The Hartford Dance Collective has choreographed modern dances to a range of Beatles classics and is performing them free on Saturday at 7 p.m. at the Mortensen Riverfront Plaza. The family-friendly, multi-styled dance show, titled “Yesterday,” doesn’t rely on recordings. The Beatles songs will be played live by the Meadows Brothers band, who is reimagining the music just like the collective is creatively rethinking the themes of the songs.
“This is something I’ve been dreaming up in my head for years,” says Hartford Dance Collective’s artistic director Jillian Foley Cusano. “We need to dance to live music. Dance is the visual form of music. I have always had this connection to music that’s deeper. And I’ve always been inspired by the Beatles.”
Foley Cusano calls “Yesterday” a contemporary dance piece, but says “contemporary” can cover a lot of ground. “There’s some modern dance, some jazz dance, we do the Twist.”
“Yesterday” is entirely the collective’s own work, with a troupe of seven dancers and numerous different choreographers, but Foley Cusano recalls being captivated by major mainstream Beatles-themed works such as the Julie Taymor film “Across the Universe” and Cirque du Soleil’s Beatles-scored Las Vegas spectacular “Love.”
One of the key inspirations for “Yesterday” was local, Foley Cusano says.
“The Meadows Brothers do their own version of ‘Rocky Raccoon.’ It’s not one of the Beatles songs you expect to hear a band do, and it shows how you can reimagine these songs.”
“We structured this around a few different themes,” Foley Cusano says. “A huge one is connection — living in a world where technology consumes us and what it’s like when you put the technology down. There’s also the theme of nostalgia.”
The dancers and musicians began rehearsing separately about three months ago, then came together (to paraphrase the Beatles) for further rehearsals, where fresh ideas came into play.
Foley Cusano’s husband, Stephen Cusano, runs Parkville Studios, where the dance company rehearses. He came on board as the project’s music director, with Parkville Sounds providing the sound equipment. Stephen Cusano is even drumming in the live band, which is led by vocalist/guitarist Dustin Meadows, lead guitarist Ian Meadows and Tim Leffingwell on bass.
The costumes have been designed by the Wethersfield boutique Castor & Poly.
Hartford Dance Collective, Foley Cusano explains, is truly a collective.
“We all participate in other dance companies, we dance in each other projects,” she says. “We all teach at the studio, as well as other places like the Hartt School, and we all perform at the studio. We have a core group that fluctuates between seven and 10 members. This show has some resident artists and some guest artists. I’m the facilitator and I throw a lot of my own ideas into the mix, but everyone is collaborating and choreographing.”
Dancers in the show include Jane Krantz of the Afterglow yoga studio, Roxanne Lebenzon, who dances with Hartford’s Ballet Theater Company, Rosanna Karabetsos, a member of the NBA Brooklynettes dance team, Taylor Zappone, who has danced locally with Judy Dworin Performance Project and Trinity College’s Peter Kyle and Rebecca Pappas, Lauren Horn of Subira Vs. Movement, Raechel Manga, who appeared in the art/dance piece “What Remains” last year at Real Art Ways, and Foley Cusano. Foley Cusano, Krantz, Karabetsos and Zappone are all Hartford Dance Collective resident artists.
“We definitely want to continue to explore connections between dance and live music,” Foley Cusano says. “After this, we don’t want to dance to recorded music anymore.”
The show runs about 75 minutes, and Saturday will be the only performance. The dancers perform on a stage platform. There are some chairs provided for the audience, but bringing blankets to sit on the lawn is encouraged. Food and beverages are allowed.
“Yesterday” is performed by the Hartford Dance Collective with The Meadows Brothers Sept. 17 at 7 p.m. in Mortensen Riverfront Plaza, 300 Columbus Blvd, Hartford. Free. thedancecollective.org.
