Sarasota Contemporary Dance

Sarasota Contemporary Dance is Sarasota's first professional contemporary dance company.

Our Mission

The mission of Sarasota Contemporary Dance is to bring cutting edge dance of the highest caliber to the community through performance, education, and collaboration.
Sarasota Contemporary Dance (SCD) is a professional dance company bringing dance performance and education of the highest caliber to Sarasota, Florida, having served our artistic community for more than 17 years. Housed in the heart of the historic Rosemary Square district in downtown Sarasota, SCD shares its home studio with the community through robust artistic, educational, and performance programming: 12 studio performances are planned for SCD’s 2022-2023 season in its 1,000+ square foot, state-of-the-art studio and performance venue, and over 16 ongoing adult contemporary dance classes are offered weekly for ages fourteen and up, open to the public year-round. SCD seeks to provide education and entertainment to loyal audiences through contemporary experiences with a community-minded voice.

Our History

Leymis Bolaños Wilmott and Rachael Inman began working together in Florida State University’s graduate program in 2000. Not only did the two share an Arabic heritage, most importantly, they shared a vision to collaborate, create and celebrate through life experiences. They both spent time developing programming for the FSUdanceSARASOTA initiative, and in 2002 Bolaños Wilmott and Inman founded Fuzión Dance, the first professional contemporary dance company in Sarasota. In 2006, they formed Fuzión Dance Artists as a non-profit 501(c)(3) corporation. After a decade of establishing its presence under the continued Artistic Direction of Leymis Bolaños Wilmott, Fuzión Dance Artists became Sarasota Contemporary Dance. The organization felt it was time for a change, and under this new name have become a mainstay arts organization in the region.

Sarasota Contemporary Dance (SCD) is recognized for its extraordinary level of high-energy, contemporary dance and collaborative performances with artists of various genres. In addition to a variety of community collaborations and performances at local venues, SCD has also been presented at the Alabama Ballet Center for Dance, John F. Kennedy Center, Merce Cunningham Studio Theatre, and the Ailey Citygroup Theatre. The company presents a combination of works by the Artistic Director and Guest Choreographers. Recent Guest Choreographers include Lucy Bowen McCauley, Doug Gillespie, Jennifer Archibald, Michael Foley, Adele Myers, Gerri Houlihan, and Larry Keigwin. Recent collaborations include "SCD+Piazzolla" w/ renowned harpist Ann Pilot, "Carmina Burana" with the Choral Artists of Sarasota, “Hidden Holiday Treasures” w/ Sarasota Orchestra, and the premiere of “Jehanne” with the NOW Ensemble.

2022-2023 marks the company's 17th season. Additionally, the company offers a variety of physically integrated dance and movement modalities to people in different stages of their lives and abilities, including an established ongoing weekly Dance for Parkinson's class at the Parkinson Place.

Most recently the company celebrated a milestone with the grand opening of its brand new, state of the art, dance studio - located in the Rosemary District of Downtown Sarasota. The company now offers over 16 ongoing weekly classes to the community, for all levels and ages. The company also recently launched a student training company for aspiring contemporary dancers call “SCD Ensemble.”