Fall Faculty Concert promises innovative dance
If you are one of the millions watching the reality TV show “Dancing with the Stars” or, like me, get hooked each summer on “So You Think You Can Dance?”, perhaps it’s time to turn away from the TV’s seductive glow and experience the passion, joy and creative energy of a live dance performance. A terrific opportunity awaits in the form of the Dance Program’s Fall Faculty Concert planned for Thursday, Nov. 20-Saturday, Nov. 22 — although it is likely to be free of cheesy costumes and strictly ballroom moves.
Dance students in assistant professor’s Chris Walker’s African Performance class rehearse “Pulse,” a new work choreographed by Walker to be performed in the UW–Madison Dance Program’s Fall Faculty Concert, Nov. 20-22, at 8 p.m. in Lathrop Hall.
On the program are innovative, contemporary choreography by Dance Program faculty, performances by student dancers, and the collaborative work of artists, writers and musicians. The concert will also showcase unexpected, imaginative dance work created by the dazzling Chris Elam, guest artist in residence.
Elam’s repertory dance company, Misnomer Dance Theater, was named one of the top 10 dance performances for 2006 by The New York Times and as one of the “25 to Watch” for 2007 by Dance Magazine. His choreography has been described as unpredictable, playful, absurd and poignant.
Elam will present an excerpt from “Zipper.” The entire work will premiere next month. “Zipper” is an exploration into the ways that snippets of interpersonal human situations can recede and emerge out of spatial, sculptural and temporal abstraction.
Two new assistant professors in the Dance Program, Chris Walker and Kate Corby, will present their choreography in this concert.
One of Walker’s pieces, “Metropolis Meadows,” is a collaborative piece that includes the work of Benjamin Edwards, a former visiting artist at Tandem Press; UW–Madison’s First Wave Hip Hop Theater Ensemble; and the Dance Program. Also on the program is “Pulse,” which contains the rhythms, movements and traditions of Africa and the Caribbean performed by students in Walker’s African performance class.
Corby’s piece, “Liquidate,” is a dance theater work for six dancers that explores deconstruction and disintegration through contrasting movements. Set against a backdrop of contemporary electronic music, it challenges traditional constructs of form through experimentation and a pair of very shiny scissors.
Marlene Skog, associate faculty associate, will showcase nine female dancers performing in a work set to music by Madison composer Matan Rubenstein. The modern ballet was inspired by the plights of women throughout history, including recent abuses of women workers in the textile industry in the Mariana Islands.
Other works being presented includes choreography by Li Chiao-Ping set on freshman dance composition students, which will be their first stage performance as new students on campus. A ballet duet (on point) choreographed by Jin-Wen Yu will also be performed.
All performances are at 8 p.m. in the Margaret H’Doubler Performance Space in Lathrop Hall. Advance tickets are available through the Wisconsin Union Theater Box Office. They may be purchased at online; by phone, 262-2201; or in person during regular box office hours. Any tickets remaining will be sold at the door in Lathrop Hall starting one hour before each concert. Tickets are $15 for the general public; $10 for students and seniors. Student tickets for the Thursday performance are $5. For more information on the fall faculty concert, call 262-1691.
