L u m i n a r i u m D a n c e C o m p a n y w w w . L u m i n a r i u m D a n c e . o r g

WHO WE ARETHE COMPANY

Founded by Merli V. Guerra and Kimberleigh A. Holman, Luminarium Dance Company is now celebrating its fifth season, uniquely combining dance and light in Boston since 2010. By the end of its first full season, the company had received over a dozen invitations to present new work across New England, and has since been invited to perform its repertory in venues ranging from New York City to California. Key venues include: American Repertory Theater’s OBERON, Boston Center for the Arts, Mobius Alternative Arts Space, UMass Fine Arts Center, Mount Holyoke College, the WGBH Boston Summer Arts Week-end (MA); Seacoast Fringe Festival (NH); Ithaca College, Jennifer Muller/The Works (NY/NYC); and the San Jose Museum of Quilts & Textiles (CA). After a highly successful second season, Guerra and Holman began 2013 being praised as “unsung heroes” in the Boston arts scene, with Luminarium featured as one of ten “stellar organizations that may have slipped under your radar” in the Spring 2013 issue of Improper Bostonian magazine. In its third year, the company was invited to showcase its work at the prestigious Fine Arts Center Concert Hall (Amherst MA), whose 2013–14 professional dance series was comprised solely of Kyle Abraham, Parsons Dance, Time Lapse Dance, Alonzo King LINES Ballet, and Luminarium Dance Company.

In total, Luminarium has presented 13 major productions in addition to hosting and making guest appearances at dozens of yearly events. The company regularly conducts arts-based community outreach projects: Several for underserved youth throughout the city, including the company’s new DANCE+ Series merging dance with other fields such as science, technol-ogy, music, and light; an annual Cultural Community Outreach Project using dance as a means of highlighting a local histori-cal or cultural landmark; and produces Boston’s only 24-Hour ChoreoFest each season, giving emerging local choreographers an opportunity to create new work overnight in a supportive and mentored environment. Luminarium is proud to support its six company members and many guest artists who join the company from Greater Boston, while its artistic directors act as panelists, judges, and guest lecturers at colleges and art institutions throughout New England.

“It’s no secret that Luminarium Dance Company is one of the most intelligent and innovative dance troupes in Boston.”

BOSTON ARTS REVIEW

THE DIRECTORS

Merli V. Guerra is a professional dancer and award-winning interdisciplinary artist with talents in choreography, filmmaking, and graphic design. As a member of Deborah Abel Dance Company (Lexington MA) and Nataraj Dancers (Amherst MA), Merli has studied dance and performed lead roles on international tours to India (2007, 2012) and Japan (2009), with Brazil on the horizon. Since graduating Phi Beta Kappa with a B.A. in Dance and Studio Art from Mount Holyoke College in 2009, Merli’s choreographic works, dance-on-camera films, and video art installations have been selected for presentation across the country, from New England to New York to the West Coast. Her two 2013 films Threading Motion Project: Quilt Vignettes and The One I Keep were most recently selected for this year’s Glovebox Short Film & Animation Festival. She is also fortunate to design the region’s leading periodical in contemporary arts and culture as Production Manager of Art New England magazine, and recently replaced Debra Cash at The Arts Fuse as its weekly dance picks contributor (Boston MA). Merli’s work with Luminarium extends beyond the traditional stage, leading the company’s annual “Cultural Community Outreach Project,” backed by her decade of work as an historical interpreter. Her most recent Cultural C.O.P., titled Night at the Tower and held in Arlington, is Luminarium’s largest outdoor community event to date and was recently chosen as one of three projects (out of 10,000+) across the state in 2014 for the Massachusetts Cultural Council’s prestigious Gold Star Award.

Kimberleigh A. Holman is a freelance choreographer and a lighting designer. She graduated from Mount Holyoke College with a BA in Dance and Theater in 2009, having also had the opportunity to study with several prominent lighting and sound designers. Since co-founding Luminarium, Kimberleigh has been invited to show work at venues including the Boston Center for the Arts, UMass Amherst’s Fine Arts Center, mobius, OBERON and many more great spaces. Kim loves community-based projects and sharing the arts with youth; she, with Luminarium, was awarded the Presidents Innovation Fund award for an outreach program merging the company with the Boys and Girls Clubs of Boston in 2011, dreamt up the 24-Hour ChoreoFest to build and develop community, and most recently collaboratively developed the DANCE+ Series to engage children in creative movement. Kim frequently enjoys working with college students; recent projects include a modern dance/orchestra collabora-tion with composer Justyne Griffin at Ithaca College (with Luminarium), creating work as a guest artist at Providence College and choreographing musical the-ater at Babson College. She’s currently making a living as a freelance choreographer, having just finished work on a national commercial and working on several Boston-area musicals and productions.

OUTREACH EFFORTS & EDUCATIONAL PROGRAMMINGLuminarium’s Arts Enrichment Community Outreach Project brings professional performing arts experience directly to local youth. Completed annually, the company designs a series of workshops appropriate for Boston’s youth participants. These pro-grams not only include dance technique classes (ranging from modern to hip-hop to classical Indian dance), but also includes in-depth workshops in production and choreographic composition.

In 2014, the company debuted its brand new DANCE+ Series, offering an engaging, family-friendly class each Saturday morn-ing in April, that explored weekly themes of dance intersecting other fields: technology, science, music, and light. Each class is strongly movement based, while led by an expert teacher from outside the world of dance. The program was so successful that Luminarium was invited to teach a DANCE+Light (and color) class at Temple Shalom’s Shine the Light Festival in Newton, MA, in December 2014, was commissioned to design a new class for the Eric Carle Museum of Picture Book Art in Amherst, MA, entitled DANCE+Bugs for June of 2015, and was hired to adapt its DANCE+Technology class for visually-impaired children for a special event at the Science Discovery Museum in Acton, MA.

In addition to the annual AECOP and DANCE+ Series, Luminarium also works with local cultural councils and organizations to create a yearly Cultural Community Outreach Project highlighting a local historical and cultural landmark within the com-munity. This award-winning program has been brought to Louisa May Alcott’s Orchard House (Concord, MA, 2012), the New England Quilt Museum (Lowell, MA, 2013), the Arlington Reservoir (Arlington, MA, 2014), and the Eric Carle Museum of Picture Book Art (Amherst, MA, 2015).

Out of 5,000+ government-funded projects across Massachusetts in 2014, Luminarium’s outreach event “Night at the Tower” was selected as one of just three projects to receive the Massachusetts Cultural Council’s prestigious Gold Star Award.

WHAT WE OFFERLuminarium currently offers both full-length productions and company classes for audiences and dance levels of all ages.

The following productions and classes now available for booking:

• DANCE+ Series: Class (Ages 4–12)

• Luminarium Master Class Series: Class (Ages 12+)

• The Sleeprunner: Production (Appropriate for Ages 5+)

• 2015 Feature: Production (Appropriate for Ages 5+)

Learn more about these class and performance offerings in the following three pages, or contactinfo@luminariumdance.org. (Subject line: Booking Luminarium)

DANCE+ SERIESLuminarium’s DANCE+ Series offers an engaging, family-friendly class that explores the themes of dance intersecting other fields such as technology, science, music, and light. Each class is strongly movement based, while led by an expert teacher from outside the world of dance. Directors Guerra and Holman will gladly work with you to adapt a pre-existing class or to develop a new one. Examples of this are Luminarium’s new DANCE+Bugs class commissioned by the Eric Carle Museum of Picture Book Art in Amherst, MA, and the adaptation of DANCE+Technology to make it specific for visually-impaired children through a special event at the Science Discovery Museum in Acton, MA.

Currently, the company’s most popular class is DANCE+Light. Through the use of light-making devices (projectors, lamps, handheld lighting) and shadows, participants dance through light and dark and control how a body in motion is perceived.

For images, testimonials, and short videos showing the classes in action, please visit luminariumdance.org/programs. As you’ll see, the classes attract a wonderful range of students with boys and girls from ages 4–12 (and some as young as 3!).

MASTER CLASS SERIESFor those looking for technique-driven classes for older students (ages 12+), Luminarium offers a custom-curated series of classes taught by its professional company members in the styles of Classical Indian Dance, Tap, Jazz, Ballet, Musical Theatre, Hip Hop, Modern, and Traditional Chinese. Luminarium directors Guerra and Holman are additionally available to teach advanced level Modern classes in their signature movement styles, ideal for colleges.

PRODUCTIONThe Sleeprunner will transform your space into a dynamic dream world, while featuring the company’s signature imaginative choreography, lighting, and scenic design. Created by Artistic Directors Merli V. Guerra and Kimberleigh A. Holman, The Sleeprunner is a full-length continuous explora-tion through the world of dreams. Watch as the company’s nine performers guide the constantly evolving production from the moment of drifting off to sleep and what happens once one’s eyes close, through a boundless and vivid dreamscape. Sensible to quirky, humorous to dark, come engage in a full night’s journey told through dance.

This performance is available on tour now through 2018.Additional Q&A sessions and master classes available when booking the full show.

“The audience is perched on the edge of their chairs as we watch the company make their way across the floor. Their trust in each other is profound.”

NEW ENGLAND THEATRE GEEK

the Sleeprunner

PRODUCTIONLuminarium’s celebratory fifth season brings audiences the company’s newest evening-length production. From elastically-sinuous partnering to dynamic group works, Luminarium’s 2015 Feature creatively pushes the boundaries of modern and contemporary dance.

This performance is available on tour beginning in 2016.Additional Q&A sessions and master classes available when booking the full show.

2015 Feature

“A multisensory experience of dance stretching its traditional skills into new media and technology.”

METROWEST DAILY NEWS

GRANTS & AWARDSAward Winner – Massachusetts Cultural Council’s Gold Star Award (1/2015) In January 2015, Luminarium was awarded Massachusetts Cultural Council’s prestigious Gold Star Award for its 2014 Night at the Tower event for being an “exemplary cultural program” that “showcased artistic excellence.” Luminarium was one of just three companies given the award out of 329 arts councils and over 5,000 LCC-funded events statewide.

Grant Recipient – LCCs: Amherst & Boston MA (1/2014)Awarded a grant through the Amherst Cultural Council (part of the MCC) to create a community outreach project in collabo-ration with the Eric Carle Museum of Picture Book Art, and the Boston Cultural Council for Luminarium’s 2015 programming.

Grant Recipient – The Bob Jolly Charitable Trust (7/2014) New to Boston, the Bob Jolly Charitable Trust bestows select Boston theater artists and organizations with grants for the devel-opment and presentation of new works of theater, while providing “access to, appreciation of, education about and exposure to the work of the greater Boston theater community.” Invited by a Trust board member as one of the first companies to apply, Luminarium received additional funding for its production Night at the Tower, and became the first dance company awarded the grant.

Grant Recipient – LCCs: Arlington & Boston MA (1/2014)Awarded a grant through the Arlington Cultural Council (part of the MCC) for Luminarium’s Night at the Tower event, and the Boston Cultural Council for Luminarium’s 2014 programming.

“Unsung Heroes” – Improper Bostonian Magazine (3/2013)Guerra and Holman are praised as “unsung heroes” in the Boston arts scene, with Luminarium featured as one of ten “stellar organizations that may have slipped under your radar” in the Spring 2013 Issue of Improper Bostonian magazine.

Grant Recipient – LCC: Lowell MA (1/2013)Awarded a grant from the Lowell Cultural Council (part of the MCC) to go towards a collaboration between Luminarium Dance Company and the New England Quilt Museum.

Grant Recipient – LCCs: Boston, Concord, Somerville, & Watertown MA (1/2012)Awarded four Local Cultural Council grants through the MCC to produce new work throughout 2012.

President’s Innovation Fund – Boys & Girls Clubs of Boston (3/2011)Luminarium Dance Company was awarded a grant to introduce underprivileged city children to the arts through a series of workshops on visual art, dance, film and choreography, which culminated with a community performance.

PRESSLuminarium’s annual feature productions, outreach projects, and work in the greater Boston community are continuously applauded in the press. The company has been favorably reviewed and profiled by noteworthy publications including The Boston Globe, Boston Arts Review, Mount Holyoke Alumnae Quarterly magazine, Improper Bostonian magazine, MetroWest Daily News, Boston Events Insider, Art New England magazine, and South Shore Critic among them. Press highlights include:

• Improper Bostonian: Guerra and Holman are hailed as “unsung heroes,” with Luminarium featured as one of ten “stellar organizations” in the Boston arts scene.

• The Boston Globe:The Sleeprunner is featured as Critic’s Pick, and additionally featured in the Globe’s arts section “G” (2014)Secrets & Motion is highlighted as Critic’s Pick twice and is featured in the annual Fall Arts Preview (2013) ChoreoFest is featured as Editor’s Pick (2012) and Critic’s Pick (2013)Mythos:Pathos is featured twice as Editor’s Pick (2012)

• Television Interviews:Guerra and Holman are interviewed by host Glenn Williams on BNN’s “It’s all about arts” to discuss The Sleeprunner (2014)Guerra is interviewed in a profile on Night at the Tower on APN (2014)

We welcome you to peruse our press coverage at luminariumdance.org/press to read recent reviews and feature articles highlighting Luminarium’s work in the greater Boston dance community and beyond.

EXECUTIVE SUMMARYLuminarium Dance Company, a not-for-profit 501(c)(3) organization, strives to produce high quality dance that combines the innovative use of light with choreography. The Company dedicates an equal commitment to using dance and the performing arts to build community throughout the Greater Boston area. By producing annual community outreach programs, free to Boston-area youth, Luminarium hopes to provide equal access to unique art and enlightening art opportunities.

COST & BUDGETLet Luminarium’s staff create a customized budget specific to your organization’s event and venue needs. Reach out by phone or email, and we’ll gladly assist you.

Email: info@luminariumdance.org (Subject line: Booking Luminarium)Phone: 617.477.4494