NewsRelease

(Posted 2-12-04)
Contact: Tiffany Aumann, 336-334-5371

MFA Dance Concert Features Local Artists, Issues

GREENSBORO - The UNCG Department of Dance will present "rEvolutions," an MFA thesis concert, Friday and Saturday, Feb. 27-28, at 8 p.m. in the Dance Theater on Walker Ave.  The concert will feature the original modern, tap and jazz choreography of graduate student Erin Brown Craven with performances by 24 UNCG dance students. An art display and live musical performance by Greensboro artists will also be featured.

Craven hails from Minnesota where she earned her BA degree in dance from St. Olaf College in 1996.  The five pieces that will be presented on the evening’s program are a culmination of her choreographic work since entering UNCG’s graduate program in 2001.

One of the premiere works of the evening weaves together dance, music, spoken text and video images to tell the story of five labor and community organizers who were killed in Greensboro on Nov. 3, 1979. This dance documentary focuses on the experiences of four women who were widowed on that day and features excerpted interviews from Emily Mann’s “Greensboro: A Requiem” and another conducted by Signe Waller, author of “Love and Revolution.”  Live and recorded music by Scott Pryor and Cesar Alvarez, two Greensboro composers, provide the musical landscape for the piece. A collection of oil paintings by Guilford College student Aliene Howell depicting images from the massacre will be on display in the lobby of the Dance Theater.

“Suite Jazz,” also a premiere, features classic jazz choreography in three sections. The music of Bebo Valdes and Chacuo, Olu Dara and Los Hombres Calientes inspired this sensual and energetic piece made up of a duet, solo and group piece.

“Trashed” features rhythm tap choreography with a contemporary twist. Seven dancers manipulate aluminum cans and newspapers to create compelling rhythms that culminate in percussive cacophony. Music by Medeski, Martin & Wood and video projections displaying images of pollution and waste accompany this dance.
The fragility and resilience of the human spirit is the theme of “Buried February,” performed by six dancers to music by Rachmaninoff. “Undertow,” another contemporary piece, was inspired by underwater life cycles and features an original musical score by Samuel Gallo.

Tickets will be available through the University Box Office and reservations can be made by calling (336) 334-4849.  Admission is $10 for adults, $7 for students and seniors, and $5 for UNCG students.  Entrance to the theater is on Walker Avenue, across the street from the parking garage.

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