Spring Dance Concert Upcoming April 11-14
April 04, 2018
With an exciting range of thematic material, dance styles, and guest artists, ODU Dance Program presents its annual University Dance Theatre Spring Concert.
NYC-based Ephrat Asherie is known for creating a new movement language that combines the rawness of underground styles such as breaking, house, hip-hop, and vogue with a contemporary dance aesthetic. Her works explore the inherent narrative qualities of social dance as a means to tell stories, develop innovative imagery and find new modes of expression. The group piece presented will be the product of her 5-day residency at ODU.
The concert will include the light and whimsical Songs of Spring, choreographed by Professor Marilyn Marloff. This modern dance group piece will be accompanied by music by Puccini and Johan Strauss II.
What happens when your head disconnects from your body, from your heart, from your soul? Unsettling, eerie, and awkward, a new piece by Assistant Professor Megan Thompson, adjunct professor Victoria Fink, and guest artist Jen Stone explores the weight of the head and its connection to, and disconnection from, the body.
The inspiration for adjunct professor Natalia Schradle's piece is the current political climate. Questions such as "who gets a voice, a say?" and "what difference can we even make?" propel the creation of the gestural movement within the dance. There are short duets and trios that penetrate the sea of moving bodies in space. Individual bodies moving in a jerky, "puppet-like" way are contrasted with sustained and elegant partnering.
"We attempt to disown our difficult stories to appear more whole or more acceptable, but our wholeness actually depends on the integration of all of our experiences, including the falls." (Brene Brown) Adjunct professor Cara Dixon has created a contemporary piece, "Integrate," about coming to terms with loss and grief, becoming whole again, through accepting imperfections in ourselves and others, and through accepting the many rich and varied gifts of connection, no matter the length of time we are given.
Renowned choreographer Pina Bausch passed away in 2009 but her work continues to inspire people around the world. In fact, over the past year thousands of people have heeded the call from the Pina Bausch Foundation to create their own version of The NELKEN-Line - a dance film that incorporates choreography from her stage work Nelken. Assistant Professor Megan Thompson, adjunct professor Natalia Schradle, and ODU Film alumnus Jeremy Bates collaborate with ODU dancers to make a film that celebrates Pina Bausch, the ODU community and the beauty of dance.
A continuation of the research visiting Assistant Professor Katie Iacono did last semester in her solo Cinniuint, this Spring we see her group work investigating the relationship between woman and new baby. In this case, the monotony of rocking a child in exhausted arms holds symbolic relevance in defining a new mother's changed identity. Where does the baby end and the woman begin?
The Spring 2018 Concert will be in the University Theatre, located at 4608 Hampton Blvd. Shows will be at 7:30 pm on April 11th, 12th, and 13th, and at 2:00 pm and 7:30 pm on April 14th.
Tickets are $12 for ODU students, $14 general admission until April 1st, $15 for students and $20 for general admission thereafter. Tickets may be purchased in advance at www.ODUArtsTix.com or by contacting the Box Office at (757) 683-5305. Box Office hours are Monday-Friday 11 am-3 pm, and on show dates beginning at 6:30 pm. Free parking is available in Garage D, 1065 W. 46th St.