Student choreography concert March 30-April 1

Student choreographers in the UW Dance Program will showcase their work in a spring concert March 30, 31 and April 1.

Works by choreographers Rya Beilke (senior, Jefferson, Wis.), Tamra Bisbee (junior, McFarland, Wis.), Rebecca Davis (senior, Colfax, Wis.), Nicole Tori Rogoski (senior, Stevens Point, Wis.), Tara Nicole Stamm (senior, Oak Creek, Wis.), and Nora Stephens (senior, Brookline, Mass.) will be performed in the concert.

Details: Performances are scheduled Mar. 30-Apr.1 at 8 p.m. in the Margaret H’Doubler Performance Space, Lathrop Hall, 1050 University Ave. in Madison. Tickets are $8/general public and $5/students and senior citizens, and can be purchased in advance at the Wisconsin Union Theater Box Office, 800 Langdon Street (608) 262-2201 or at the door.

The pieces in this semester’s student concert include live and video dance as well as solo and group works. Also incorporated in the choreography is a wide array of costumes, props, and sound accompaniment including live music performed by a didgiridu player and vocalist, electronically manipulated sound collages, and spoken text, both pre-recorded and live.

“The students have branched out and used the various tools available to them through the program, like sound and video technology,” says Douglas Rosenberg, Dance Program assistant professor and director of the concert. “By collaborating with other artists, they’ve expanded their creative abilities into other areas and as a result, their work has been greatly enhanced.”

The choreographers are responsible for all aspects of the concert: creating the dances, holding auditions, scheduling and conducting rehearsals, designing costumes and working with the Dance Program’s technical director on production elements such as sound and lighting.

Slated for presentation in the concert are:

• “Just a Man’s Wife?,” by Beilke, is a multi-media work using video, recorded text and music, live speaking, and dance to address issues of abuse and exploitation of women in today’s society.
• “Impulse,” by Bisbee, is a solo created by using animal-inspired movements to create a naturalistic movement environment through dance.
• “Saltwater I and II,” by Davis, are a video dance and a group work dealing with imagination and fantasy.
• “Wide Angle,” by Rogoski, is a piece using group dynamics to explore the themes of advancing and retreating, linear versus circular movement, and interactions between the dancers.
• “Clara,” by Stamm, is a solo movement portrait exploring the personalities and emotions of a woman with multiple personality disorder.
• “Beats,” one of four pieces in the concert by Stephens, is a video dance piece shot outside during a snowstorm set to a poem written by the choreographer.

Performances are scheduled at 8 p.m. in the Margaret H’Doubler Performance Space, Lathrop Hall, 1050 University Ave. in Madison. Tickets are $8/general public and $5/students and senior citizens, and can be purchased in advance at the Wisconsin Union Theater Box Office, 800 Langdon Street (608) 262-2201 or at the door.

More information: UW–Madison Dance Program, (608) 262-1691.