January 20, 2004
‘Danceworks 2004’ Opens
in February
EVANSTON, Ill.
--- “Danceworks 2004,” is an annual
showcase of the finest choreography of Northwestern University’s
Dance Program, which this season celebrates its 25th anniversary.
This year’s show features 44 dancers -- the largest cast
ever assembled since the show’s inception.
“Danceworks 2004” will
be performed at 7:30 p.m. Feb. 27 and Feb. 28; 2 p.m. Feb. 29;
7:30 p.m. March 4, March 5
and March 6; and 2 p.m. March 7, at the Josephine Louis Theatre,
20 Arts Circle Drive, Evanston campus.
Choreographer
Billy Siegenfeld, who is artistic director of the acclaimed Jump
Rhythm Jazz Project and a Northwestern dance faculty
member, will direct this year’s show.
“The variety of choreography is richer and deeper than
ever before with a line-up of works by dance faculty members and
guests artists such as Moustapha Bangoura, a former member of Les
Ballets Africains, and Bril Barrett, artistic director of M.A.D.D.
Rhythms, a Chicago-based tap company,” said Siegenfeld, describing
some of the highlights of the group dances in the show.
Bangoura, a native of the Republic of Guinea, has choreographed
a traditional West African dance that will be performed to live
drumming. Bangoura was assisted in the re-mounting of this piece
by dancer Sheelah Muhammed.
In addition
to being artistic director of M.A.D.D. Rhythms, Barrett also
teaches intermediate tap at Northwestern. His dance “Cute,
or Something Like That” will use an array of complex rhythms
performed by some of Northwestern’s most talented tappers
to honor past masters like Charles “Honi” Coles, Buster
Brown and Gregory Hines.
Joseph Mills,
the new director of Northwestern University’s
Dance Program, has choreographed a work called “Float.” It
is a dance that flirts with the dynamics of house music, while
the performers manipulate and dance with helium balloons. Guest
alumna, choreographer Jenny Shore, is a 2003 graduate of the University’s
Dance Program. With wit and hard-edged rhythms, her choreography
for “Big Time” captures the hysteria latent in 1950s
behavior.
Siegenfeld’s contribution to the show will be excerpts
from his work “Sorrows of Unison Dancing” which his
own company recently premiered in its last Chicago season. “Sorrows” contrasts
the tension between conventional social behaviors, as expressed
through academic dance forms, and the angularities and offbeat
energies of vernacular movement. Jump Rhythm Jazz Project Rehearsal
Director Brandi Coleman assisted in the re-creation of this piece.
The explosive,
flung movements of Laura Wade’s piece “Haunt” focus
on the tormented reactions of individuals who resist the pulls
of a group towards conformity.
Lisa Wymore’s “DryLand” evokes through movement,
voice, scenic and video equivalents both the freedom and barrenness
of America’s unpopulated Western landscapes. Wymore also
serves as the associate artistic director of “Danceworks” and
is the co-artistic director of her own Chicago-based company, Smith/Wymore
Performance Group.
In conjunction
with “Danceworks 2004,” the Northwestern
University Dance Program will present a special “Children’s
Introduction to the Dance” program at 10:30 a.m. Saturday,
March 6, for youngsters aged 4 and up. The program will be held
at the Josephine Louis Theatre and will include demonstrations
and excerpts from most of the dances performed in “Danceworks
2004” performed by the show’s 44-member cast. An interactive
segment will allow children to move in their seats. Dance faculty
member Susan A. Lee will moderate the children’s program.
“Danceworks” is
part of Northwestern University 2003-04 Mainstage season, which
is generously supported by the Sara Lee
Foundation.
Tickets for “Danceworks 2004” range from $9 to $17.
All tickets for the March 6 “Children’s Introduction
to the Dance” are $5. To order tickets by phone, call (847)
491-7282. |