Stage

A dance without end

In Near/Far/In/Out the intergenerational dancers take on stories and issues of people in the local gay, lesbian and transgender communities.

[Photo: Tampa Bay Performing Arts Center]

Elizabeth Johnson, a dancer with the Liz Lerman Dance Exchange, performs in Near/Far/In/Out.

When Near/Far/In/Out premieres at the Shimberg Playhouse this weekend, it will probably mark the first time an octogenarian has appeared locally in a dance performance.

But for the Liz Lerman Dance Exchange, including older performers is nothing new.

"We try to upset those notions about who gets to be a dancer, about who gets to be on stage," said company member Peter DiMuro.

From its early days in the 1970s, the Liz Lerman Dance Exchange has been one of the world's few intergenerational dance companies. The members of the current core company range from their early 20s to their late 60s.

Older dancers may not have some of the physical prowess of their younger colleagues, DiMuro said, but they bring a depth of experience few younger dancers can match.

"It's a confluence of artistic excellence and technical ability," he said.

For Near/Far/In/Out, DiMuro has recruited some additional participants from the Tampa area, ages 16 to 81.

The idea of the piece - commissioned by the Shimberg Playhouse and the Florida Dance Festival - is to examine, through text, video interviews and movement, stories and issues of people in the local gay, lesbian and transgender communities.

The original incarnation of the piece was staged in Miami earlier this year, using Liz Lerman dancers and people from the community.

DiMuro has been in Tampa for a couple of weeks, adapting the Miami piece by adding people and stories from this area.

The piece is designed to be evolutionary. In each city, new people and new stories will become part of it. Some of those stories will remain in the performance when it moves on to another city.

Performances in Maryland, Iowa and Alaska are already being planned, DiMuro said. They'll all take on a local flavor but will retain some elements that originated in Tampa.

Stories and participants aren't the only aspects of the production that are evolving.

"The Miami component had upwards of 25 people as local participants, and it looked at larger issues," said Karla Hartley, the artistic director of the Shimberg Playhouse. "Here it's more in-depth but with fewer people. What's exciting about the Tampa component is that it looks at national issues, but does it through individuals."

PREVIEW: The Liz Lerman Dance Exchange will perform Near/Far/In/Out at 8 p.m. Friday and Saturday and at 4 p.m. Sunday at the Tampa Bay Performing Arts Center's Shimberg Playhouse. Tickets are $15.50 plus service charge. Call (813) 229-7827 or toll-free 1-800-955-1045 or go to tbpac.org.