Tango, rhumba and Indian bharata natyam will share the stage with contemporary multimedia works and live improvisation in Dance Closeup, the biennial concert of original choreography by Dance Program faculty in WUSTL’s Performing Arts Department in Arts & Sciences.
Performances begin at 8 p.m. Thursday and Friday, Sept. 7 and 8; and at 5 p.m. and 8 p.m. Saturday, Sept. 9, in the Annelise Mertz Dance Studio, located in Room 207, Mallinckrodt Student Center.
Tickets are $17 for the general public and $10 for students, children, senior citizens and University faculty and staff. Floor-mat seating — in keeping with the event’s intimate, informal atmosphere — is available for $6. Tickets are available at the Edison Theatre Box Office, located in the Mallinckrodt Student Center, and through all MetroTix outlets. For more information, call the box office at 935-6543.
Launched in 1995, Dance Closeup regularly serves as the unofficial kickoff to St. Louis’ professional dance season. This year’s installment will feature 10 works choreographed and performed by faculty and guest dancers.
“Dance Closeup always reflects the breadth of styles and expertise among the dance faculty,” said artistic director Mary-Jean Cowell, Ph.D., associate professor and coordinator of the Dance Program. “However, this year’s program is exceptional in its variety of approaches, including connections with the new field of performing arts and technology.”
The concert will feature “Leonardo’s Chimes,” an ambitious multimedia work by David Marchant, senior lecturer in dance, and composer John Toenjes of the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign. The piece uses motion-tracking technologies that allow Marchant to move through virtual “hot spots,” thus activating prerecorded sounds, which are then selected and layered by Toenjes.
“The computer has been programmed to change the pitches and general direction of the music depending on how the mover/performer chooses to play ‘Leonardo’s Chimes’ on any given night,” Marchant explained. “The result is a spontaneous ‘conversation’ among the musician, dancer and programmer.”
Henry Claude, music director for the Dance Program, will lead a performance by the Nuclear Percussion Ensemble. In addition, the group, which is dedicated to innovative percussion work, will collaborate with several of the dancers to create an improvisational piece.
Christine Knoblauch-O’Neal, senior lecturer in dance and director of the Ballet Program, will perform “Courtesan,” a solo work choreographed by Jennifer Medina, visiting assistant professor of dance at the University of Missouri-Kansas City and a company member with the Wylliams/Henry Danse Theatre.
“Movement has been drawn from the images of a courtesan’s life, as well as that of a captured bird,” Medina explained. “This dance is dedicated to women everywhere who have had to live their lives in a compromised way.”
Other featured dances are:
“Beauty Bound”: Cecil Slaughter, lecturer in dance, choreographs and performs this piece, which explores “personal transformation from uncertainty to hope and faith,” and is set to music of Operatica. Slaughter, who also serves as artistic director of the annual Washington University Dance Theatre, is founder and director of The Slaughter Project dance company.
“Tracings”: Adjunct instructor Dawn Karlovsky choreographs and performs a solo inspired by the flow and energy of Japanese calligraphy. The original score is composed by St. Louis musician Tory Z. Starbuck.
“Quietly”: Adjunct instructor Mary Mazello, a University alumna, choreographs and performs this modern-influenced jazz dance, set to music of Sigur Rós.
“Pastpresentpresentpastpresent”: Cowell choreographs and performs in this work for four dancers, which also features Marchant, Karlovsky and Mazello. Set to music of Arvo Pärt, the piece examines “the flow of awareness” and the constant revisiting and revising of memory.
“Nada Tanu Manisham”: Adjunct instructor Asha Prem choreographs and performs this classical Indian dance in the bharata natyam style, which honors the god Shiva (symbolized by the drum in the accompanying music). Prem is founder and director of St. Louis’ celebrated School of Dances of India.
“Tango and Rhumba”: Adjunct instructors Estella and Randy Ruzicka, founders of The Tango Society of St. Louis, choreograph and perform these traditional dances. Music for the tango will be “Ceylos” by J. Gadé. Music for the rhumba will be “Harlem Nocturne,” performed by the Mancini Orchestra.
“Lunar Tides”: Mary Ann Rund, adjunct instructor, choreographs and performs in this duet with Karlovsky.