taker in the near eastern dance scene—bringing the mystical vision into a traditional dance. Over time, her vision evolved to include other world dance forms: customary dances of the Near and Middle East (including Egypt and Turkey), India, Spain, and Latin America as well as modern dance and dance theater. From those roots, her vision became larger and grew into one of global fusion. Ten years ago, she was first able to present her vision for dance with a company of talented dancers, widely trained in different styles. Since then, under her direction, the Dalia Carella Dance Collective, has bewitched audiences through explosive fusion dances that sweep viewers away on a journey that is often sassy, sensual and fierce all at once.
The Dalia Carella Dance Collective has become known for presenting traditional rituals onstage with a contemporary sensibility. With the Collective, Carella’s explorations have included the creation of choreography for “In Search of A Goddess”, an off-Broadway homage to the early fusion work of Ruth St. Denis, the first woman to introduce “ethnic” dance to America in the last century; and its subsequent remounting at Adelphi college in 2007 which celebrated the 70th anniversary of St. Denis founding their renowned dance program. Other Collective highlights have included a 2006 nightclub blowout that explored the seductive and dark elements of the 1920s and 30s vintage European cabaret scene; and a suite of dances about the strength and power of the Bedouin woman, fusing modern and Middle Eastern dance movement, empowered by the use of props. This year, Carella looks back on her ten years choreographing on the Collective by presenting a retrospective performance that includes some new work, and many of the pivotal works that audiences have talked about for years.
In the Dalia Carella Dance Collective Ten Year Retrospective, a 21-member cast will perform specific works, each of which depicts stories taken from ancient rituals or modern day living. Works will include “Maawia,” a Middle Eastern and modern fusion trio, highlighting the characters of a Bedouin Queen and her female warriors through dynamic movement and sword work; “Cabaret Macabre,” a look into the seductive, vintage European 1920s and 1930s cabaret scene; “Stepford Jives/ Miss Manners has a Meltdown,” a comedic post-modern/world dance trio set to the gypsy punk music of Balkan Beat Box; “Shakti,” an Indian, Near Eastern and modern fusion work in which the dancers represent devadasis (high priestesses) performing a sacred ceremony honoring the divine feminine; and “Sulukule’ de bir gece (Night in Sulukele),” a lively theatrical dance set on female collective members, who impersonate Turkish Roman (gypsy) men on a typical night out . The concert will also feature multiple solos performed by Ms. Carella.
The Retrospective will also feature a stunning premiere of “La Isla Perdida,” a contemporary dance blending Near Eastern Zaar trance movements, multiple facets of Latin Caribbean (including Puerto Rican Bomba), and modern dance. Featuring seven dancers, a specially commissioned score composed by percussionist Mal Stein, and hand painted costumes by surrealist painter, Robert Tuska, the work is a powerhouse of dance fusion. As the music evolves from silence, dancers transform through animalistic floor work, dramatic partnering, fiery Bomba-inspired skirt work and ritual trance dance. This marks a new direction for the Dalia and the Collective, as they seek to take audiences on a journey and open up their vision of global dance in New York City and around the globe.
