This article first appeared in the St. Louis Beacon, June 27, 2013: Art, whether an array of alternating strokes of paint, shifting body movements, assorted chords, or adapted personalities, is a collaboration, a unification of a passion to share an experience.
A new nonprofit organization, the St. Louis Arts Alliance, hopes to capture this fusion of diversity. Founded by ballet dancer Alberto Gaspar and cellist Emily Trista Lane, The Arts Alliance aims to bring together multiple genres.
As Lane says, “We want to provide an opportunity for artists of all genres to come together and create these powerful onetime experiences and introduce people in community to other styles of art, make it very approachable.”
Gaspar and Lane’s dream started with a mutual and inclusive performance between a cellist and dancers, but grew to include pianists, painters, photographers and filmmakers.
Elliot Geolat, a dancer with the St. Louis Ballet Company and filmmaker, says, “We don’t want this to just be a festival. What we hope will set us apart is the inner connectivity that all work featured, all artists lent creative talents toward the other works, (creating) something mutually rewarding for artists and the audience.”
Artists participating in the Alliance include Mariko Kumanomido from Common Threads, Elliot Geolat from the St. Louis Ballet, Brandon Fink from Madco, Emily Trista Lane from University City Symphony, Mark Laverty from the St. Louis Piano Society, Gerry Malcone from Steinway Galleries, Tim Jensen from the St. Louis Piano Society, Carrie Pearce from Central Illinois Artists Association, and photographer Tuan Lee.
“The arts are really alive here,” Lane says of St. Louis. “I knew there were so many things happening, amazing symphonies, galleries, dance companies, but I struggled to put all the pieces together. How can we bring these organizations together? It's by the artists.”
Dancer Markio Kumanomido says, “I’ve been a dancer all my life. There’s been a little collaboration but not a group like this dedicated to collaboration among artists, to use each other.”
The premiere event, Mort Et Renaissance, will take place on Friday, June 28 in Lab 1500, 1500 Washington Ave. A reception will begin at 5 p.m. with performances starting at 7 p.m. This event is free to the public.
While still ironing out funding details, Lane says the Art Alliance is hoping to rely on community support to maintain free events.
Mort et Renaissance (Death and Rebirth) was inspired by Gabriel Faure’s "Elegy," described by Lane as “a mournful piece that sets the tone for what is happening. Out of this program is coming the creation of collaboration. The Art Alliance is born out of this.”