By Sean Olson, University Relations
The annual Prime Movers concert is Dec. 2-3.
The Department of Dance will present some of its best student works with the Prime Movers Concert.
Performances will be at 8 p.m. Dec. 2 and 3, and at 2 p.m. Dec 3 in the UNCG Dance Theatre. Tickets are $5 for UNCG students with valid ID, $7 for all other students and seniors, and $10 general admission.
A reception hosted by the School of Health and Human Performance will take place after the Dec. 2 evening performance. The Dec. 3 matinee will be followed by a discussion with the choreographers.
Prime Movers is an organization of dance students. The choreographers are graduate students Amy Beasley, Erin Leigh Butchek, Emily Morgan and Madeleine Reber and undergraduate students Cherie Avent, Alex Lieberman, Maiya Newstead, Kristen Osborne, Gregory Rhodes and Amber Starr.
• Amy Beasley’s piece explores movement, positioning, placement, momentum and flow in dance. It is a work for five dancers moving in and out of a diagonal pathway.
• Set to the music of Yann Tiersen, graduate dance student Erin Leigh and theater major Alex Lieverman explore the moments in a relationship when commitments and choices are made and lost.
• Emily Morgan’s piece is set to a controversial Beatles song. “Schism” explores the moment when someone grasps for something, some person, some entity, some situation, some relationship. Split-second timing and aggressive moments highlight attachment and detachment amidst a collage of pedestrian movement and traditional dance vocabulary.
• Madeleine Reber’s “In Retrospect” is a revised version of a solo first performed in Solos West, an evening of improvised solos by women, in western Massachusetts. The new, more precisely choreographed solo combines idiosyncratic gesture with movement that falls and rebounds through space with moments of interruption that might refer to some other figure or idea.
• “Jects” is a solo work for Cherie Avent based on a character in the novel “There Are No Children Here.” Utilizing movement and spoken text, the piece intends to open the audience’s eyes to someone else’s life much as it has for the choreographer.
• Maiya Newstead’s piece “Don’t Hate the Game, Hate Tom” was first motivated by the band Rush and then inspired by the multidimensional character of Tom Sawyer. Newstead explores the notion of hatred and the way a person eventually becomes the thing he or she hates.
• Kristen Osborne’s “I was always thirsty” sheds light in the current genocide and conflict in Sudan through the personal story of one man’s life as a refugee. The four students involved in this piece wish to raise awareness and end with a message of hope. The piece features music by Moby, a news clip from NPR and narrative text by Wel Mayom Jok.
• “Addiction to You” is the product of an experiment using movement to help cope with life obstacles. A duet choreographed by Gregory Rhodes, the piece investigates the power of love and other mind-altering substances.
• Amber Starr’s “Orange … yum” is a piece with a little humor. Starr compares the process of peeling and eating an orange to the choreographic process.
For tickets, visit the UNCG Box Office online or call 336-334-4849. The UNCG Dance Theatre is located at the intersection of Kenilworth Street and Walker Avenue. Paid parking is available in the Walker Deck. A map of the university is available online.
For more information on this, other dance events, or information on the Department of Dance, visit the department's web page or call 336-334-5570.
