Peter Stathas Dance
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Leaving and Coming Back is a collection of works Peter Stathas has created throughout his dance career. Stathas, a former member of Jose Limon Dance Company and Marta Renzi and Dancers, left dance in May 1985 to pursue a career in physical therapy. His love of dance and passion for creating new works brought him back to dance in 2016 when he premiered his first new work in over 30 years entitled Sehnsucht. Stathas’ decision to combine old and new works on this special evening allows audiences to experience his choreography as it has evolved over the years.
Saturday Mornings tells the very personal story of the choreographer’s relationship with his grandfather who was a welterweight champion boxer. Duets features two pieces of work that he created–one entitled Five Studies for a Waiter and a Business Woman in 1985 and his 2018 premiere of Assuage. These pieces will be presented alongside Peter’s latest piece, Conundrum, which was conceived with the idea of specific spaces being used to represent others’ perceptions.
Leaving and Coming Back is performed by Joe Fransee, Selina Hack, Mary McGrath, Andrew McShea, Jesse Obremski, Emilee Pratt, and Lauren Twomley.
Peter Stathas began his dance training at the University of Wisconsin-Stevens Point in the mid 70’s, and continued his training at SUNY Purchase. He moved to New York City to continue his education and studied with dance luminaries such as Maggie Black, Geri Houlihan, Lar Lubovitch, Mark Morris, Marjorie Mussman, Ernie Pagnano, Zena Rommentt, and Mel Wong. Peter is grateful to these teachers, past and present, for their knowledge and training which continues to influence his work today.
In 1979, he became a member of the Jose Limon Dance Company and soon after joined Marta Renzi and Dancers. As a part of Marta Renzi’s company, he danced many roles and toured extensively before finding his passion for choreography, which lead him to begin creating his own works.
In 1986, Peter became interested in physical therapy as a way to combine his knowledge and love of dance with the awareness of proper physical alignment, so he enrolled at University of Massachusetts Lowell School for Physical Therapy. For 26 years, he focused solely on building his physical therapy practice and business, Freedom Physical Therapy Services.
In 2016, he was inspired to return to dance and created two new pieces of work which were featured in his first live performance in 30 years. In 2018, Peter was selected for the choreographic mentorship program DOVA with Doug Varone and Dancers. His new duet, Assauge, premiered at Gibney Dance Theatre in August of 2018.