In February 2024, a young dance company led by a Shenandoah University graduate and featuring dancers with Shenandoah degrees performed to music composed by Shenandoah students in a sold-out event held in space owned by another Shenandoah graduate in downtown Winchester. The event was one that the company’s artistic director, Eve Stanley ’22, hadn’t even anticipated at the onset of the new year.
It seems like things just keep coming together for the Winchester-based company, called Arte In Movimento (AIM). Stanley, who graduated with both a Bachelor of Fine Arts in Dance from Shenandoah Conservatory and a minor in entrepreneurship from the university’s School of Business, started the dance company through the nonprofit Italia Performing Arts Institute associated with Italia Performing Arts in Winchester, Virginia, where she is also a dance instructor, in 2022.
When she was ready to find her first dancers, she reached out to Shenandoah Conservatory through Christina Halpin Chair in Dance; Chair of Dance Division and Associate Professor of Dance Maurice Fraga, MFA, and found Lainey Griffin ’23 and Becca Hopkins ’23. Griffin, who graduated with a Bachelor of Arts in Dance and a Bachelor of Science in Exercise Science, is now a Master Science in Athletic Training and performing arts medicine certificate student at Shenandoah, while Hopkins, who graduated with a Bachelor of Fine Arts in Dance, is starting in the university’s Master of Science in Performing Arts Leadership & Management program. The trio, which had danced together at Shenandoah, began rehearsals in July 2023, and soon performed the first half of its first-season show, “Walking Artwork,” on a blazing summer day in the outdoor Taylor Pavilion in downtown Winchester.
“Walking Artwork,” choreographed by Stanley in collaboration with the company’s dancers and featuring hand-painted costumes, is an outgrowth of her senior solo piece, “A Swamp.” It’s a work that progresses through the seasons, and the Taylor Pavilion performance showcased music for spring and summer composed by music production and recording technology (MPRT) student Michael Fantom ’24. Hopkins served as the connection with Fantom.
Another MPRT student, Matthew Neal ’24, who helped with the music on Stanley’s senior group piece, “Harmony,” composed the music for the autumn and winter sections of “Walking Artwork.”
Using skills learned through the conservatory and business school, Stanley found several grants, ranging from one that paid for the services of both composers to another, from the Arts Council of the Valley, for Rockingham County artists to repaint the costumes for a 2024 performance in Harrisonburg, Virginia; connected with an array of sponsors; and booked a performance of the completed piece at the American Shakespeare Center in Staunton, Virginia – also the company’s first ticketed event – in October 2023. While the show didn’t sell out, it did break even, “which was really wonderful,” Stanley said. The company members have even been their own tech people. “Thank goodness for dance production class,” Stanley said.
The company booked 2024 shows in Harrisonburg and Frederick, Maryland, but nothing was on the slate in Winchester, until Stanley spoke again to Fraga. While their conversation was initially about Fraga potentially choreographing a piece for AIM, Stanley said Fraga mentioned that another Shenandoah graduate, Instructional Assistant and Dance Accompanist (Percussion) Daniel “D.K.” Kelly II ’18 (Bachelor of Music in Jazz Studies), had a space, the Drum Orpheum Rehearsal Hall, that she could consider for this year’s company auditions. However, Stanley said when she saw the space, she thought it would be great for a show also. So, she said Kelly kindly provided the company with a special rental rate for nonprofits, and a sold-out performance was born.
The SU community has been “fiercely supportive” of the company, Griffin said. Faculty have regularly attended the company’s shows, from both the dance department and outside it, she added. The response to AIM reflects why Stanley said she chose to attend Shenandoah in the first place, “because of how undying the support is.” In particular, the dance department is “very close-knit and protective,” she said. “They’re going to fight for you.”
Stanley, Griffin and Hopkins said they feel that they’ve had so much Shenandoah support, in part, because members of the Shenandoah community trust one another. Griffin added that the conservatory fosters tremendous collaboration. “I don’t think that stops,” she said. She and Hopkins noted that ShenCoLAB, which provides conservatory students with a week to work together on projects across disciplines, reflects how strong this collaborative spirit is at Shenandoah.
Supporters of the new company still have an opportunity to see “Walking Artwork” this season, with performances scheduled for March 22-23, at New Spire Arts at the Weinberg Center for the Arts, in Frederick, Maryland. Tickets are available at weinbergcenter.org. Also, the company will round out the season with a donor gala at the Museum of the Shenandoah Valley in Winchester on June 2.
Looking forward to the coming year, the company is set to add some new dancers, craft new work, and be in residence at the Barbara Ingram School for the Arts in Maryland in January 2025. It also hopes to offer free movement classes this summer and the AIM board is talking about starting an internship program for 16-to-18 year-old dancers who could come to classes for free, learn tech, understudy and perhaps dance in shows.
To support AIM, visit arteinmovimento.info/inspire-dance-compaign.
