Kanopy Dance Company
Inner Passages

Thursday, April 24 - Saturday, April 26
Reception following the Friday evening performance.
Promenade Hall
Age Recommendation
All ages
Runtime
90 minutes with an intermission
Featuring guest star Blakeley White-McGuire, former principal dancer with the Martha Graham Dance Company, presenting two original dance works, powered by ethereal rhythm, exquisite movement and passionate expression. Another highlight of the program is Robert Cleary’s and Lisa Thurrell’s world premiere, “Renascence,” a love letter to nature, set to Michael Bell’s “Regeneration: A Pentalogy.”
“Inner Passages” features internationally acclaimed guest star Blakeley White-McGuire, a former principal dancer with the Martha Graham Dance Company, who was hailed by The New York Times dance critic Gia Kourlas for her “powerful technique, dramatic instinct and an appealing modern spunk.”
White-McGuire, who observed in The Dance Enthusiast: “the heart of all of my work is listening to the inner rhythm, inner voice that is uniquely mine,” will present two original choreographies: a world premiere solo and an ensemble dance, “These Worlds in Us,” (originally created for film) that explores our inner lives and is set to and was inspired by Missy Mazzoli’s inventive and groundbreaking composition of the same title.
“Inner Passages” also unveils the final phase of Robert Cleary’s and Lisa Thurrell’s world premiere “Renascence,” a rhythmic dance journey that celebrates the harmony of connecting with our natural world, inspired by Michael Bell’s symphony “Regeneration: A Pentalogy.”
Bring a Group! Purchase 4 or more standard price tickets and get a discount. Discount automatically applied when you check out.
Master Class
Martha Graham Dance Technique
Taught by Inner Passages guest artist Blakeley White-McGuire, former principal dancer, Martha Graham Dance Company, NYC
Wed, Apr 23, 5:30pm - 6:30pm
Kanopy Center for Contemporary Dance
329 W Mifflin St Madison WI 53703

Meet the Guest Artist

Choreographer & Performer
Blakeley White-McGuire
Blakeley White-McGuire, born in Louisiana, lives and works in Manhattan, N.Y. She is an interdisciplinary artist and dancer working in contemporary performance and creation and historical documentation through writing, filmmaking and teaching. She has received international critical acclaim, including the prestigious Positano Premia La Danza Award for Contemporary Dance as principal dancer with the Martha Graham Dance Company, where her repertory included “Lamentation,” “Rite of Spring” and “Errand into the Maze.”
White-McGuire has received commissions from the Museum of Arts and Design, Dancing Human Rights (Oxford University, U.K.), Danza en Arte Pietrasanta, Italy, Jacob’s Pillow’s INSIDE/OUT Festival, The Ailey School, Movement Migration and the Martha Graham Dance Company among others. Her collaboration “C.A.V.E.S.” with Daniel Fetecua Soto has generated choreographic commissions from Buglisi Dance Theater (embodying the International Declaration of Human Rights), Ballet Metropolitano de Medellín and the New York Office of Art and Special Projects.
She holds an MFA in interdisciplinary arts from Goddard College and is an official stager of Martha Graham’s masterworks. Blakeley’s first book, “The Martha Graham Dance Company: House of the Pelvic Truth,” was released by Bloomsbury Publishing UK in 2022. She is currently a faculty member of The Ailey School/Fordham University, Hunter College, City College of New York, LaGuardia High School and a Lincoln Center teaching artist. She was appointed artist-in-residence at Loyola University Chicago in 2021 and is currently a Fulbright Specialist in Dance.
Overture Blog
Inner Passages: Kanopy Dance Company explores transformation through movement and music

Thank you to our sponsors
Underwritten with support from Dan McCammon & Audrey Bowers, Thomas Neujahr & Julie Underwood, Terry Haller, The Bushland Family, the Soil Health and Agroecological Living Lab of the University of Wisconsin-Madison, The Evjue Foundation, and other generous support.
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