Tonight faculty and student works will be presented at Hampshire College’s annual Winter Dance Concert in the main Dance Studio in the Longsworth Arts Village. The concert will include six acts which negotiate relationships through movement.
The Dance acts presented are all performed and choreographed by student and faculty dancers. Unlike many dance concerts in which routines are based on popular culture, the choreography distinctly explores symbolic events in the life of the performer or choreographer.
Lauren Anne Samuelson will perform a routine titled “Some [No] Thing.” The theme behind this piece is the study of one’s relationship with the self. This act will be followed by a sequel “Alone, Together,” a duet which muses on the everyday life shared by two people.
Chani Bockwinkel, a senior at Hampshire, will fill the stage with engaging movement and humor. Bockwinkel will be involved in a trio called “Spoon, Wall, Gap,” which will incorporate both a live performance and a film to illuminate images of the day-to-day with a fresh perspective.
Katrina De Wees, a junior at Hampshire, has been working on her dance, “Melomeander,” for about five months, since September 2009.
De Wees says, “My work takes place in three different scenes, in three different times, and is of three different women who are co-existing on stage.”
De Wees choreographed her dance based on research of her personal ancestry and the legacy of sexual and other violence against black women. The three different women she refers to are herself, Harriet Jacobs and her great, great, great grandmother. De Wees has completed genealogical research on her ancestry and her place within the context of the history and legacy of slavery, sexual violence and abuse, and the spirit of survival in black women.
“Furthermore, it is an interpretation of the present moment of black women, told through my personal interpretation,” De Wees said.
The performances will encompass all styles of dance. While post-modern is a main focus, contemporary, hip-hop and break dance vocabularies will be incorporated. Fritha Pengelly, a visiting professor of dance, will present a dance for eight women with athletic and rhythmic movement which will include more joyous and upbeat routines that use hip-hop, break dance and contemporary styles.
The Winter Dance Concert will take place Thursday through Saturday, February 18 to 20. Tickets are ten dollars for the public and five dollars for students with a Five College identification.
Lisa Linsley can be reached at [email protected].
