Dancer takes steps to open The Movement Factory on Pittsburgh’s North Side
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Dancer Maria Caruso is taking steps to reach beyond the performance stage.
The founder of Bodiography Contemporary Ballet in Squirrel Hill, a performance space for ballet dancers, Caruso is turning a renovated warehouse on the Ohio River on Pittsburgh’s North Side into Maria Caruso’s The Movement Factory.
“I had been exploring to grow the footprint in Squirrel Hill, but I wasn’t able to find a large enough space,” said Caruso, who is also chair of the arts department at La Roche University in McCandless. “I wanted something sustainable and unique, a raw space.”
The Movement Factory will house a 175-seat theater, four state-of-the-art classrooms, offices and a convertible event space. This will be operated by M-Train Productions, formerly Maria Train Productions. The name was derived from Caruso’s fast-paced vision for dance.
The company focuses on the development, creation and production of commercial dance and theater projects locally and globally, she said. At the new site, there will be a green space open to everyone in the building.
Caruso, who plans to keep some of the space in Squirrel Hill, said she found out about the new location when she performed her one-woman show “Metamorphosis” there in February. Located in a former mattress factory, the building is owned by Dave Colaizzi of Five Star Development, a design, development and project management firm. He bought the 108-year-old building in 2007, which was one of three mattress factories in Pittsburgh, and gutted the place to refurbish it.
“It needed a lot of love,” he said. “There is a lot of history in this building and this is an evolving area. This is going to be an amazing space.”
The plan is to open The Movement Factory in the summer of 2021. She will have the juniors and seniors from La Roche study there and the freshmen and sophomores at Squirrel Hill, which she will continue to run, but in less space.
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Caruso danced recreationally from age 3 to 11 and transitioned into a conservatory for intense study at age 12, she said
“I have always thought about, ‘How do I help my students evolve and give them practical experience?’ ” said Caruso, who grew up in the Rural Valley and spent weekends at her father’s home in Monroeville. Her connection to La Roche was made when she studied there as a Ford City High School student.
Caruso is not only a dancer. She’s a choreographer, director, producer, academic, social activist, fitness and wellness practitioner, and entrepreneur. And she’s publishing editor of The Arts Inclusive magazine.
She’s also worked with musicians, actors, producers and film artists on various projects.
She focuses on college preparatory training and keeps classes small – no more than 18 in a class. She said 100% of her college graduate students have gone on to full-time work in the field of dance.
Part of her mission is to honor the legacies of Gene Kelly, whose first dance studio was in the Squirrel Hill location, and another famous dancer born in Pittsburgh, Martha Graham.
“I feel that everything that I do, no matter the facet of my brand, I pay homage to the legacy of those that came before me,” she said. “Graham and Kelly have been inspirations in everything that I do, as are my many mentors who have helped me along the way. I honor them in everything I do in my conglomerate.”
She said her instruction is about the quality of training. It is about teaching health and wellness and advocacy and to be great human beings.
She said the 10,000-square-foot space at The Movement Factory will have natural lighting and be flexible in terms of being able to move seating. She plans to make it available for weddings and gala events.
“It won’t be a traditional arts experience,” she said. “It will be so much more.”