Sunday, March 22, 2026 at 4 pm

Dance Projects, Inc. presents
BETH SOLL & COMPANY in
ON SECOND THOUGHT
An informal showing of
THREE PREMIERES,
AND ONE REPERTORY DANCE

At the Martha Graham Studio Theater
In Westbeth at 55 Bethune Street, 11th Floor, NYC

Press Contact: Beth Soll: 212-927-0476
bethsbron@gmail.com

Admission: At the door. Suggested donation: $10-$15. CASH ONLY GENERAL SEATING
Reservations: 212-927-0476

Choreographer/Dancer Beth Soll, Artistic Director of Beth Soll & Company will present an informal showing of On Second Thought: Three Premieres and One Repertory Work for 5 Dancers.

This performance will focus on the inevitable changes that happen as time passes, and how, for example, professional dancers dance differently as they move past their student years; how a solo or a group piece can be transformed by adding another dancer; or how a choreographer can respond to an old, quietly eloquent solo with a new jazzier, more provocative dance. After the presentation, audience comments will be welcomed. Participating in the event are dancers Abby Dias, Caroline Frank, Emma Greenspan, Lindsey Miller, and Beth Soll. The showing also includes new music by Eka Chabashvili, and Kathryn Woodard. See Full Program below.

Information about Beth Soll & Company:
Website: bethsoll.org
Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/BethSollandCompany

THE FULL PROGRAM:

We Take a Walk (premiere): This duet is a variation of She Takes a Walk (2025), which is based on the idea that a walk can serve as a metaphor for life. In We Take a Walk, Soll, now in her 80s, is joined by Caroline Frank, whose youthful, quietly vital presence adds a hint of new possibilities, a subtle increase in complexity, and a sense of a shared destination. Music by composer/pianist Kathryn Woodard.

Education (2025) A trio performed by Abby Dias, Emma Greenspan, and Lindsey Miller. Traditionally, during their entire professional lives, dancers take regular technique classes under the watchful, insightful eyes of teachers. They join with other dancers of varying levels to work on fundamental and often conventionalized physical and dance challenges so they can maintain a high level of technical proficiency, sometimes at the expense of dealing with more original, expressive movement possibilities. The choreography of Education is based on this tradition and therefore also refers to the social aspect of dance education, and to the emotional responses that may arise in the context of a dance class. The music for Education includes traditional jazz, music by Georgian composer/musician Eka Chabashvili, and sounds performed by Beth Soll and the dancers.

On Second Thought (premiere). In this new solo, Soll reacts to her somewhat serene, detached solo, She Takes a Walk (2025), with a hint of uppityness, some jazz-based vocabulary, almost irreverent references to ballet and Asian styles, and age-based struggles with the physical aspects of dancing.

After (premiere). The choreography for this dance was shaped by Soll’s ideas about what dancers experience when they leave the security of the conventionalized movement of regular technique classes. As they leave their youthful learning contexts, dancers who wish to become mature artists must embrace dancing, which, while still referring to familiar material, is shaped by explorations of emotionally and intellectually challenging, or even transgressive possibilities, so that they can learn to inhabit dances that reflect the complexities and profound challenges of adulthood. Music for this dance includes music by composer Eka Chabashvili and traditional Blues.

Choreographer and Director Beth Soll. Since the beginning of her career, Soll has been recognized as a choreographer of enigmatic and powerfully expressive dances. Early on, she studied in Ithaca, NY with Romanian modern dancers Iris Barbura and Vergiu Cornea and later attended the Kurt Jooss School and the Harald Kreutzberg School in Europe. Since graduating in Dance from the University of Wisconsin, she has choreographed more than150 dances and has also built an impressive reputation as a soloist. She has held faculty positions at Boston University, MIT, where she directed the Dance Program for 20 years, the Harvard Summer Dance Center, and UC Santa Barbara. As an adjunct professor she has taught at the Boston Conservatory, Hofstra University, the New School, and Manhattanville College. Before forming Beth Soll & Company in 1977, she performed professionally in Madison, Wisconsin, and in Boston with the Ina Hahn Dance Company, Dance Collective, and the Harvard Summer Dance Company. In addition to major Boston and New York seasons, her company has participated in numerous residencies and performance engagements at American universities and performance venues, including a 3-week residency at Jacob’s Pillow. As a soloist, she has performed in many US locations, and in Canada, France, Germany, Hong Kong, Hungary, Romania, and Russia. Her work has been generously supported by more than 60 grants and prizes from corporations and federal and state agencies. Her book, Will Modern Dance Survive? Lessons to be Learned from the Pioneers and Unsung Visionaries of Modern Dance, was published in 2002.

Review Quotes:

[Soll’s] dances hinted that it is because we are estranged and imperfect beings that we are able to imagine and yearn for paradise.
Jack Anderson, The New York Times.

[Soll] takes the dross of everyday life and turns it into the equivalent of spun gold.
Thea Singer, The Boston Phoenix

“Seeing Beth Soll’s dances is like coming across a tropical rain forest after spending a lifetime in an English Country Garden.”
Christine Temin, The Boston Globe.
Photo on Home Page: Barry Harrington. Dancer: Beth Soll