a world gone FABULOUS
2024
a world gone Fabulous is a performed quest for a better future. The evening-length dance theater work digs into what we cherish, what we wish for, and features AMD company members, Cecilia Benitez, Maria Burt and Clinton Harris as they amplify Myers’ signature style of blending robust athleticism with personal theatricality. Driven by an exquisitely nuanced original score composed by Aeon de la Cruz, the dynamic performers get other worldly as they move through a heart pumping ritual, offer delicate gestures at a wishing well, and drop into sexy future move making. Theater Artist, Alejandro Rodriguez is the dramaturg for the project. Tara Lee Burns is the project’s Creative Technologist research partner incorporating Motion Capture and Virtual Reality to drive the creative process and imaginative exchange between dance and technology.
Miami Light Project is the lead-commissioner of a world gone FABULOUS and will present the world premiere at Miami Theater Center in April 2026. a world gone FABULOUS is co-commissioned and will also be presented by James Madison University’s School of Theater and Dance, and Opening Nights at Florida State University. This project has received research support from NCC Akron as part of their Dance and Technology Lab. a world gone FABULOUS is also made possible with funding from the Dance Miami Choreographer program and Miami Independent Artist grant from the MDC Department of Cultural Affairs.
MEET THE ARTISTS //
Tara Burns // Creative Technologist
Tara Burns thrives at the intersection of live performance, projection design, and digital making having worked as both a professional dancer/performer and digital collaborator. Her performance experiences cross international waters from the ADF in NC to the Hellerau International Festival CyNet Arts in Germany and are infused with performative somatics and technology integration evidenced by her practice research, MFA in Dance with an Interdisciplinary Specialization from The Ohio State University (2021), MA in Digital Performance from The University of Hull, UK (2006), and BFA in Dance from the University of Florida (2003).
Cecilia Benitez // Dance Artist
Cecilia Benitez was born and raised in Miami, Florida and earned her BFA in dance from Point Park University in 2020. Currently a freelance artist based in Miami, she dances for Rosie Herrera Dance Theater, Adele Myers and Dancers, and Syncopate Collective. Her choreography has been commissioned by Miami Light Project’s “Here and Now” program, Pioneer Winter’s “Grass Stains”, Bistoury Physical Theater and Film, Miami- Dade County Cultural Affairs, and Mutual Dance Theatre, in Cincinnati Ohio. When not dancing you can find her biking, writing letters, or making Cuban coffee. Ceci was also invited to participate in the 2024 Miami DanceMakers season.
Maria Burt // Dance Artist
Mari Burt is a Miami Native who garnered her love for dance at a very young age and has a repertoire of styles and techniques including modern, contemporary, ballet, tap, jazz, and Afro-Caribbean. She began her professional training from Armour Dance Theater and attended New World School of the Arts College where she has performed repertoire by Robert Battle, Ohad Naharin, Mark Morris and Paul Taylor. She also had the opportunity to work closely with Eduardo Villaro in the production of the work "Chance of Thunder". In the summer of 2018, Maria attended the San Francisco Conservatory of Dance summer intensive where she learned choreography from Christian Burns and Alex Ketley. Currently, she is working with Adele Myers and Dancers, Peter London Global Dance Company, NWD Projects.
Aeon De La Cruz // Composer
Aeon De La Cruz is a Miami based multimedia artist who studied visual arts since childhood. His time at Cooper Union helped him discover architecture and connecting media like graphic design, sculpture, video/film, and music composition to his dance practice. De La Cruz’s transdisciplinary approach has inspired works and collaborations at ADF, Miami Light Project, Pioneer Winter Collective, Jonah Bokaer, and other Miami based artists. His research in creating music for dance and other media has been cultivated through his digital project Blind Carbon Copy, through which experimental sound scores are customized for performing artists through intimate collaborations.
Clinton Harris // Dance Artist
Clint T. Harris is from Miami, FL where he currently dances with Peter London Global Dance Company. Harris has also performed in works choreographed by Enrique Villacreses, Mike Tyus, Jamar Roberts, and Justin Rapaport on stages throughout South Florida including the Adrienne Arsht Center for the Performing Arts, Broward Center for the Performing Arts, Miami Beach Bandshell, African American Cultural Arts
Center, Live ARTS at Super Blue, and internationally in Trinidad and Martinique. In
2020, Harris was selected for "Grass Stains," a site-specific dance project directed by Pioneer Winter Collective. In 2015, he was featured in the Lifetime TV Network docuseries "Step! Up," which captured the lives of inner-city youth and their unwavering passion for dance.
Alejandro Rodriguez // Dramaturg
Alejandro Rodriguez is a Cuban American theater artist from the planet of Miami. His first evening-length work, Sorry, a dance theater piece exploring interracial relationships, enjoyed two sold-out runs at the LaGuardia Performing Arts Center in NYC. His next show, In My Body, a collaboration with the Canadian street dance company, Bboyizm, is currently on tour across North and South America and was the recipient of four Dora Awards in 2022. His most recent play, Alba, was a 2024 Finalist for the O’Neill Center’s National Playwrights Conference and is set to be premiered by Teatro Chelsea in Fall 2024. Formerly, he served as the Associate Artistic Director for PlayMakers Repertory and as Deputy Executive Director for Arts Ignite, a global nonprofit that delivers arts education to over 3000 children annually on four continents. He is a graduate of Juilliard where he was awarded the Michel St. Denis Prize for outstanding achievement.