Dance That's Different

Watch Stuart Pimsler Dance & Theater and you know you’re seeing an extraordinary company. What makes SPDT different?

First, there’s the work: dance and acting, moments of lyrical beauty and clever repartee side by side. Company founder and coartistic director Stuart Pimsler (his fellow artistic director is his life partner, Suzanne Costello) calls on the specificity of the spoken word or the immediacy of dance, depending on “what needs to happen next.”

Second, there’s the company. It’s one of the most diverse in the Twin Cities—not in ethnicity (the company has one African American, Roxane Wallace), but in body type and performing character. “[SPDT is] a company of seven soloists,” says Pimsler. “I’m not interested in a look.” Pimsler chooses performers who bring “richness” to the company, whether it’s Vanessa Voskuil’s mystery or Laura Selle’s sensuous strength. The creation of SPDT’s work is a communal endeavor, so “[it requires] somebody who really likes to dig in and participate,” he says.

SPDT’s communal approach also reflects the company’s extensive outreach. The company is dedicated to “theater for the heart and mind,” so even as the dancers explore new subjects, Pimsler wants the dancing to relate to ideas and issues he feels “passionate” about.

What he feels passionate about right now is The Ends of Love, a new evening-length work he’s creating for this month’s show. For this piece, Pimsler explores “how we are constantly searching for our own completion in one another”—in other words, love. This performance anchors SPDT’s twenty-fifth-anniversary season—the company moved to Minneapolis in 2001—but Pimsler looks more toward the future than the past. Twenty-five years is a milestone, but not a stopping place for Pimsler, who’s brimming with ideas and energy. “It’s just that really wonderful time of making work,” he says. “I feel really lucky.” Feb. 15–18. Dowling Studio, Guthrie Theater, 818 S. 2nd St., Mpls., 612-377-2224

Reach Lightsey Darst at lightseyd@msn.com.