Larissa Humiston was walking through a New York City museum several years ago when an idea of blending visual art and dance began to take shape in her mind.
Not in the literal sense: No “Mona Lisa” pirouetting or Michelangelo’s “David” gracefully leaping.
But both visual art and dance are built on emotion. And as Humiston is the artistic director of Emotions Dance, marrying the two art forms seemed like a natural fit.
Dance, and art, fans can see the results for themselves when “Art in Motion” takes the stage at Harriett’s Orlando Ballet Centre Oct. 14-15.
“I’m taking famous works of art and creating my own interpretation of them,” explains Humiston, who references Edvard Munch’s 1893 painting “The Scream” as an example.
“In my mind, I thought about what could cause someone to be screaming, what could have caused this piece of art to be made,” she says. “I’m using the artwork for inspiration.”
The audience will be able to juxtapose the movement of the dancers with the inspirational art, which will be projected during the performance.
Humiston choreographed eight works herself for the program, which is a new version of a similarly themeed Emotions Dance show from a few years ago. Senior company dancers also are contributing choreography.
The dance performance will be accompanied by a small art exhibition in which local artists have submitted their interpretations of the showcased works of art.
Humiston, who founded the nonprofit contemporary-dance company in 2007, reassures that audience members don’t need to be art snobs to appreciate the references or performances.
“We’re doing well-known stuff,” she says. And the art chosen for inspiration represents different styles and genres.
Work by Bansky, the anonymous contemporary graffiti artist, inspired one dance piece. Inspiration was also drawn from Vincent Van Gogh’s 1880s impressionist studies of golden wheat fields, and Salvador Dalí’s 1931 surrealist smorgasbord of melting clocks, “The Persistence of Memory.”
Staging the show at the ballet center has benefits.
“It’s nice because there are not a lot of spaces set up for dance” around Orlando, Humiston says. “It’s a beautiful stage to work on.”
The venue’s lighting capabilities also add to the show’s artistry, she says. The program will be a mix of solo and group pieces.
Humiston couldn’t restrict one of the art world’s most familiar — and mysterious — artworks to just one dancer. She has a trio dancing in the work inspired by Leonardo da Vinci’s “Mona Lisa,” the woman with the enigmatic smile.
“They’re a little more seductive and sassy,” she says of the women dancing in the “Mona Lisa” piece, in part because of Humiston’s own perception of the early 16th-century painting.
“She looks like she wants to be more than what she is in that painting,” Humiston reflects. “I always think there’s something going on with her.”
‘Art in Motion’
- When: 7:30 p.m. Oct. 14 and 5 p.m. Oct. 15
- Where: Harriett’s Orlando Ballet Centre, 600 Lake Formosa Drive in Orlando
- Cost: $15-$30
- Info: emotionsdance.org
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