Laurie De Vito & Dancers (formerly She-Bops and Scats) is a New York-based dance company founded in 1986 and dedicated to bringing quality concert dance to the stage. The repertory is a reflection of Laurie De Vito’s versatility and creativity. The pieces are all autobiographical on some level and are inspired by musical compositions which evoke particular emotions that evolve into corresponding images and shapes. The company’s repertory is stimulating and varied. “When Hearts Weep” explores the innate bond of shared agony as thirteen women gather to grieve in this moving meditation on the mutuality of female loss; “Ellington” brings the magic of the big band era to the stage; “Conversation With Conscience” utilizes the stillness of reflection to examine whether three dancers are separate entities in dialogue, or one consciousness amidst self-exploration; “Birth of the Blues” vibrates with the energy of the era of glitz and glitter and the emotions of passion and sorrow; “Embrace Her” immerses the stage with memory as an eternal presence from the past hovers while her loved ones play out the narrative of the present without her; “Permission: The First Step” explores the movement out into the unknown; “Balance of Choices” displays the drama of personal decision; “River Suite” is an undulating dance of water; In “Surrender…to moving forward,” small vibrations grow to a crescendo as a tidal wave of movement sweeps the dancers together and apart in intricate partnerships. All pieces convey Ms. De Vito’s absolute joy of moving through space. These works have earned her great praise and support as a choreographer.
Laurie De Vito & Dancers’ work has been praised by Jennifer Dunning of The New York Times as well as by other journalists across the country. The company has had successful seasons in New York at The Kumble Theater at Long Island University Brooklyn Campus, Tribeca Performing Arts Center, Pace Downtown Theater, Brooklyn Lyceum, the Marymount Manhattan theater and Dance Space; they were also a part of the Ninth Annual Downtown Dance Festival in September 1990 with performances at the World Trade Center Plaza and South Street Seaport. In addition, the company has performed in many major cities across the United States including Charlotte, NC, Augusta, ME, St. Peter, MN, Cedar Rapids, IA, and Plymouth, NH
About the Company
Repertory List
2016 Now What? Find the Silence.
2015 Just Because
2014 Looking Down Into Time
2013 Solace
2009 Surrender…to moving forward
2007 Embrace Her
2005 When Hearts Weep
2005 Conversation With Conscience
2004 Metamorphosis
2003 For Sake of Another
2002 Dylan said, “God bless all the bodies.”
1999 Equestrian Tales
1995 From These Two
1995 A Tango With
1995 Gula Gula
1995 More Than Words
1995 Josephine
1993 The Last Breath of Memory
1992 Has this ever happened to you waiting for the IRT?
1991 Between the Line
1991 Sing, Sing, Sing
1990 River Suite
1989 That Good Night
1987 Times Past
1987 Black Coffee
1986 Ellington
1986 Balance of Choices
1985 Permission: The First Step
1983 Birth of the Blues
1983 Kaleidoscope
1983 Shiver Me Timbers
1983 Just Another Saturday Nite
1982 Three Minutes of Madness
1982 Walkin’ on Air
1981 Midler Sweet Time: 6/8
1981 Family Album
1981 Celebrate Me Home
1981 The Path
Performances
2016 Biomorphic Dance Festival, West End Theater, NYC
2011 HOPE Concert for Japan, Dance New Amsterdam, NYC
2010 APAP and Gene Pool concerts, Dance New Amsterdam, NYC
2009 25th Anniversary Concert, Kumble Theater, Brooklyn, NY
2007 Cynthia King & Dancers Benefit, Brooklyn, NY
2006 Peripheral Dances, Queens, NY
2006 Brooke Levy Benefit Concert, NYC
2006 Gene Pool, NYC
2005 Dance New Amsterdam Opening Concert, NYC
2005 Raw Material, NYC
2004 New York Summer Dance Intensive, NYC
2003 Trois Riviers, Quebec
1999 Dance Space Inc. 15th Anniversary Concert, NYC
1996 Franklin & Marshall College, Lancaster, PA
1995 Tribeca Performing Arts Center, NYC
1994 A New Generation of Dance, Westchester NY
1993 A New Generation of Dance, Westchester NY
1993 Ticonderoga Dance Festival, Ticonderoga, NY
1992 A New Generation of Dance, Westchester NY
1992 Pace Downtown Theater, NYC
1991 Cedar Crest College, Allentown, PA
1990 9th Annual Downtown Dance Festival, NYC
1990 Pace Downtown Theater, NYC
1990 Spirit Square Center for the Arts, Charlotte, NC
1990 Coe College, Cedar Rapids, IA
1990 Onion River Arts Council, Montpelier, VT
1990 Plymouth Friends of the Arts, Plymouth, NH
1989 Gustavus Adolphus College, St. Peter, MN
1988 Forum A, University of Maine at Augusta, Augusta, ME
1988 Summer in the Park, Great Neck, NY
1988 Marymount Manhattan Theater, NYC
1988 Bristol Riverside Theater, Bristol, PA
1987 Manhattanville College, NYC
1986 Summer in the Park, Great Neck, NY
1986 Dance Space
Commissions
2014 Urge (2016), Film Choreographer, NYC
Grants and Awards
1994 Dance in Education Fund – New Generation of Dance, Westchester, New York
Works selected by panel consisting of Norton Owen; Director of José Limon Foundation; Bessie Schonberg, noted dance educator and choreographic mentor; Carol Walker, Dean of Dance at SUNY Purchase.
1993 Dance in Education Fund – New Generation of Dance, Westchester, New York
Works selected by panel consisting of Norton Owen; Director of José Limon Foundation; Bessie Schonberg, noted dance educator and choreographic mentor; Carol Walker, Dean of Dance at SUNY Purchase.
1991 Jules and Doris Stein Foundation
$5,000 for general operating expenses
1991 Jules and Doris Stein Foundation
$15,000 for general operating expenses and for production of evening-length concert at Pace Downtown Theater.
1990 The Chase Manhattan Bank N.A., NYC
Recipient of the Chase Neighborhood Grant
1990 Cultural Council Foundation, NYC
Recipient of the Manhattan Decentralization Grant
1989 Cultural Council Foundation, NYC
Recipient of the Manhattan Decentralization Grant
