About Dancefusion Organization
Dancefusion is a modern dance repertory company. We are dedicated to the reconstruction of historic works from America's rich record of modern dance and the creation of innovative work. Dancefusion lives and relives the achievements of the past and explores new choreographic directions for the future by reconstructing historic works through its transformative choreography taught in dance training through programs at the Gwendolyn Bye Dance Center and "fusion2". We aim to expand public awareness through these programs, ultimately cultivating in putting on live performances to diverse audiences.
Dancefusion was founded in 1987 by Artistic Director Gwendolyn Bye, with the vision of becoming Philadelphia’s premier modern dance repertory company. Its main goal is to reconstruct historic works alongside commissioning contemporary works. The company has presented annual home seasons and numerous dance and teaching residencies in Greater Philadelphia.
Dancefusion has transformed works from the likes of Mary Anthony, Anna Sokolow, José Limón, Pauline Koner, and Daniel Lewis. In 2019, Dancefusion was honored to receive the Mary Anthony Dance Collection which includes all of Mary Anthony’s masterpieces and historic choreography. For over 35 years our company has created new works from Gwendolyn Bye, our in-house members, and guest choreographers. Dancefusion has had the honor of being presented at festivals such as The Philadelphia FringeArts Festival, The Come Together Festival, the Edinburgh Fringe Festival in Scotland, and The 92nd St. Y and the American Dance Guild Festival in New York City.
Dancefusion has presented concerts for the holiday season, A Festival of Lights, The 12 Days of Christmas, The Night Before Christmas, and Handel & Gretel. We have performed outreach concerts to our community including, The Porch at 30th Street Station, The Mann Center for Performing Arts, and New Year’s Eve at Pendle Hill. For over 35 years Dancefusion has been a rostered dance company through the Philadelphia Arts in Education Partnership through the PA Council on the Arts, offering dance residency programs to Schools in the Greater Philadelphia area.
In January of 2006, the dance training school known as the Gwendolyn Bye Dance Center merged with Dancefusion as a new division of the Dancefusion non-profit organization. The Gwendolyn Bye Dance Center has year-round training classes for children and adults and is dedicated to the education and preservation of dance as a performing art; teaching the many disciplines of dance to students who will make up our next generation of performers, artists, patrons, and the general public.
We aim to use dance as a bridge to cross cultural, social, and economic boundaries. Ms. Bye and her staff of internationally recognized teachers have designed programs to help students grow as young artists and develop a strong technical foundation in a fun learning environment. The Gwendolyn Bye Dance Center reaches out to talented and underserved children in the Greater Philadelphia community through its Scholarship Program.
fusion2, a training company for young dancers, was formed in 1995 when Gwendolyn Bye recognized the need for dedicated young dancers to experience and express movement beyond their technical training. The junior company provides upper-level students from the Gwendolyn Bye Dance Center an opportunity to broaden their dance and leadership education through performance and outreach. fusion2 has performed throughout Philadelphia in cultural and community centers, schools, hospitals, senior care facilities, and its in-house shows for the general public. They have danced at the Performance Garage, the Mann Center for the Performing Arts, The Philadelphia Carousel House for the Handicapped, The Please Touch Museum, the University City District’s Festival, and the Philadelphia Youth Dance Festival. For over seventeen years, fusion2 has presented the CAPE project in partnership with the HMS School for Children with Cerebral Palsy, each year creating new work for the spring performance season and outreach to the community.
"The Gwendolyn Bye Dance Center (GBDC) is a wonderful environment that fosters the love of dance in my two daughters and all dancers, who attend the school. The GBDC is a fun, professional, healthy, diverse, inclusive dance community of which we've had the pleasure of being a part for the last 12 years. I highly recommend GBDC to any parent looking for a professional dance school with knowledgeable, skilled instructors, who provide a nurturing and joyful dance education experience for all."
-Stacey Harpster, Mother of Two GBDC Dancers, ages 15 and 9
Testimonials
"The thing I like about the Gwendolyn Bye Dance Center is that they don't push you down into your splits. They let you go at your own pace, but still, they give you work and make you sweat. If you can't do something, they let you build up to it and they don't push you to the hardest level right away, and the teachers are also really nice!"
-Mira, Ballet, Jazz/Mod, Tap and Hip Hop (age 9)
