Pictured: Shannon Healey and Debbie Maciel of Bubble Dance Co. Photo by: Jonathan Hsu.

With Fuzion Dance Artists’ Second Annual Summer Dance Festival dawning tomorrow, artists, fans and enthusiasts alike await another week of presentation and performance from the latest in the world of contemporary and modern dance. Under the guidance of Fuzion artistic director Leymis Bolanos Wilmott, the festival has become a yearly celebration and showcase of not only local performers, but also visiting and touring talent. This year is no exception, with the inclusion and arrival of Bubble Dance, the latest show from co-creators Shannon Healey and Debbie Maciel, seeing the pair perform within the closed confines of a racquetball court and exploring notions of identity, personal space and perception.

The concept began little over a year ago, when the Bates Dance Festival in Maine booked Healey and Maciel but overbooked the venue and ran out of conventional performing space. The pair spotted an unused racquetball court and with it an opportunity. “If we want to dance, why wait for a stage?” said Maciel, and necessity being the mother of all invention, the pair set to revamping and restaging their show for a new and innovative space, finding a perfect fit for the themes of perception and space they already enjoyed. “Why not create an opportunity?” said Maciel. “We took all of those things, put them in the racquetball space and it all came together.”

Marrying the concept to the space, Maciel and Healey found a natural analog between the walled space, the physicality of its glass divisions and illusion of privacy, and the experience they wanted to give the audience. “We create a bubble and the audience is not let in – they’re watching us,” said Healey. “They see us at a distance and as the piece progresses we let them know a little more about us and into our bubble.”

The notion of personal bubbles plays a role between the performers as well, with some portions of the show designed as a duet and others as solo performances. But within the racquetball court there is no off- or backstage, so Healey and Maciel are always performing in a sense, even when not the focus. Whether making room for the other or even during costume changes, the two remain onstage and in the audience’s eye. “It’s all a part of the dance,” said Healey. “It all reveals something to the audience.”

“We’re creating a relationship where we can make the audience feel they’re outside of something,” she continued, “and then break that throughout the piece.”

Bubble Dance will be performing three shows between July 29-31 as part of Fuzion Dance Artists’ Second Annual Summer Dance Festival at New College of Florida. Tickets are $15 and reservations are recommended due to limited space given the nature of the show.

Pictured: Shannon Healey and Debbie Maciel of Bubble Dance Co. Photo by: Jonathan Hsu.