University of South Florida

College of The Arts

University of South Florida

Andee Scott Cofounds “Dance in the Time of Coronavirus” Public Performance Series

Wednesday, June 17, 2020
dancers in white clothing perform in the streets of St. Petersburg
USF professor of dance Andee Scott is the cofounder of the “Dance in the Time of Coronavirus” series which brings live dance performance to public spaces in a way that is socially-distanced and safer for audiences.

On June 6, 35 dancers debuted the series with Scott's piece Reverberation on the sidewalk of First Avenue South in St. Petersburg.

Audiences were invited to enter the piece while riding bikes or observing from across the street. The performance lasted one hour and comprised ten continuously looping segments. 

“Dance in the Time of Coronavirus” was conceived in collaboration with cofounder Amanda Sieradzki as a way to keep live performance alive as the COVID-19 pandemic puts theater performances on hold. The project provides a creative outlet for dancers while helping to connect members of the community safely.

The performance was funded in part by a grant from the St. Petersburg Arts Alliance. Scott and Sieradzki are already planning more performances in the project with a GoFundMe campaign to compensate dancers.

Scott is no stranger to bringing dance to public places. In 2016, she directed Our Town: A Moving Dance Tour of St. Pete, a site-specific series of short dance pieces in iconic St. Petersburg locations, with the support of St. Petersburg Dance Alliance. The success of Our Town led to the creation of Our Trail: Performances on the Pinellas Trail in 2017 with dance performances held on the Pinellas Trail in St. Petersburg, Dunedin, and Largo.

The second performance of “Dance in the Time of Coronavirus"  will occur on the evening of Saturday, June 20, 2020 on 1st Avenue South between 16th Street S and 13th Street S in St. Petersburg.

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