As it turns out, choreography and the economy have something in common.
The University of Wisconsin Dance Program will showcase “Stimulus Package: an Evening of Dance,” on Feb. 26 through 28 at Lathrop Hall, in which emerging choreographers from the UW undergraduate dance program will perform original works.
According to Doreen Adamany, senior university relations specialist for the UW Dance program, “[The show] is a sign of the times, and in keeping with the state of the economy, our ‘Stimulus Package: An Evening of Dance’ is designed to showcase the arts as well as stimulate public spending with ticket prices set at a rate students and the general public can afford.”
In order for these choreographers to participate in this program, they went through a rigorous audition process, which involved the completion of Dance Composition 225 and the performance of a self-choreographed piece.
Once their pieces were accepted for a slot in the performance, modifications had to be made. As a result, each piece transformed greatly from the original showing for the auditions.
According to UW junior and choreographer of one of the show’s individual performances, “Equator,” Brittany Wittmann, “The product that will be shown in the student concert this weekend looks and feels almost nothing like what it was in September due to intense editing, cutting, rearranging and adding of details.”
Freshman and dance major Shelby Sonnenberg had the opportunity to work with senior Kati Theisen on a piece entitled “Dependence.” She said she believes she has gained a lot from the experience of working with a peer as her choreographer.
“I enjoyed having Kati as a director because she understood what would work with each of our bodies and used those positives to create an amazing piece.”
Several of these works, including the headliner “Concrete,” were chosen to compete in this year’s American College Dance Festival Association’s North-Central Regional Conference. In March, many dance majors will travel to the University of Minnesota-Twin Cities, where they will perform at the conference.
“Concrete” is a dance which involved the collaboration of nine choreographers as well as two spoken-word artists from the First Wave Hip Hop Theatre Ensemble. Choreographer Melissa Erickson, a UW junior, elaborated on the concept of “Concrete.”
“The two poets had poems that they wanted us to work with. They wanted to see how we took their words and interpreted them with movement,” Erickson said.
“Concrete” came to be partly due to a performance for the Bascom Hill Society. At that recital, students worked with First Wave under Chris Walker, assistant dance professor and director of First Wave.
As student and choreographer, Mychelyn Marie McConley states, “The piece was a huge hit, and we knew we had something great on our hands and right there at our disposal.”
Walker brought the nine students together to choreograph the piece around the spoken word poetry.
“Working in this manner was something the other dancers and I haven’t experienced before,” Erickson said of her experience with the project. “By working closely with the poets and their work, it was interesting to see how we (the dancers/choreographers) generated and discovered different movement. Working with live text was also another new concept.”
“Stimulus Package: An Evening of Dance” will be performed Feb. 26 to 28 at 8 p.m. in the Margaret H’Doubler Performance hall in Lathrop Hall. Tickets are $10 for students/seniors and $15 for the general public. They are available through the Wisconsin Union Theater Box Office.
