![\"Dancer](\"https:\/\/missionvalleynews.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2016\/11\/topweb1MBAlyssa-Junious-in-Dusk-to-Dawan.jpg\")
<\/a>Kalivas understands the dancer stigma \u2014 as a man under 5 foot 5 inches and with a solid build, he never seemed to be \u2018just right.\u2019<\/p>\n
\u201cI was often considered too short,\u201d he said. \u201cI was told I was too stocky or not big enough. It was like the moment you felt inside, you were outside again.\u201d<\/p>\n
So back in 1994, Kalivas founded the PGK Project while working with two major dance companies in Munich, Germany.<\/p>\n
\u201cI wanted to call it a project because \u2018company\u2019 sounds more static,\u201d he said. \u201cA project is always moving. It can be whatever you need it to be.\u201d<\/p>\n
And what that is, is what the public wants. Kalivas unashamedly asks people (potential audience members) what they care about, what do they want to see, and what do they expect.<\/p>\n
\u201cSome fellow dancers told me I\u2019m selling out,\u201d he said. \u201cI\u2019m not selling out, I\u2019m selling tickets. It needs to serve the public. I\u2019m saying, \u2018The public matters.\u2019\u201d<\/p>\n
Kalivas has taken this idea from Germany to New York and through several company changes in his own career. The Project took on a new life in San Diego in 2002 when Kalivas moved here for a quality of life change, and to be a part of San Diego\u2019s artistic scene.<\/p>\n
Then it took several years of building and growing the Project and its reputation before the first official dance performance. That performance was at DK Hair Salon in Hillcrest in 2009.<\/p>\n
A new performance venue<\/strong><\/p>\n Hair salon? Yes, you read that right. Kalivas realized that there was a whole group of people who didn\u2019t often engage with dance because of where it was located or the price tag that came with it. So he decided to tear down those barriers, too.<\/p>\n \u201cWe\u2019re pairing (dance) with a familiar act or familiar space,\u201d Kalivas said.<\/p>\n PGK Project spent the first several years in San Diego doing \u201caudience engagement events\u201d rather than traditional performances. They would set up in the backroom of bars or places like Queen Bee\u2019s in North Park and hold showcases for donations.<\/p>\n \u201cIt felt like an open mic for dance,\u201d Kalivas recalled.<\/p>\n Since the first \u201cofficial\u201d performance at DK Hair, PGK Project has performed in venues as such warehouses, restaurants, and art galleries. When they performed at Art Produce in North Park, each dance was in a different location in the space itself \u2014 ending in the front gallery with the audience looking in from the outside through the windows!<\/p>\n \u201cNormally dance is framed by a stage, but (that time) the dancers<\/em> were framing the environment,\u201d said dancer Alyssa Junious of Oceanside.<\/p>\n The dancers themselves are as varied as the environments they dance in. They come from all across the country \u2014 literally Oregon to New York, with some San Diego natives mixed in. PGK Project performers bring a wide variety of training backgrounds, such as tap, hip-hop, African and classical. Some train their bodies through Pilates and yoga; some prefer Crossfit.<\/p>\n \u201cWe all have a different emphasis in what we bring,\u201d Junious said. \u201cIt creates a different dynamic.\u201d<\/p>\n Another dynamic comes from PGK being a repertory company, so it highlights choreographers aside from Kalivas as well.<\/p>\n \u201cDifferent choreographers bring a different POV, different styles, different aesthetics,\u201d Kalivas said.<\/p>\n Some of those choreographers come from inside the company. Kalivas notes they go through the same audition process as any of his outside choreographers. Everyone gets the same chance to have input.<\/p>\n \u201cThere\u2019s Peter\u2019s work, outside choreographers, and then we have each other,\u201d Junious said. \u201cIt\u2019s collaborative and the best of both worlds.\u201d<\/p>\n \u2018Break It Down\u2019<\/strong><\/p>\n The Nov. 19 performance actually will<\/em> take place in a theater. The PGK Project moved back into theater spaces when Kalivas felt like they may be alienating the theater crowd just as they were alienating the non-theatrical crowd in the beginning. Now, the Project uses both theatrical and alternative spaces.<\/p>\n \u201cBreak It Down\u201d was first performed at Tango Del Rey earlier this year, but was so popular Kalivas decided to bring it back so that more of the public could experience it. The collection is meant to highlight the joy and fun of dance. The pieces lean more towards happiness and light instead of seriousness and dark.<\/p>\n \u201cWe want people to be reminded of how wonderful<\/em> dance can be,\u201d Kalivas said.<\/p>\n Break It Down will be at 7:30 p.m. on Saturday, Nov. 19, at the John J. Montgomery Theater at 2470 Ulric St. It will feature choreography by Kevin Jenkins, John Paul Lawson, company member Kymmi Kellems, and Kalivas himself with work featuring Tap with Body percussion.<\/p>\n For tickets or more information, visit thepgkdanceproject.org<\/a> or call 619-886-7924.<\/p>\n<\/a>