Writer’s Choice: Plenty of dance on tap during spring break
Campus might not have its usual student bustle because spring recess clears the classrooms from March 15–23, but that doesn’t mean there’s nothing to do.
UW–Madison is hosting the American College Dance Festival Association’s (ACDFA) North-Central Regional Conference from Thursday, March 13–Sunday, March 16. The good news for those of us staying put during the recess is that there are hours and hours of free dance concerts by students and faculty to enjoy.
Alan Sener, chair of the Department of Dance at the University of Iowa, will be a guest artist in residence with UW–Madison’s Dance Program April 7–27. He’ll also participate in the ACDFA conference March 13–16.
More than 500 students and faculty from 33 colleges and universities from the Midwest, along with 30 students from Taiwan, will be on campus for classes, informal performances and concerts. For participants, the experience of taking master classes, seeing the concerts and listening to the adjudicators’ comments, as well as the energetic exchanges among dancers and faculty from other schools, is invaluable for dance students.
The ACDFA sponsors 10 regional conferences each year. They allow students and faculty to perform outside their own academic settings and be exposed to developments in the national sphere of college dance. Each spring, dance students rehearse for this conference like athletes practice for tournament competitions.
Happily for the rest of us, audience opportunities abound. There are five adjudication concerts, from which eight-10 dances will be selected for a gala concert on Sunday afternoon. Forty-three student dances are scheduled for judging and review during these five concerts.
The stakes of the adjudication and the gala concerts are high; three dances that make it to the gala concert will be selected to be performed in New York at the National College Dance Festival in June. The experience and exposure for the dance and dancers selected to represent the north-central region is significant.
All five adjudication concerts will take place in the Union Theater. The concerts will be held 11 a.m.–12:45 p.m. and 5–7 p.m. on Thursday, March 13; 10:45 a.m.–12:30 p.m. and 4:30–5:45 p.m. on Friday, March 14; and 11:15 a.m.–1:15 p.m. on Saturday, March 15.
Also scheduled during the conference are a global dance concert from 8–10 p.m. on Friday, March 14, in the Union Theater.
Attendees can also get a preview look at Alan Sener, chair of the Department of Dance at the University of Iowa. Sener will be a guest artist in residence with UW–Madison’s Dance Program April 7–27. A group work choreographed by Sener and performed by students will highlight the Spring Program Concert, to be held at 8 p.m., Thursday–Saturday, April 24–26.
For more information on the conference activities and other Dance Program events, visit the UW Dance Program or call 262-2353.