By Steve Sucato

For nearly four decades, Tom Evert and Susana Weingarten Evert have had a notable, if somewhat on-and-off, relationship with local audiences and Cleveland’s dance scene.

Tom, a former company dancer with the Paul Taylor Dance Company, and Susana, an award-winning dance artist, have performed and taught throughout Northeast, Oho under the monikers of Tom Evert Dance Company, Tom and Susana Evert Dance Theatre, and since 2011, Dance Evert. The most recent addition to the married couple’s interaction with area audiences and dancers is Espiral Dance.

Named after the Spanish word for spiral and a branch of Dance Evert, Weingarten Evert founded Espiral Dance in March of 2023 as a teaching and performance entity to further explore her artistic vision.  

Espiral Dance’s latest production, Confluence~ A Flowing & Coming Together, will be held Saturday, April 5, 2025, at the Shore Cultural Centre in Euclid, and is a multi-generational dance theater showcase. It will feature two new works by Weingarten Evert, a new piece by Evert, and guest performances by Ballet Excel Ohio Youth Ballet Company, as well as a solo work by Nehemiah Spencer, founder and director of Reflections Dance Theater.

Made possible in part by an Ohio Arts Council ArtsNEXT grant, Confluence~ A Flowing & Coming Together has an underlying theme of environmental stewardship, sustainability, and our human impact on climate change. In addition to the evening’s dance performances, local environmental groups, The Euclid Shade Tree Commission and The Big Clean Euclid vs. Collinwood!, will be on hand to provide information on supporting the environment.

The evening’s dance performances will kick off with a re-staging of Tom Evert’s 1991 work, “Color Me Red, Color Me Yellow, Color Me Blue,” performed by Ballet Excel Ohio Youth Ballet Company.

The 14-minute work for 21 dancers is set to original music by Kent State University Associate Professor of Music Sebastian Anthony Birch. 

“It’s a vibrant and dynamic modern work, bringing the world of color to life through dance,” says Ballet Excel Ohio Artistic Director Mia Klinger. “It explores the energy of primary and secondary colors, and the piece illustrates how colors mix and transform, creating an ever-evolving visual and artistic experience.”

The first of Weingarten Evert’s new works on the program follows. “Search” is a duet to music by Isol’ee that is about getting to know oneself, says Weingarten Evert. She and multifaceted artist Kirsten Lee Houck will perform it. 

Next, Espiral Dance adult student Lori Martinez will perform her solo “Ebbing” to music by Aphex Twin. Conceived by Martinez with direction from Weingarten Evert, the piece takes inspiration from the cycle of nature and the image of a falling leaf. 

After the solo “Earth Dance,” choreographed and performed by Spencer to music by Michael Jackson, the second of Weingarten Evert’s works, “Pachamama,” will be performed by a quartet of Espiral’s dancers.  Meaning “Mother Earth” in the Quechua language of the Inca tribes of South America, “Pachamama,” is about humanity holding the environmental fate of the earth in its hands, says Weingarten Evert. 

Danced to music by the English electronic music duo Plaid, Weingarten Evert says some of its imagery is reminiscent of Charlie Chaplin’s toying with and tossing about a ball representing the earth in his 1940 film, The Great Dictator. 

“We are playing with the world and, in doing so, destroying it and us,” says Weingarten Evert.

The Everts then take the stage together in “Duet of Solos,” set to music by Antonio Vivaldi. In it, each of them will perform a bespoke solo side by side, to show the dichotomy of movement between them as artists. 

Closing out the program will be Evert’s new dance piece, “Confluence.” The 14-minute work for eight dancers will also include an appearance by preschool students from Kiddie City Childcare Community of Euclid, who Dance Evert teaches. Danced to the second movement of Ludwig Von Beethoven’s Symphony No. 9 in D Minor, Op. 125, Evert describes the work as “An expression of the beauty and splendor of Mother Earth and a consideration of its love and care.” 

With Confluence~ A Flowing & Coming Together, the desire, say the Everts, is that dance fans and those new to dance will come and experience a sampling of their and their guest artist’s artistic voices along with the joy and thought-provoking power of dance. 

Espiral Dance of Dance Evert presents Confluence~ A Flowing & Coming Together at  7 p.m. on Saturday, April 5, 2025. Shore Cultural Centre, 291 East 222nd Street, Euclid, Ohio. Tickets are $12 for General Admission at the Door and $10 for Seniors 65+/Students with ID. For ticket reservations, email TomEvertArt@gmail.com  or call (917) 432-7608. Shore Cultural Centre has FREE parking and is handicap accessible. 

Join the cast for a gathering immediately following the performance. Plus, register for Espiral dance classes.