'creAtypical' takes shape
Latest FACEing Mental Illness project is the culmination of a long-awaited collaboration between journalist Carrie Seidman and dancer/choreographer Leymis Bolanos Wilmott
Sitting in my downtown office, just days after arriving in Sarasota in the fall of 2010 to take a job as an arts writer and dance critic for the Sarasota Herald-Tribune, I got a call from the reception desk downstairs, saying there was someone from the local dance community who would like to meet me. Curious and eager to make connections in my new community, I hurried downstairs to the lobby.
Standing there, her thick black hair cascading down her back and an infant in a cuddly carrier resting on her chest, was Leymis Bolanos Wilmott, the founder and director of Sarasota’s only contemporary dance company, then known as Fuzion Dance Artists. The baby was her first child, Charles.
My own son was then in his early 20s, but our generational gap didn’t seem to make much difference. I felt an immediate admiration and affection for this young woman who, against all odds, was determined to make a contemporary dance company succeed in a town where audience preferences leaned heavily toward classical ballet.
In the coming years, I would review most of her company’s performances and watch as it survived financial and administrative challenges and earned a small but fiercely loyal audience. Likewise, my friendship with Bolanos-Wilmott would also expand and deepen. As someone who has danced myself since the age of 4 (though never professionally), we frequently mused about a day — some unspecified day in the future — when we might collaborate choreographically on a project together.
That was almost 15 years ago and a lot has changed. The Herald-Tribune has gone through three ownership changes, each diminishing the size of its staff and the scope of its coverage. I continued to review dance, but my job and responsibilities and subject matter expanded, as I focused on mental health journalism through a national fellowship and then moved into a position as the paper’s lead local columnist.
Meanwhile, Fuzion Dance Artists became Sarasota Contemporary Dance and its offerings and dancers also grew in professionalism and prowess. The company will soon celebrate its 20th anniversary, nearly unheard of for all but a handful of contemporary dance companies in this country, and has performed across and outside the state of Florida. Bolanos-Wilmott has rightly earned recognition, awards and admiration for choreography that is both audience-accessible and ever-inventive.
The years gone by have altered both our lives. Today, Charles towers over his mother and has been joined by a sister, Valda, now 8, whose hair is as magnificently bountiful as her mother’s. Dedicating herself to the continual evolution of her company and the nurturing of new dancers and choreographers, Bolanos-Wilmott herself rarely performs these days.
Meanwhile, my job continued to change and eventually diminish, as the paper discontinued dance reviews and, at the end of last year, eliminated my column. Physically, my own dancing moved toward ballroom rather than ballet, kinder to a body that is feeling the consequences of decades of athletics and dancing.
One day last year, when Bolanos-Wilmott and I met for one of our too-infrequent but always anticipated lunches, she once again brought up our faded promise to create something together, a discussion we’d had countless times over the years. With both of us keenly aware of the passage of time and the necessity of making a commitment if the project were ever to happen, we set a tentative date for the spring of 2025 to force our hands. At the time, neither of us had a concept in mind for what that project would become or look like. But we knew it was now or never.
Coincidentally, just days before that lunch, I had been contacted, out of the blue, by a representative from the Johnson-Singer Educational Foundation, which awards grants to arts education projects it deems worthy, not through a competitive process, but simply by selection. They had seen my previous FMI art project, “Common Ground,” and said they were “interested in supporting your further work.”
I was flabbergasted. Grant money — much less grant money with no strings attached — isn’t easily obtained these days and to have been selected without so much as an application process was humbling. The grant would allow me to continue something I’d always done with FMI presentations — make sure no one had to pay to see them — but also permit me to do something I’d never been able to do before — compensate the participating artists on a meaningful level.
Inspired by the foundation’s belief in my work and knowing the untapped potential of several of the FMI artists I’d worked with in the past, I envisioned a project that would fulfill two aspirations: showcasing these artists’ under-utilized creative talents and helping make my long postponed collaboration with Bolanos Wilmott a reality.
Thus was born “creAtypical,” a multi-disciplinary performance piece featuring original poetry/spoken word, music/score, dance/choreography and visual art/painting that demonstrates the inspiring and healing nature of the arts.
Late last fall, the six participating “creAtypical” artists — Shiloh Hartanowicz (poetry/spoken word), Keaton Williams and Chris Cournoyer (musicians and composers), Paul Mathisen (visual artist/painter), Bolanos Wilmott and I — started working individually on their contributions to the project; in January, we began meeting together to blend these original works into a seamless performance that explores what it’s like to live with a mental health challenge.
I won’t deny it’s been a challenge to integrate all these art forms into one cohesive piece that yet retains the authenticity and power of each genre. But with each rehearsal I am more impressed with the gifts and dedication of these artists and with the power of our collaboration to stretch us all out of our comfort zones and foster communal success. A little less than two months remain until our premiere — in the black box theater at Sarasota Contemporary Dance’s Rosemary District studio — and we’re bent on producing the most effective and affecting performances possible, while continuing to enjoy the process of working together.
Thanks to the Johnson-Singer Foundation’s support, we’re able to offer these shows for free, but space is limited so you do need to sign up to reserve your seat at www.sarasotacontemporarydance.org (click on “Performance” and then “In Studio”) for the performances at 3 p.m. and 7 p.m. on Saturday, April 26. Anyone who works in the behavioral health/mental health/arts education field, may alternatively attend the dress/tech rehearsal on Friday, April 25 at 7 p.m. (To reserve seats for this show only, please call or text 505-238-0392).
Each performance will be followed by a talk back with the artists, who will share their experience with the project, the influence of art and creativity on their mental well being and the importance of eliminating misconceptions about the limitations of those living with mental health challenges. All audience members will receive a keepsake program featuring poetry and art from the program.
We look forward to seeing you there!
Thanks, Carol!
This is such a triumph already. Wishing you great success Carrie and Company!