The origins of The Poisonous Ladies began at a young age for performer Amir Levi. In 1999, as a third-year high school student participating in the academically advanced International Baccalaureate program, Levi's Drama class was presented with the challenge of individually directing one-acts. Feeling inspired by the song "All That Jazz", Levi decided instead to choreograph a dance, thereby embarking out onto a creative and challenging path which would eventually earn him the reputation of a risk taker. Levi hand selected his dancers, something he still does today because of the importance of personality and performance quality in his choreography. However, in 1999 with his first emergence into the world of creating dances, Levi simply wanted to make his piece as interesting and as full of life as possible. He trained his eye on girls that had shown the most personality in his high school's musicals, as well as girls that had a special flair or unique quality in their day-to-day movement. Once his cast was assembled, Levi purchased small clip-on frogs for each dancer to wear both as a symbol that they were a unified group and also as a token of his appreciation for their willingness and excitement to be working with him. When inquired by a dancer as to the name of their newly formed unit, Amir found himself at an unusual loss for words. His dancer suggested that because they were all  wearing Poisonous Tree Frogs to identify themselves as Levi dancers, then in the spirit of the small creatures they should call themselves The Poisonous Ladies. The name stuck. When Levi's interpretation of  "All That Jazz" was performed to unparalleled success at the presentation of One-Acts, Levi received a second bit of inspiration and decided that he wanted to head the dance department his senior year. Although the administration didn't agree, Levi hand selected another group of girls and by the end of the year produced his own show, showcasing The Poisonous Ladies . Levi and his dancers received a standing ovation and a choreographer was born. In fall of 2000, Levi began his studies in the dance department of Sarah Lawrence College under the direction of Sara Rudner, RoseAnne Thom and Emily Devine. Using his first semester to acclimate himself to the college dance scene and to observe dancers, Levi quickly began to assemble the next incarnation of The Poisonous Ladies once the spring semester rolled around. In the same spirit of his first two castings, Levi looked for dancers who had personalities that would shine onstage and he featured them in theatrical works that catered to their performance abilities. Always credited as The Poisonous Ladies , Levi began to gather a following among Sarah Lawrence students. Affectionately nicknamed "Jazz Pants" because of the long hours he logged wearing dance pants in the studio, Levi and his dancers always performed to the excitement and anticipation of his diverse fan base. As a senior, Levi participated in a dance-making seminar under the guidance of acclaimed performers and creators Sara Rudner, Neil Greenberg and Dan Hurlin. He choreographed two pieces, Variations on a Love Theme and Drop 22 , both of which debuted to amazing receptions and the latter of which received a standing ovation, something rarely seen at Sarah Lawrence College. Levi is currently working with the latest incarnation of The Poisonous Ladies, rebuilding previously premeired pieces and creating new works. Levi works with ten dancers from the New York dance scene and premiered both Rain and Four at the first date of his 2005 Winter Season.  The Poisonous Ladies current repertoire includes the following works:  The Last Time I Died (2006) Summer 2005 (2006) Rain (2005) Four (2005) Drop 22 (2004) Variations on a Love Theme (2003) While the Master Sleeps… (2002) Sensuality (2001) For more information regarding our performance dates, please see the Poisonous Events section of our website.