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Arts & Culture

With 'Men Who Dance,' South Florida Troupes Explore The World Of The Male Dancer

Dancer Camilo Pardo with Ballet Metropolitano de Medellin
Juan Cadavid
Dancer Camilo Pardo with Ballet Metropolitano de Medellin

The two-hour world premiere at the Broward Center seeks to 'deconstruct' stereotypes.

A male dancer is more than a princeling in a brocade doublet and white tights, hoisting a ballerina in the air.

More than the suave smoothness of Fred Astaire, the athletic exuberance of Gene Kelly or Bob Fosse's hunched shoulders and splayed fingers.

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Just how much more will be on display during 'Men Who Dance,' making its world premiere at the Broward Center's Amaturo Theater this Saturday, Nov. 28.

It will feature 12 works by choreographers and performers from some of South Florida’s most popular companies, including Miami City Ballet and Dance Now! Miami.

Producer Rafi Maldonado-Lopez says the purpose of "Men Who Dance" is to reevaluate what masculinity is on stage and to deconstruct the stereotypes associated with male dancers.

“One of the pieces that we have is a tango. And tango traditionally was danced by men," Maldonado-Lopez said. "So there are places in society where we’re like: ‘Oh! That’s great — two men can dance together!’ So we're going to play with that."

The show will mark the third live indoor performance at the Broward Center’s Amaturo Theater since its partial reopening this month. It was closed from March through October because of the COVID-19 pandemic.

The theater will limit seating to less than a third of its normal capacity — and has been following safety guidelines laid out by local, state and federal health officials.

Broward Center President and CEO Kelley Shanley says the COVID-19 mitigation strategy has been developed with the help of the Cleveland Clinic.

“From the very beginning, we’ve been fortunate enough that Cleveland Clinic — as one of our sponsors — very early on pivoted their sponsor relationship to being a consulting relationship with us," Shanley said. "And they’ve assigned a person to work with us to develop all the right standards to ease our way back into activities here in the safest way possible.”
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"Men Who Dance"

  • Saturday, Nov. 28 at 8:00 p.m.
  • Amaturo Theater at Broward Center
  • 201 SW Fifth Ave. Fort Lauderdale, FL
  • For more information call 954-462-0222

For more information about the performance — and about the theater's safety guidelines — please visit the Broward Center's website.
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WLRN's “Intermission” series has been looking at how South Florida’s arts community is coping during the COVID-19 pandemic.

We're also profiling people who have been nurturing their "inner artist" during COVID-19 isolation.

If you’ve got a story for us, please send an email to talktous@wlrnnews.org, with the word “Intermission” in the subject line.

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