University of Wisconsin Dance Program faculty artists came together with campus colleagues Saturday to create “Splash,” an innovative convergence of science and art where interpretive dance explores the subject of science.
In its second year, the concert captivated the idea of the “thinking dancer,” exploring artistic, spatial, physical and conceptual relationships.
Performing this year’s concert at the Wisconsin Union Theater, professors collaborated in choreographing the performance to portray the academic aspect of the show.
The program featured live, rich and cultural music while using stage props such as digital screens and yards of fabric to create elegant, graceful pieces.
Hannah Wolf, UW junior and first year performer, said she thought it was great working with the faculty.
Wolf performed in “Transform 2,” which examined notions of the mind and brain. MRI images from seminal research done on campus were incorporated into the piece through the use of video projection.
“I loved the variety of dances in this concert,” Wolf said. “Multimedia seemed to be a common theme throughout the concert, as you saw from stage props such as the screen in ‘Transform 2,’ and videos used in other pieces.”
The dance program was able to include a guest artist by being awarded a master dance grant by the National Endowment for the Arts. New York-based Susan Marshall & Company members came to UW to help collaborate part of the concert.
Students of the dance program re-staged Marshall’s master work “Name by Name” and spent much time learning the piece from a video prior to Marshall’s arrival. Marshall flew in to oversee their final rehearsals.
“They worked so hard the last two weeks before the show, and the dance looked amazing,” Wolf said. “I think the audience really appreciated it.”
Megan Hastings, a UW junior, came to see her friends perform in the show. Hastings was intrigued by the spatial relationships of the dancers.
“I really liked how they collaborated dance, visual art and music from programs across the university to create a unique experience for the audience,” Hastings said.
Hastings said she particularly enjoyed the piece “Left at Right,” choreographed by UW dance professor Chris Walker. The piece was a traditional West African creation with African Caribbean and contemporary abstraction.
Hastings added she especially enjoyed the way the piece drew from various and differing styles of dance and said she appreciated the underlying message about finding one’s own identity.
Wolf hoped the audience appreciated the variety of all the pieces in the concert.
“This kind of dancing is not as popular as the mainstream styles we see on shows like ‘So You Think You Can Dance,'” Wolf said. “I hope the audience found a better understanding of what we do, and could relate to one, two, or all of the pieces in this concert.”
