For the first time in its history, Stissing Center will welcome a performance rooted in Black American street and club dance, when the acclaimed Passion Fruit Dance Company comes to Pine Plains on Sunday, March 30.
The internationally touring collective, founded by Haitian-Swiss artist Tatiana Desardouin, will present Dance Within Your Dance, a reflection on the embodied histories of these culturally rich and deeply expressive forms.
Though the piece is sometimes mistakenly described as a hip-hop performance, Desardouin is quick to clarify: “When we say street and club dance, it includes hip-hop — but it also includes house, popping, breaking, tap, jazz, lite feet, whacking, Memphis jooking. All of those styles, some were created in the street and some were created in the club. So that’s why we call them street and club dance styles, which encompass all Black American dance forms.”
Based in New York, the company has performed across North America and Europe, recently returning from performances in Switzerland, Montreal, and a most recently, a weeklong technical residency at the Catskill Mountain Foundation in Tannersville. “For me, dancing is a spiritual practice — especially doing Black dance forms,” Desardouin told the Herald. “We’re doing social dance styles that require being in contact with people, which means different cultures, different backgrounds, different heritages. Traveling has been part of what made us each one of us on stage.”
Desardouin’s artistic vision is one with an unwavering commitment to the groove. “The groove,” she explained, “is the auditory and physical manifestation of the Black living experience.”
“If we lose [the groove] as we do those dance styles, it’s almost disrespectful to Black culture and people, in my opinion,” she said. “This method was created to push dancers to understand the depth of the groove and to find a way not to lose it, as it tends to happen when you grow technically.”
Desardouin’s own background, spanning Haiti, Switzerland, and the United States, informs her sense of diasporic connection and responsibility. “Those styles are deeply rooted within street and club dance culture,” she said. “They come from the U.S., for sure. These are Black American dance forms — but they reached far. I’m also Haitian, so definitely it’s within the Black culture. It makes sense, the direct connection.”
That connection, she said, lives in the body — shaped by history and shared across continents. “So much of the foundation of those styles is a mix of different Black cultures,” she said. “It’s because of the trans-Atlantic slave trade. The mixture of different cultures, coming from different countries… it’s inside the dance itself.”
Desardouin’s choreography, created with longtime collaborator Lauriane Ogay, reflects those layered histories, encouraging dancers — and audiences — to go deeper. “We’re doing a piece focusing on the groove — what is the meaning of it?” she said. “And we try to invite the audience to be more curious about these forms, but also the people as well. Why does it look the way it looks? What does it feel like we feel?”
Following the performance, the company will lead a post-show conversation with the audience using what they call an “introspective seed” — a tool designed to foster personal storytelling and reflection around race, identity, and culture.
Education, both formal and embodied, is central to Desardouin’s vision. She holds a master’s degree in adult education and a bachelor’s in psychology, and teaches widely in the U.S. and abroad.
“It’s a duty for me to educate my audience to that, and also for Black people from here to recognize themselves, because the styles that we’re doing were created by them.”
That sense of cultural preservation is more than academic — it’s political. “The styles that we’re doing are deeply rooted. It’s political because it existed as a way to liberate ourselves from oppression and slavery,” she said. “Jazz, disco, funk, hip-hop, punk rock — all of this is Black expression, fundamentally. It’s part of that continuum.”
The show’s goal is connection. “Dance is a way for us to express in our own way what we feel is not right,” she said. “We bring some sense of community building and healing — not only for our community, but for different communities, different backgrounds, different histories. Through education, everything makes more sense. It removes the hate. Everyone can exist. It doesn’t have to be so much hate and separation — useless. So that’s what those styles are about. For us, when we dance, we dance it out. Definitely. It’s part of it. It’s within the movement. So I think it’s an efficient way to connect, to stay connected, to remind people of having just a little bit more love — and some sense of humanhood.”
“Including a street and club dance company in the 2025 season at Stissing Center is just one more demonstration of our commitment to bringing true diversity in the arts to our community,” said Stissing Center’s executive director Patrick Trettenero.
Dance Within Your Dance will be performed at 7 p.m. Sunday, March 30, at Stissing Center in Pine Plains. Tickets are $25 and include the performance and a post-show conversation. For tickets and more information, visit thestissingcenter.org.