Troupe another way for New World’s Peter London to nurture dancers
From The Miami Herald
As Peter London prepares his fledgling dance troupe for a recent showcase, he takes care of much more than steps and music cues. When a disoriented passerby wanders into the theater at the Little Haiti Cultural Center, London interrupts rehearsal to intercept him. “I’m just going to give him some money to get home and try to explain where he can get some help,” he whispers to a visitor.
Returning to the stage where the young members of the Peter London Global Dance Theater are painstakingly practicing their moves, London reels off the menu he’s prepared for a post-showcase reception: eggplant tapenade, Spanish rice with fresh vegetables, roast chicken and potato salad. “I spent the whole morning cooking,” he says.
That determination to nourish and take care of others has motivated London, 51, throughout his quarter-century career as a dance teacher and mentor at the New World School of the Arts. A towering figure with a booming voice, he has long been an imposing presence in the Miami dance scene. Now he is adding a dance troupe of current and former students to his repertory.
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