A
lighthearted, athletic dance created during a week-long residency by
Chicago-based choreographer Autumn Eckman will be featured at Danstage 2015 at
the University of Wisconsin-Stevens Point.
The
dance piece “Yes, And…!” explores human nature and curiosity. The title is
inspired by one of the basic tenets of improvisation in which actors respond to
any question with a reply of “Yes, and ….” Student dancers will gesture and
move to the multi-patterned musical sounds of the Barbatuques, a Brazilian
percussion group.
A
concert of original choreography by faculty and guests, Danstage will be held
in the Studio Theatre at the Noel Fine Arts Center at 7:30 p.m. on Friday and
Saturday, April 10-11 and April 15-18. A matinee will be held at 2 p.m. Sunday,
April 12.
Audiences
will be seated on three sides, providing multiple views of choreography by
Eckman and Department of Theatre and Dance faculty members Michael Estanich,
Jeannie Hill, Joan Karlen and Scott Wirtz-Olson.
Eckman
worked with students on her piece during a week-long residency in March,
supported by the College of Fine Arts and Communication Great Artists, Great
Speakers series. She teaches dance at Northern Illinois University’s School of
Theatre and Dance and has served as a director for Giordano Dance Chicago. She
has performed and danced with groups around the country.
“A
Place at the Edge of the World to Call Our Own” was inspired by passages from
Henry David Thoreau’s “Walden” and Estanich’s personal reflections on solitude
and quiet.
Hill’s
“Celtic Peregrination” fuses elements of Irish traditional dance and music with
contemporary funk and style and American tap with traditional Irish step
dancing.
The
Sky, Boxed” by Karlen, reflects themes from her 2001 sabbatical travel in
Argentina and New York and the post-9/11 events of the time. The dancers carry
replicas of World War II signaling mirrors that serve as IDs and translate an
upside-down world.
In
Wirtz-Olsen’s “Exaltation of Spirit,” dancers explore a world of spirit and
dream of fanciful flight. The aerial work makes visible the give-and-take
relationship between flying operator and dancers.
Tickets
are $19 for adults, $18 for senior citizens and $14 for youth. Tickets may be
purchased at University Information and Tickets in the Dreyfus University
Center concourse, by calling 715-346-4100 or 800-838-3378, or online at http://tickets.uwsp.edu. UW-Stevens Point
students with a valid ID may purchase advance tickets for $4.50 per show or be
admitted free the day of the show, if seats are still available.
For more
information, visit www.facebook.com/uwspdanstage.