The Omega Dance Company is a non-profit, multi-cultural professional company of 7 dancers under the Artistic Direction of Kara Esposito. Housed in the largest Gothic Cathedral in the world, Omega was founded in 1974 by sacred dance pioneer Carla DeSola. The company members come from Taiwan, Trinidad, Ireland, Japan, Africa, and the United States. Touring internationally in Europe, Asia, Mexico, Canada and across the United States, Omega has presented its diverse workshops and repertory in concerts, seminaries, universities, art festivals, interfaith services, and educational settings. Omega has been featured in Dance Magazine, Dance Spirit Magazine, BackStage Performing Arts Weekly, USA Today, The New York Times, and filmed for NBC, ABC, CBS, and PBS television. The company is dedicated to bringing dance into spiritual observances.
Listed below are a sampling of current activities:
Youth educational outreach: This program is offered by Omega company members to over 2000 youth a year. Primarily a sacred dance lecture demonstration and workshop.
After-school program for children: Company members teach traditional Irish, Chinese, Afro-Caribbean, and Modern dance. Children in these classes have the opportunity to perform in Cathedral services 3 times a year.
Sacred dance choreography & improvisation classes: Featured in a New York Times article on teaching choreography, classes are offered exploring the architecture and art of the Cathedral and creating dance for worship spaces.
Support and development of dance choirs: Weekly workshops and dancing in services in churches and synagogues in the New York, Connecticut, and the New Jersey area.
8 Month Company Season: The 7 member company currently works from September - May. The most recent event was Terra Sanctus performed at the Cathedral with the West Village Chorale Festival Chorus. Featured in this program was Prelude a dance commissioned by Princeton Seminary. Prelude is inspired by the impressive stain glass Rose Window at the Cathedral and is set to the Prelude and Fugue in G Major. Also performed was "Psalms" commissioned by Union Theological Seminary in 1999. "Psalms'" is set to Leonard Bernstein's famous work "The Chichester Psalms". The Creation Story, a premiere for 5 dancers and choreographed to Aaron Copland's "In The Beginning" , reveals God as a woman creating Mother Earth. As the music follows the Genesis Story, the dancers emerge as the universal marriage of matter and spirit. Backstage Magazine, New York’s performing arts weekly, called Terra Sanctus sparkling, full of religious fervor, well crafted, aesthetically invigorating and awe inspiring.
Development of new choreographers: Omega seeks to nurture and develop new works based on sacred themes. Company members are commissioned to choreograph new dances each season. Presented in Terra Sanctus was the Missa Luba, an afro-caribbean dance mass choreographed by Edward Lawrence, and Garden of the Rain, a modern dance with Japanese flavorings choreographed by Edward Lawrence.
Ongoing new collaborations with musicians: Omega believes that live music is the heart and soul of dance. Each year Omega seeks out new relationships with musicians across the country. Currently the company is collaborating with Michael Bauer, Professor of Music at the University of Kansas, to create a full hour sacred dance/music composition. The company will also be in residence at Christian Theological Seminary in Indiana to collaborate with Professor of Theology and the Arts, Frank Burch Brown.
Summer Weeklong Sacred Dance Intensive: Each summer, Omega offers a weeklong dance intensive in June. This intensive is designed to introduce Omega repertoire and principles to professional dancers working in the field of sacred dance.
Sacred Dance Travel Retreats: Omega initiates this program with a retreat to Bali Indonesia this summer 2001. Planned for 2002, is a sacred dance retreat to company member Edward Lawrence’s home island of Trinidad in the Caribbean. This retreat will examine the influences of the Yaroban religion on native Christian dance. Omega plans to offer yearly retreats comparing religion and dance on an ongoing basis.