NEW ORLEANS -- Byron Suber, a senior lecturer in dance at Cornell, brought his "Spoglia" dance production from Ithaca to his hometown of New Orleans for an outdoor show March 21.

"Spoglia" explores modernism and classicism with music, dance and film, inspired by Italian cinema and architecture and classical and pop music.

The multimedia production was staged in the historic Fauborg St. Roch neighborhood to draw attention to a sustainable neighborhood revitalization project centered on the St. Roch Market building. The 19th-century neoclassical structure once housed a marketplace for fresh fish and produce and has been closed since being damaged by flooding during Hurricane Katrina in August 2005.

"Spoglia," co-created by Suber and his colleague Jumay Chu, premiered at Cornell's Schwartz Center March 6-9. The show was reconfigured as a site-specific piece for St. Roch through rehearsals at New Orleans Ballet Theatre dance studios at the city's Contemporary Arts Center.

Suber grew up just outside New Orleans in Metairie, Jefferson Parish.

"I was interested in St. Roch because Jeffrey Chusid [a Cornell professor of historic preservation and planning] took a class down here last year and did an analysis of the site," Suber said while rehearsing on location March 18.

Chusid's group of graduate students also made recommendations to preserve the market building and surrounding area. A copy of the Cornell study and details of plans for the neighborhood are available at http://strochproject.com.

The one-hour Good Friday show at St. Roch featured projections of original films by Suber, six student dancers from the original production -- Mark Yatskar '09, Nicolette Strauss '10, Satya Stainton '06, Jamie Silverstein '08, Debbie Schneider '10 and Laura Piwinski '09 -- and three Ithaca performers: violinist Max Buckholtz, soprano Sharon Costianes and dancer Shirley Wang.

The show was part of a "Fridays at the Roch" monthly series featuring street vendors and performers on St. Roch Avenue's wide, oak-tree-lined neutral ground (median strip) behind the market. "Spoglia" was supported by neighborhood businesses that provided electricity and dressing room space, and the performance was followed by a reception at a nearby art gallery.

"The show went amazingly well," Suber said. "We had a great crowd and the students performed exceptionally."

New Orleans was the first stop on an international tour that will take "Spoglia" to New York City, Dublin, Paris and Rome. The next performance is April 20 at a sustainable arts facility in Brooklyn, Chez Bushwick, founded by Ithaca native Jonah Bokaer. For information, see http://www.chezbushwick.net.