The UF School of Theatre and Dance will wrap up its summer season by bringing perspectives from Israel, Africa and the Big Apple to the Nadine McGuire Theatre and Dance Pavilion.
"Sylvie, An Evening of Dances and Tales" will open Wednesday night, incorporating the works of UF professor Neta Pulvermacher and 24 of UF's Summer Dance Intensive students.
"We decided to bring the world here," said Pulvermacher. "The idea is to think globally and dance locally."
Focusing on her upbringing in Lehavot Habashan, a kibbutz in northern Israel, the show features her award-winning dance "Five Beds/Children of the Dream."
A kibbutz is a collective community based on agriculture.
"You share your life with 16 to 18 peers," Pulvermacher said about her upbringing. "It meant that from birth, rather than live with your parents in same house, you only saw them every day in the afternoon."
Pulvermacher began dancing at 14 years old and found her calling one year later when dancing and choreographing at an area school close to her kibbutz.
"Dance and theater have the capacity to reach and touch beyond words," she said. "It has other means of expressing ideas, thoughts and feelings."
In 1986, one year after graduating from The Juilliard School in New York City, Pulvermacher formed her own dance company, The Neta Dance Company.
Since joining the staff at UF three years ago, Pulvermacher brought her own life experiences to the stage.
"Sylvie," a piece inspired by Pulvermacher's recent trip to Senegal, is her most recent work.
The title of the piece comes from during her trip when she taught choreography to dance instructors from across Africa.
"Before I left they threw a potluck in my honor and roasted a whole goat," she said. "Sylvie was the name of the goat."
The 24 UF students will be joined by four of Pulvermacher's dancers from her New York City studio, two of whom are UF alumni.
"There's an array of music, dancing, signing and yelling," said Miriam Rosenberg, a UF senior dance major. "It's an emotional journey."
The show opens Wednesday at 7 p.m. at the Nadine McGuire Theatre and Dance Pavilion in Studio Theatre G-6.
An additional show will be at 9 p.m.
The performance runs until Friday with two shows per night. Tickets are $13 for students and $17 for the general public and can be purchased at the University Box Office or www.ticketmaster.com, according to the box office Web site.
