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New Dances 2008 By: Staff Apr 7, 2008 WHAT: New Dances 2008
WHEN: April 11- April 20, 2008
Fridays, Saturdays at 8 pm; Sundays at 6 pm
WHERE: Mainstage Theatre, UAA Fine Arts Building
Free parking is available
‘New Dances 2008’ features 40 performers in 11 diverse dance works
ANCHORAGE – Celebrated choreographer Augusto Soledade, Artistic Director of Brazz Dance Theatre of Miami, Florida, has created “Divertimento” for eight members of the UAA Dance Ensemble, to be performed next month for “New Dances 2008.” Using music by Alceu Valenasa and Ramiro Musotto and costumes designed by UAA Theatre Prof. Fran Lautenberger, Soledade has blended contemporary and Afro-Brazilian dance styles to create a light, free-spirited work. Soledade is a native of Bahia, Brazil, and currently serves as Assistant Professor in Dance at Florida International University in Miami.
Katherine Kramer, in her 10th residency with the UAA Dance Program, has been a vital presence in the resurgence of classic jazz and tap dance since the 1970s. For “New Dances 2008,” Kramer has created “Between the Lines.” While often using jazz and tap as the focus of her work, Kramer adds to it her experience in modern dance, improvisation, ballroom and Afro Cuban dance and rhythms, thus creating an expressive genre rooted in the complexity, variety and spontaneity of jazz music.
Besides “Divertimento” and “Between the Lines,” the UAA Department of Theatre and Dance presentation of “New Dances 2008,” to be performed on weekends from April 11 through April 20, includes nine other dance works, two by UAA faculty and seven by student choreographers.
Dance faculty member Brian Jeffery’s lush movement style sweeps across the stage to music by Mice Parade in “Several Things About Spring,” with four male and four female members of the UAA Dance Ensemble. The work received national attention when it recently premiered at the Northwest Regional American College Dance Festival at the University of Utah in Salt Lake City. Faculty member Katya Kuznetsova's new work, “Ruffle Shuffle,” is inspired by the awe of petticoats and set to "Ievan's Polkka" by the Finnish quartet Loituma as well as several selections by Pink Martini. “Ruffle Shuffle” features lots of bright colored ruffles that tickle the funny bone in a "folk-nouveau" style.
“New Dances” showcases 40 performers from the UAA Department of Theatre and Dance. Diversity in choreographic styles and ideas is a strong attribute of the seven different "New Dances" student choreographers.
Irenerose Castillo’s “Fusion” combines the hard-hitting style of hip hop with the fluidity of modern dance, supported with rhythmic beats and playful piano mixed by Davy D and Mike Cee. Two hearts are literally and metaphorically connected in Aurora Pease’s “Heartstring” scored to music by Emilie Simon. Steven Siebe’s “As Heavy as a Hummingbird, But More Difficult to Find” contrasts the endlessly organic and free-form ideas of nature with those of the more rigid, exacting and structured forms offered by math, all set to the snappy, unexpectedly upbeat music of Bonobo.
A confection of found sounds, folk blues, trip-hop and experimental recordings by Coco Rosie supports the action and emotions occurring on stage in Ruby Kennell’s “Terrible Angels,” while animated projections by Craig Updegrove combine with violent, pedestrian movements in this multi-layered dance-theatre performance piece. Kat Cunningham’s “Mental Restraint Hardly Justifies Damage Against Silent Visions” reflects on the subject of death and is danced to the soothing yet riveting vocals of Elisa. Stephanie Hector's "Together...in time," developed out of the realization of the boundless human capacity to love, is supported by the hopeful and intimate music dynamics of 2econd Class Citizen and Four Tet.
Ticket Prices - All seats are General Admission, same prices for Fri/Sat/Sun shows.
General Admission: $10.
UAA Students: $8.
Tickets available through the UAA Theatre Box Office at 786-4TIX
Media note: For more information about “New Dances 2008,” or to arrange interviews with members of the cast and/or choreographers, contact Brian Jeffery at 786-1688 or bjefferyx@yahoo.com. For other questions about the UAA Department of Theatre and Dance, contact the main department office at 786-1792.
Visit the UAA Dance Web site http://dance.uaa.alaska.edu/.
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