Company Repertory

Directed by Missy Pfohl Smith Choreographed by Smith in collaboration with the dancers

Guzzle! (2008)

From the greed of "Big Oil" to the brainwashing of Americans, this work discusses this nation's need (or is it desire?) for oil and energy. Through movement, text, imagery and sound Guzzle! asks pointed questions about our current behaviors in a culture of mass consumption.

"With well-performed spoken and physical comedy and a healthy dose of sarcasm, Guzzle! brings the audience face to face with the United States' greedy desire for oil.  In several sections, Pfohl Smith shows her talent for weaving together video, text, sound and movement as she pointedly addresses political/environmental issues and exposes hypocrisies in today's consumer driven world... (a) powerful piece of theatrical activism."

Anne Burnidge, MFA (2008)

Commissioned Original Music Composed by:  David Homan

Video by: Matt Costanza

Found Sound excerpts include Tommy Edwards; Bobby Morganstein; Destination Earth (1956); and Del Shannon; arranged by Pfohl Smith and Costanza

Costumes: Missy Pfohl Smith and Kathy Most

Web We Weave (2008)

In Web we weave, four dancers share work they collaboratively created with Smith.  By following the instincts of the choreographer and the dancers' own somatic responses to given structures and guided contact, this approach to dance-making allowed the wisdom of the body to serve as guide.  What unfolded was the tangled web we weave for ourselves in our lives.

" ...unpredictability and fierceness... The dancers performed with sinuous athleticism and clarity of intention in every moment, both simple and complicated.  It was visually unpredictable as the weaving took place throughout the work.  And yet it was never chaotic.  Compositional choices were impressive.  Pfohl Smith balanced the stage space, qualitative energies, and human interactions, while challenging our senses and providing good reason to empathize physically and psychologically with the web they wove."
Donna Davenport, Ed.D. (2008)

Commissioned Original Music Composed and Performed by:  Thomas McMahon; Stealhead (Charlotte, NC)

Costumes: Kathy Weston (Brockport, NY)

Bull (2007)

Can our political leaders live up to their promises and our expectations?  And are our expectations for own selves realistic, rational and possible? This highly acclaimed intense and theatrical solo performed by Smith delves into the psyche of external expectations, constant attempts to fit the mold, and the discovery of truth in the self.

"Bull is full of tension and rhetoric... For a small person (Pfohl Smith) manipulates her space and commands attention as you try to unravel her frustration suggested by tight sequencing of movements that go from order to disorder. She uses her body as a metaphor for confusion. The musical score by Mark Snyder is a perfect companion."
Jeanne Fornarola (Review of Rochester Contemporary Dance Collective at Bush Mango Drum and Dance, 2007)

Original Music Composed by: Mark Snyder

Encounters (2007)

Encounters, a live performance combining dance, original music and photography, addresses what happens when humankind encounters the natural world.  The genesis of the project was found in the natural world, how various plants share the same space, grow, and establish physical relationships between them, sometimes symbiotically living off each other, sometimes growing either in spite, or at the expense of each other.  The work evokes the strength and vulnerability of both nature and people as well as the results of the convergence.

Original Music by: O'Neil Haynes

Photography by: Bruno Chalifour

Act II (2009 Film)

This dance for the camera seamlessly follows the frantic pace and many roles and settings in which a woman fills in Act II of her life.  Struggling to find and prove self within career, motherhood, marriage and life, this intense 11 minute film features the choreography and performance of Pfohl Smith through the eyes of experimental filmmaker Susannah Newman whose works have been featured in Lincoln Center's NY Dance on Camera Festivals.

Filmmaker:  Susannah Newman

Music:  Mark Snyder