Caitlin and Nikki perform with Danny Swain

If you were a fan of Monkeyhouse's Zizz at First Night Boston 2009, then you will not want to miss Danny Swain Dance Company's performances this weekend.

Both of Zizz's fiesty dancers, Caitlin Meehan and Nikki Sao Pedro, are featured "That Which Doesn't Kill Us...”, a collaborative evening of multi-media dance theater. The concert will feature new and repertory works as well as live, original music by local composer Jane Wang, and video by film-maker Greg Shea.


According to Danny, "this year’s concert promises to transport audiences though a rollercoaster of emotions. Wrought with ghosts, scary clowns, images of war, and tales of conflict and death, the program does manage to infuse a few laughs with ironic statements, either visually or verbally, within the heavy subject matter. "

April 24, 25, at 8:00pm, and April 26 at 7:00pm
at the Dance Complex’s Julie Ince Thompson Theatre,
536 Massachusetts Ave - Cambridge, MA
Tickets: $20 General Admission / $15 Students, Seniors & Boston Dance Alliance members

Getting to Know Caitlin Meehan!

This year's First Night show might be over, but we still have some dancers we want you to meet! As we were preparing for the show Nicole Harris took some time to interview another one of the new performers, Caitlin Meehan.

NH: When you were a kid, what did you want to be when you grew up?
CM: At 5, a paleontologist, at 6 or so, a figure skater... at about 10 I came to my senses and realized I wanted to be a dancer.

NH: What was your first Monkeyhouse experience?
CM: Avec Nous, concert at Green Street Studios, Fall 2007

NH: When did you begin dancing? What is your dance/education background?
CM: I began dancing at age 4. I have a strong background in ballet, jazz, tap and modern- though today I am working mostly in modern.

NH: Who have you been performing with recently?
CM: Danny Swain Dance Company, Dunkel and Friends

NH: Where did you go to college?
CM: I went to Muhlenberg College and double majored in Dance and French.

NH: A lot of young dancers question whether they should study dance in college. Do you think you greatly benefited from choosing that path?
CM: I got a whole lot from my study of dance- from learning to improvise and developing my own style, to re-working my technique with a dance physical therapist, to choreographing my own pieces. I also got to study and perform a variety of styles with some excellent professors and choreographers. My college dance education made me a more well-rounded performer and choreographer by exposing me not just to new techniques, but to new ways of thinking and talking about dance.

NH: Who would you say has had the greatest influence on your dancing?
CM: An early influence was Donna Miceli, one of my very first teachers, Nailah Bellinger, also Karen Dearborn, Jennifer Kayle, and Charles Anderson from studies at Muhlenberg.

NH: What made you know that you wanted to dance professionally?
CM: I can't pinpoint the time when I first knew, but my moment of affirmation was when I found myself in a classical ballet studio in France, at the mercy of a ruthless former ballerina. I realized that if I'd gotten myself there on purpose, I just had to do this.

Getting to Know Nikki Sao Pedro

We thought you might want to get yourself ready for our First Night performances. So we asked Nicole Harris to get the inside scoop on one of the new dancers who will be joining us on New Year's Eve, Nikki Sao Pedro.

NH: When you were a kid, what did you want to be when you grew up?
NS: I wanted to be a dancer or an Olympic gymnast when I grew up. The dream of being an Olympian faded at age 11 but being a dancer never fizzled out :)


NH: Where did you train? Where have you performed?
NS: I started dancing when I was seven and continued all the way through college. I studied at Point Park University in Pittsburgh PA and preformed for Pillow Project Dance Company. When I moved back to Boston, I started working with Danny Swain Dance Company and Monkeyhouse.

NH: And so, how did you start working with Monkeyhouse?
NS: My first experience working with Monkeyhouse was performing "Attraversiamo," in the show "Avec Nous" at Green Street Studios.

NH: Now that wasn't your first professional performance, was it?
NS: No, my first professional dance performance was with Pillow Project Dance Company. I was a junior in College and was an original member of the company. At the company's first show, we were so nervous about not having an audience but ended up having to do an extra show because it was sold out! ... It was such a memorable experience, I photocopied my first check :)

NH: Who or what has been the greatest influence on your dancing?
NS: The greatest influence on my dancing physically were all of the professors at Point Park, especially Douglas Bentz. The greatest influence on my dancing mentally is Karen Krolak.

NH: When did you realize you wanted to dance professionally?
NS: I realized I wanted to dance professionally my junior year in high school. I knew that I could not and would not want to do anything else other than dance. It is my life.

NH: What are your favorite books on dance?
NS: My favorite books are Twyla Tharp's The Creative Habit and, of course, the Technical Manual And Dictionary of Classical Ballet. I am always brushing up on my vocabulary :)

NH: What do you wish someone had told you about the dance world when you were a child?
NS: I wish someone had told me to take as many Ballet classes as I possibly could. I did catch on soon enough!

NH: What has been your favorite Monkeyhouse moment?
NS: So far, my favorite monkey moments have been at rehearsals. So many funny things have been said and done I can't recall just one!