Benita Bike’s DanceArt Company wowed the audience attending the show at the Malibu Library last Wednesday evening. Performing three dances—“On Beat 3,” abstract, “For Rose,” narrative, and “Schoenfield Dances,” a mixture of abstraction and narrative. Longtime dancer, choreographer and founder of Benita Bike’s DanceArt Company, Benita Bike focuses on creating dances with meaning and beauty, at times drawing on personal experience. One of the dances performed on Wednesday night, “For Rose,” is a dance in honor of Bike’s mother, who passed away.
There are five dancers in Benita Bike’s DanceArt Company, ranging in experience, age and time: Clare Kiklowicz and Trudy Niess have been performing with Bike for seven years, Rachele Donofrio for three years, and Liza Barskaya and Sarah Gertler for one year. Bike, who has been putting on dance shows since the 1970s, said that she works with the dancers to improve and expand their artistic range through personalized coaching and different venues.
Throughout the evening, Bike would open the floor to the audience, to describe what they saw and felt, answering questions that might arise from the dance performed. After the last performance, the dancers joined Bike for the last Q&A.
“We perform in various libraries throughout the Southland, and you Malibu folks are very lucky to have such a lovely facility. We enjoyed our time with you all!” Bike said.
For more information on Benita Bike’s DanceArt Company danceart.org
