Danceworks: A Mother-Daughter Collaboration

How often do you get to take your children to see a dance performance and actually see them up on stage?

This is exactly what happened a few weeks ago at Westchester Community College. Danceworks, the college's modern dance company under the direction of Larchmont's Mollyann Franzblau, gave the young audience a chance to join the ensemble and learn some of the movements in each piece. It was as if the director's brood was passing on her ideas to the audience's grinning offspring. 

Danceworks is a family affair on many levels. Set to celebrate it's 30th anniversary this spring, the company has had Franzblau at its helm all those years; her daughter, Lauren Renner, also a local, has danced with her most of the past twenty. It is a mother-daughter collaboration in creativity that has brought the two women to a new level of mutual respect and appreciation. 

The company is made up of men and women ranging in age from 18 to 52, as well as in body-type, technique-level and race.  Offstage, their occupations include students, a nurse and a publishing executive.

The group's diversity is really its strength though, both women agree. The dancers learn to appreciate one another's differences and, through weekly technique classes and rehearsals, work out problems and support each other's ideas.  

Initially, when Renner joined Danceworks in her early 20s, it was a challenge for the duo to work together in a professional setting and put their closeness aside. To clarify their roles during rehearsals, her mother would say to her, "Now, I'm the choreographer." Afterward, she'd say, "Now, I'm your mother... so, do you feel okay?" Years later, when Renner was working in corporate training and development, she would offer insight into the group dynamics of the company and suggest problem-solving techniques, something her mother truly appreciated.

For her part, Renner has come to admire the way her mother treats her dancers both individually and as a group. "She creates a culture," says Renner, describing the collegial relationships formed. And, especially for the younger dancers, "she offers support... life lessons."

In truth, Franzblau assumes a sort of maternal role with many of the dancers, guiding them through personal struggles to create a cohesive ensemble and a professional final product.

Some years ago, while rehearsing for a show at another college campus, the dancers were all addressing Franzblau by her nickname "Moll," while Renner was calling her "Mom." A woman from the college who was watching was so confused, recalls Renner, laughing. "She thought we were all calling you 'Mom'!"

It is an amusing picture, to be sure, of Franzblau, spry and petite, as matriarch of this diverse crew.

Franzblau believes that the troupe's heterogeneity has enhanced its reception. Danceworks has been invited to perform at many colleges and cultural centers in the New York area and further afield. One of the most notable was a performance of a pair of dances -- one about 9/11 and another about the hope for peace -- at the Schomburg Center in Manhattan. Fearless about confronting such intense and often deeply personal subject matter, the company has also developed a program of three dances about addiction. 

Danceworks'  next act is its 30th Anniversary Performance at the Academic Arts Theater on the WCC campus in Valhalla from April 2 through April 11.  For tickets and further information call (914) 606-6262.