BOONE—The Appalachian Dance Ensemble will present their spring concert in the Schaefer Center for the Performing Arts on the Appalachian State University campus at 7:30 p.m. Thursday through Saturday, April 7–9. The event offers a mix of faculty and student choreographed dances, with an upbeat array of styles to suit all dance lovers.
According to concert coordinator Marianne Adams, there will be modern dance, contemporary ballet, hip-hop, dance/theatre and tap within the program of eight dances. Faculty members Cara Hagan, Regina Gulick, Susan Lutz and Kevin Warner, the new chair of the Theatre and Dance department, will contribute dances for the concert, while dance students Juliet Irving, Darius Gregory, Jason Dawkins and Kai Des Etages were selected to create original choreography.
Theatre faculty members John Marty and Mike Helms will create lighting design and mentor student designers Lizzie Vazquez and Kevin Pehush. Associate Professor Sue Williams will provide costume design, oversight and costume support for the show. Sarah Collins, an elementary education major and dance minor, will be the stage manager.
Ticket prices start at just $10 for students and faculty and only $17 for adults. For more information, visit http://theatreanddance.appstate.edu, contact the box office at 828-262-4046 or call the toll-free number 800-841-ARTS (2787). Tickets will also be sold at the door one hour in advance of each performance.
The Schaefer Center for the Performing Arts is located at 733 Rivers Street. After 5:00 p.m. on weekdays, and at all times on weekends, Schaefer Center patrons may use any available parking lot on campus. The Raley and Edwin Duncan parking lots are across Rivers Street and accessible through traffic light directly in front of the center. The stadium lot is behind the center and accessible from Stadium Drive. Covered parking is available at both the Rivers Street Parking Deck and the College Street Parking Deck.
The Department of Theatre and Dance is housed in the College of Fine and Applied Arts. Its mission is to provide liberal arts educations for the B.S. degree in teaching theatre arts and the B.A. degrees in dance studies or theatre arts. The department also values the opportunity to offer coursework for integrated learning through the arts to the general university student population. Vital to the support of this mission is a dynamic co-curricular production program that provides exemplary theatre and dance experiences to departmental students, the university community and the region. The departmental philosophy is to support the university’s liberal arts environment through a balanced and integrated emphasis on teaching, creative activity, scholarship and service.
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Media Contact:
Keith Martin
704-608-2755
martinkt1@appstate.edu
Additional Spring Appalachian Dance Ensemble Concert Information
“Elegy”, choreographed by dance faculty member Regina Gulick, this piece is a modern ballet inspired by life taking its twists and turns and set to music by Arvo Pärt. Nine dancers take the stage to navigate through unpredictable junctures along life’s path. Dr. Nancy Bargerstock and Jonathan Asbell from the Hayes School of Music will perform the music live. Lighting design will be created by John Marty, and costume design is by Sue Williams.
Student choreographer Kai Des Etages’ dance “Manipura” explores self-actualization and finding the path that serves you best. Seven dancers, moving in ways that are both confident and sultry, portray this concept. Music is Rihanna’s cover of Tame Impala’s “New Person, Same Old Mistakes.”
Dance student Jason Dawkins will contribute a modern dance that blends contemporary, ballet, jazz and African influences. His piece explores how we go through times in life where we feel lost, overwhelmed, and in need of something or someone but don’t fully express this need. This journey is entitled “If This Mouth Could Talk” and uses “Watermelon Man” an original score by Herbie Hancock.
“Tiny Potato on the Train” is an exploration in rhythm choreographed by Assistant Professor of Dance Studies Cara Hagan. Six tap dancers illuminate the space with a series of driving pulses countered by moments of quiet space. With no music to accompany the piece, the audience is invited to listen deeply to the interplay of dynamic, polyrhythm and tone.
Associate Professor Susan Lutz has created “Boxes”, which investigates the idea of what it means to be part of a community or group. The piece also addresses each member’s decision of when to fully integrate into and support the group and when to stand on one’s own.
Juliet Irving, a student choreographer, has created a dance that was inspired by the work of artist Carrie Mae Weems. Irving’s dance, “From Here I Saw What Happened and I Cried,” is a modern piece exploring the identity, history and burdens of the African-American community and is set to music recorded by the inmates of Mississippi State Penitentiary in 1947.
Darius Gregory, a junior theater performance and dance studies double major, has choreographed a dance entitled “Elemental” about the conflicting and complementary forces of nature’s elements fire, earth, water and air. The music for in this piece will be “Omega” by The Little Orchestra and “Earthquake” by Labyrinth (Noisia Remix).
“Greatest Show,” choreographed by Theatre and Dance Chair Kevin S. Warner, is a reworking of a dance originally made in 2013. The family-friendly piece explores the relationship between circus performers and their audience, and it challenges the dancers to explore intersections among theatricality, character development and dance. "While I love the polished performances of today's Cirque du Soleil productions, I still have a great affinity for the magic that traveling circus troupes created in the 1940s, 50s and 60s in communities throughout the United States,” Warner states. “This piece pays homage to the excitement of watching circus performers in action under the big top, as well as the challenges of presenting such performances in front of a live audience."
Photo: Faculty and student work will again be on display during the Spring Appalachian Dance Ensemble, with performances April 7 - 9 in the Schaefer Center for the Performing Arts on the Appalachian State University campus. Pictured from the most recent concert are Raquelle Pollock, left, and Lea Vosberg from “Centripetal," choreographed by Kathryn Ullom with movement contributions by the dancers. Photo credit: Jamille Wallick
Dancers perform at the Fall Appalachian Dance Ensemble
Faculty and student work will again be on display during the Spring Appalachian Dance Ensemble, with performances April 7 - 9 in the Schaefer Center for the Performing Arts on the Appalachian State University campus. Pictured from the most recent concert are Raquelle Pollock, left, and Lea Vosberg from “Centripetal," choreographed by Kathryn Ullom with movement contributions by the dancers. Photo credit: Jamille Wallick