FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE: Feb. 10, 2022
MEDIA CONTACT: Brian Passey | [email protected] | 480-874-4626

SCOTTSDALE, Arizona — Scottsdale Center for the Performing Arts and The Movement Source Dance Company will present a special series of mobile dance performances throughout Old Town Scottsdale on March 4 and 5.

Arizona Trolley Dances will begin at the center, where patrons hop on Ollie the Trolley for a tour of short dance works in various locations around the downtown area. The tour will stop at five unique locations during the course of each event.

“The center is extremely excited to present the inaugural Trolley Dances here in Old Town alongside The Movement Source Dance Company,” said Diandra Adamczyk, senior programming coordinator at Scottsdale Center for the Performing Arts. “Like San Diego, where Trolley Dances was created, Scottsdale is an ideal city to host this event with its walkability, trolleys and public art. We hope this can become a really fun tradition and a way to view site-specific dance.”

Joining The Movement Source will be performers from the company that originated the idea: San Diego Dance Theater. Additionally, performers from Grupo Axé Capoeira (martial arts) and Jukebox Family (hip hop style) will also take part in the progressive event.

Mary Anne Fernandez-Herding, director of The Movement Source Dance Company, said she first saw Trolley Dances in the La Jolla area of San Diego in 2015 during a dance conference and immediately loved the idea. Fernandez-Herding later spoke with choreographer Jean Isaacs — the former artistic director of San Diego Dance Theater, who created Trolley Dances two decades ago — and began exploring the idea of bringing Trolley Dances to Arizona.

“Jean invited us to perform in the San Diego Trolley Dances in the summer of 2021, so we had a first-hand, amazing experience,” Fernandez-Herding said. “So, bringing this exciting outdoor dance event to Scottsdale with the support of Scottsdale Arts and San Diego Dance Theater as guests, as well as Grupo Axé Capoeira and Jukebox Family, Movement Source is thrilled to be co-hosting this exciting, fun Trolley Dance event March 4 and 5 in Arizona.”

Susan Pine-Harris, co-director of The Movement Source, choreographed one of the performances. And live musicians will accompany the dancers at two of the five stops.

Trolley Dances is not the first non-traditional dance collaboration between Movement Source and Scottsdale Arts. In 2020, the two organizations joined forces for “Reconnect! The Parking Lot Dance Project,” which was staged on top of a parking garage near Scottsdale Center for the Performing Arts during Canal Convergence. That pre-vaccine performance was COVID-19-friendly for patrons, who all watched the show from the comfort and safety of their vehicles, arranged in a circle around the dancers.

Fernandez-Herding said The Movement Source enjoyed that previous collaboration and feels like this year’s adventure with Trolley Dances is the perfect new project to bring to the community. The ideal spring weather — combined with the energy of the dancers, the fun of riding Ollie the Trolley, and the opportunity to view art in unique settings — should make for an inspiring weekend, she said.

And with San Diego Dance Theater joining the local performers, Trolley Dances is taking a full-circle route to its roots.

“It’s a thrill to perform along with Movement Source in Arizona’s first-ever Trolley Dances,” Isaacs said.

Founded in 1988, The Movement Source is a nonprofit, multimedia modern dance company with a mission to expand the audience for dance in Arizona by creating exciting, accessible dance works, education programs and events. Company members represent a broad spectrum of diverse talents and backgrounds, and the company is creative in its approach to choreography, community-based education, and performances in theaters and nontraditional sites.

The Movement Source Dance Company is a recipient of a Community Arts Grant from the city of Scottsdale.

The Arizona Trolley Dances experience begins at Scottsdale Center for the Performing Arts, 7380 E. 2nd St., Scottsdale, Arizona. Tickets are $20–$30. Call the box office at 480-499-TKTS (8587) for information about wheelchair-accessible tickets. For more information, visit ScottsdalePerformingArts.org/events.

All guests age 12 and older must provide a negative COVID-19 PCR test, taken within 72 hours of the performance date, along with photo ID, to attend performances. As an alternative, guests may provide proof of full vaccination. Masks are highly encouraged to protect artists, staff and patrons. For full health and safety protocols, visit ScottsdalePerformingArts.org/covid-19-response.