Do you know our friend Steve Weisz? He’s one of the people in Philadelphia most committed to advancing dance. Steve runs The Dance Journal, an exceptionally comprehensive site for dance news in the city (and which, in the interests of full disclosure, also syndicates our dance stories thanks Steve!), itself an outgrowth of PhiladelphiaDANCE.org, a central location for all things dance in Philly.

Of particular note to you, Fringe participants, are the promotional tools that Steve has set up for you. The Dance Calendar is the place where you should make sure your show is listed, and if you have a story or detailed press release, visit the The Dance Journal to submit details. His guide to how to promote your show is here.

But that’s not all—he also produces work. For ten years, he ran Music and Motion Dance, which he’s reinvented this year as MM2 modern dance. MM2 is dedicated to creating opportunities for college-aged dancers not only to perform, but also to develop their choreography and promote new works.

For 2010 Philly Fringe, MM2 offers Emergence, a suite of twelve works from young dancer/choreographers Liz Lyle, Cathrynne Grace Reynolds, Jenna Faye, Kristen Davies, Jessica Bryan, Angela Littlefield and Stephanie King. And, for the first time, he’s taking his project beyond Philly—out to the Upper Darby Performing Arts Center. From Steve:

“Ultimately what these young choreographers have created is an intriguing range of flavors. For example, in the piece Post-Emergence, Lyle explores patterns that create contact between elements, while incorporating some quirky gems. Her counterpart, Cathrynne Grace Reynolds takes on the concept of Pre-Emergence in an attempt to emerge from pandemonium by finding calm within chaos. In Re-Emergence, Jenna Faye Eugenides incorporates original, live music by Daniel Ison, to tackle the issue of global responsibility, where following ‘the flock’ may actually be a contributing problem.”

You can keep up with the evolution of Emergence at the show blog, or, follow the links below for tickets!

Emergence will be performed three times on September 11, at 2:30 pm, 4:30 pm, and 7:30 pm. Upper Darby Performing Arts Center, 601 Lansdowne Avenue, Upper Darby. $15. For tickets, click here.

–Nicholas Gilewicz

Photo by Steve Weisz.