Audiences can enjoy five multicultural dance productions this fall beginning Thursday, Oct. 3, when the Key West International Dance Company launches its inaugural season in the island city.
The first show, “Gate 54B,” is tango with a twist, set at Newark Airport. A storm rages outside, planes are grounded and the terminal is packed with stranded travelers. Amid this chaos, a dance floor emerges.
Inspired by a real-life Facebook group where travelers meet up to tango while stuck at airports, dance company founder Pamela Stephenson Connolly brings the impulse to life. In love with Argentine tango for years, she now channels that energy into this show. Eight main characters and a handful of side stories intertwine, each with their own journey.
To start, we see them in different time zones — Tokyo, Key West, Barcelona — preparing for their journeys. They’re not professional tangueros, just passionate social dancers. Their paths cross at Newark, and the airport becomes a stage for life-changing connections. Whether a bride with cold feet, a fugitive trying to escape his past, or an airport janitor dancing with a mop in quiet moments, each character’s story unfolds through movement and projected text messages.
Gate 54B celebrates the serendipitous connections that can emerge from delays, cancellations and other airport challenges and absurdities. Made from moments of frustration, hilarity and unexpected kindness, it reflects the human spirit’s resilience and adaptability in the most unlikely of places. Connolly’s direction and staging marry the elegance of traditional tango with everyday movements of an airport, transcending the limits of space and time.
Six shows are to be staged between Oct. 3 and Oct. 12.
Connolly is a performer, writer and director whose global career includes many styles of dance as well as comedy and screen performances before she founded Key West International Dance Company.
After living for nearly a decade in the Lower Keys and Key West, she has created an ensemble of Florida Keys talent and associate artists to present original productions that salute the region’s vibrant multicultural heritage.
All performances take place in the theater at Key West’s historic San Carlos Institute, 516 Duval St. Ticket prices range from $35 to $90 per person depending on seat location. Tickets can be purchased at keystix.com.
More information about the dance company and upcoming shows is at kwinternationaldancecompany.com.
