Miami has long nurtured some of the brightest stars in contemporary dance. From Alvin Ailey principal dancer and choreographer Jamar Roberts to Lloyd Knight and Richard Villaverde of Martha Graham Dance, the city has served as a launching pad for these extraordinary talents.

One pivotal figure in their journeys is Peter London, a New World School of the Arts dance professor and former principal dancer with the Martha Graham Dance Company.

In 2010, London founded the Peter London Global Dance Company, which each December spotlights emerging and established artists—including his former students— inside the Arsht Center’s Carnival Studio Theater.

This year, there are four performances on Friday, Dec. 27 through Sunday, Dec. 29.

After graduating from Juilliard in 1987 as a William Randolph Hearst scholar, London built a remarkable career collaborating with modern dance luminaries such as Merce Cunningham, George Faison, and Alvin Ailey.

But this year, London found himself stretched thin while preparing for PLDGC’s latest program, “After Landing,” which faced unexpected challenges. In June, Governor DeSantis vetoed $32 million in state arts funding, impacting 600 Florida-based arts and cultural organizations, including PLDGC.

“Those cuts affect us in a lot of ways,” says London. “I thought the company had arrived at a place when I could hire people to do some of the work. I ended up having to do a lot of the work myself. I’m laundering, stitching and ironing costumes, marketing, conducting correspondence as well as choreographing and teaching. When something like this happens you step in and do what needs to be done or it falls apart and the community loses.”

Despite the funding hurdles, “After Landing” emerges as one of PLDGC’s most ambitious offerings to date. It features world premieres of new choreographies set to original music, including a score by Etienne Charles, a longtime collaborator and associate professor at Frost School of Music at the University of Miami.

Charles, who was recently awarded the prestigious “Chevalier de l’Ordre des Arts et des Lettres” by the French Ministry of Culture, composed “Radical Transformation,” which will accompany Jamar Roberts’ stunning piece, “As An Offering,” reprised after its debut with PLDGC last December.

When asked why he named the December program, “After Landing,” London says the title captured how the world has undergone a shift.

“It seemed like the world has shifted with so many different kinds of changes taking place,” says London. “The program looks at what happens after we land. What is the contribution of art after all these transitions take place – what happens after 2024 as we journey into 2025?”

A highlight of the December program is the world premiere of London’s trio, “Ancestral King and Queens,” created in collaboration with Kebra-Seyoun Charles, a New World Symphony double bassist and composer and winner of the Detroit-based 2022 Sphinx Strings Competition, where young Black and Latinx string players compete for cash prizes and mentorship from established musicians.

The piece brings to life the myth of Queen Oba, goddess of rivers (portrayed by Mar’Kayla Michel), whose betrayal by Queen Oya, goddess of whirlwinds (performed by Kayin Knighton), unfolds as they compete for the affection of their husband, King Shango of the Oyo Empire, played by guest artist Leon Cobb.

Cobb, a New York City-based dancer affiliated with RudduR Dance and Visions Contemporary Ballet, has maintained a deep connection to PLDGC since its inception and continues to return for special engagements. He is particularly excited by the immersive energy that live music adds to the performance.

(“Ancestral King and Queens”) will be performed to live drums and someone playing the keyboard,” says Cobb, adding that “the costumes are amazing,” says Cobb. “It is so amazing to dance to live music and to bring those artforms together and to put that art on stage.”

In addition to this premiere, Cobb will perform in “Blood,” an excerpt from London’s sweeping four-part ballet, “Inner Ritual.” Dedicated to London’s close friend, Judith Jamison, artistic director of Alvin Ailey Dance Theater from 1989 to 2011, the work is a poignant tribute to her memory following her passing in November.

“(“Blood”) is a dirge, a powerful one, and the dancers tear this up,” says London. “It looks at the loss of blood from the beginnings of slavery. The choreography represents the soul in Limbo and the dancers call the ancestors to take the soul home to the ancestral space. We are celebrating her (Jamison’s) soul moving back into the ancestral space.”

Another standout in the December program is the company premiere of “Ascension,” London’s visually striking piece for nine men and one woman, set to two original scores—“Issa” and “Zale”—composed by Haitian American jazz trumpeter Jean Caze, winner of the prestigious International Trumpet Guild competition in 2006.

London has dedicated “Ascension” to the memory of Regina Jollivette Frazier, an advocate for the arts and education who served as the leader of Breakthrough Miami and as the longtime president of Links, Inc., the country’s largest organization of distinguished Black women. Notable members of the group include Vice President Kamala Harris and civil rights leader Marian Wright Edelman.

For Cobb, the male solos in “Ascension” symbolize the struggle for achievement. The woman’s solo—performed alternately by dancers Michel and Knighton—features the voice of Maya Angelou reciting her poem, “Still I Rise.”

“In it, they (the male dancers) are fighting to be the top dog and prove themselves through their solos—it is a competition between the men in order to be the top dog,” says Cobb. “It describes how we continue to strive and to be better and do better until we’ve reached the top and a place of accomplishment.”

Other premieres in the program include Justin Rapaport’s “Awakening,” an electrifying eight-minute work for seven dancers set to a score by jazz pianist Martin Bejerano; Andrea Murillo’s intimate duet “Cisne”; and Kashia Kancey’s solo “It’s Far Away Today,” performed alternately by Stephanie Franco and Michel to Cristina Moya-Palacios’ evocative composition, “Through an Increasing Distance.”

“Buckle your seatbelts and get ready for some fabulous dancing choreography and movement,” advises Cobb. “Peter has trained some of the top dancers in world and country – come ready to enjoy the program because it is going to be amazing.”

IF YOU GO:

What:  Peter London Global Dance Company Presents “After Landing”
Where: The Carnival Studio Theater at the Adrienne Arsht Center for the Performing Arts, 1300 Biscayne Blvd., Miami
When: 8 p.m. Friday, Dec. 27, 2 p.m. and 8 p.m. Saturday, Dec. 28 and 2 p.m. Sunday, Dec. 29.
Cost: $50
Information: 305-949-6722 or arshtcenter.org/tickets

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