February 22, 2007

Danceworks shows span pop/rap to Gypsy folk

“Danceworks 2007,” an annual showcase of the finest choreography of the Dance Program faculty and alumni, will feature a diverse program of new dances by eight choreographers. The works will be performed to music that will range from Brazilian pop/rap and Gypsy folk songs to West African drums.

Performances will be held at 8 p.m. Feb. 23; 8 p.m. Feb. 24; 2 p.m. Feb. 25; 8 p.m. Feb. 28; 8 p.m. March 1; 8 p.m., March 2; 8 p.m. March 3; and 2 p.m. March 4, at the Josephine Louis Theatre.

Joseph Mills, director of the Dance Program, will direct this year’s production. His new work, “Zabumba!,” begins with a melancholy “Bossanovaesque” rhythm and ends in a raucous bacchanal of carnivalesque comedy. It will be performed to instrumental music sung in Portuguese that is a fusion of Brazilian, pop and electronica recorded by the Dutch band Zuco 103.

Dance faculty member Billy Siegenfeld’s rhythmic jazz-influenced folk dance is interspersed with earthy, gritty voices. Titled “god of dirt,” it is a series of duets-within-ensembles. The dancers heavy-booted movements mark out a ritual site for the affirmation of earth and the community that depends on it. It will be danced to Goran Bregovic’s Gypsy folk songs.

Jeff Hancock has created a new dance using a combination of jazz and contemporary movements he and the dancers developed. Titled “Mis(s)connect,” it explores communication technologies, highlighting the sometimes helpful and occasionally confusing barrage of information we all face in our daily lives. It will be performed to music by various artists, including Keith Sweat, Frank Zappa and Sam Cooke.

Dance faculty member Laura Wade is remounting a modern work from the AKASHA Dance Company repertoire called “The Once Not Remembered.” It features nine vignettes about various types of relationships (men and women, two sisters, three women in one large skirt, etc.) and is performed by five dancers. Martin Kravitz originally choreographed the work in 1981, with music by Alexander Scriabin.

Sheelah Muhammad will present two traditional West African dances from Guinea. “Yankadi” is a popular dance of courtship danced by the Soussou, Temine and Mendenyi ethnic groups in the country’s low coast region. “Macru” is a fervent dance celebrating the success of courtship.

“Stubborn Little Mules” by Dance Program alumna Jenny Shore is the tale of three parentless siblings living in wartime. Through gesture and expressive movement that ranges from lyric to militaristic, audiences will see the three dancers play, bicker, and plan and build in preparation for the last stand. It will be performed to music by a Czech rock ‘n’ roll band called Psi Vojaci.

Alumnae Stephanie Paul and Kevin Durnbaugh are collaborating on a piece that is still untitled. It will explore how a group of dancers becomes a rhythmic community, and as a group both submits to and resists a piece of music. It will be danced to “Everybody Daylight,” a rock song by the Brightblack Morning Light.

To order “Danceworks 2007” tickets, call the Theatre and Interpretation Center box office at (847) 491-7282 or order online at www.tic.northwestern.edu.