Dance Program Fall Concert 2017

For Immediate Release

October 24, 2017

The NC State Dance Program, one of the six programs of Arts NC State, will present its annual fall concert in Stewart Theatre inside Talley Student Union on Thursday, Nov. 16 and Friday, Nov. 17.

The Dance Program Fall Concert features NC State students in all majors –– ranging from biochemistry to chemical engineering –– who will perform research-based, content-driven artwork in choreography by dance faculty, guest artists and advanced dance program students. This year, the concert features modern, African diaspora, hip-hop, house, urban-Latin, Afro-Cuban and Bollywood styles. The concert’s highlight is a social justice piece Agua Furiosa, one of the four NC State’s innovative projects combining art, science and humanities that was presented at “ACCelerate: ACC Smithsonian Creativity and Innovation Festival” at the National Museum of American History in Washington, D.C. in October.

The Panoramic Dance Project, the university’s academic dance company presenting diverse dance styles in a world context, will perform an excerpt from Agua Furiosa (2015) choreographed by Maria Alvarez of an activist-oriented Los Angeles-based company Contra-Tiempo. Inspired by Shakespeare’s The Tempest and Oya, the Afro-Cuban deity of wind and storms, the piece blends salsa, Afro-Cuban movement, hip-hop and other forms of contemporary dance. The choreography deals with the harsh realities of race (Black Lives Matter), economic inequity, gun violence (“Hands up, don’t shoot”) and other issues by presenting the forces of nature as a metaphor for social justice. The company will also present an excerpt of James (2011) by the company’s newly appointed artistic director Francine E. Ott who studied and danced with Camille A. Brown & Dancers. The piece is a spiritual hybrid of hip-hop, house, modern and African diaspora dances. Ott’s creative process integrates dance, choreography and the mental health field, which allowed each student to seek, find and deepen their understanding of self, relationships, people and the world around them.

The NCSU Dance Company, NC State’s modern dance company, will present an excerpt from Cinderbox 2.0. (2007) in choreography by Julia Rhoads and members from Lucky Plush Productions, Chicago’s ensemble known for its hybrid of high-level dance and theatre. Cinderbox 2.0. explores the comedy and anxiety in our hyper-networked and the concepts of live and virtual, private and public, observer and observed, improvised and choreographed in a reality TV style . The work originally premiered in 2007 at the Museum of Contemporary Art in Chicago. The company will also perform the program director Tara Mullins’ work All That Ever Falls (2013), which will represent NC State at the American College Dance Association Conference (ACDA) in March of 2018. Inspired by the determination of Mullins’ niece to persevere under challenging circumstances, the piece addresses the concepts of self-forgiveness, redemption, unconditional love and healing.

For the first time in the history of the dance program, the concert will feature a blend of classical Indian and Western dance forms in Nakhre choreographed by NC State College of Sciences alumna Neelam Patel. This repertory piece intends to accommodate more dance styles and to serve a larger student population who are willing to receive a deep training in choreography and performance. Nakhre is filled with joy and elation and is set in an upbeat mood as the young women allure their spectators.

The fall concert will also showcase original works of six dance program students who took an advanced-level course Independent Study in Dance (DAN 498), including Arts NC State Creative and Performing Artist Awards winners and dance minors Gini Brown and Raine Conti. The dance themes include eating disorder, emotional and psychological abuse, revealing sexual orientation and person’s relationship with her/himself.

Tickets for the Dance Program Fall Concert are available at the door on the night of the show, online, in person at Ticket Central and by phone at 919-515-1100 (M-F, 1-6pm). Prices are $5 for NC State students; $8 for NC State faculty and staff, senior citizens and non-NC State students; and $10 for the general public. Free parking is available in the Coliseum Parking Deck after 5 p.m.

About the Dance Program Fall Concert:
The fall concert gives a taste of what the dance program has to offer to NC State students who pursue non-arts majors but want to receive a deep training in performance and choreography.

About the Dance Program:
As one of the six programs of Arts NC State, the NC State Dance Program gives NC State students in any major the opportunity to study dance through choreography and performance. Here, we do more than teach technique — we take a research-based, content-driven approach to creating beautiful, meaningful art. Learn more about the Dance Program programming here.

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