Hamilton College's Department of Theatre and Dance will present its 2004 Spring Dance Concert on Friday, March 5, and Saturday, March 6 at 8 p.m. at the Schambach Center for the Performing Art's Wellin Hall.
Featured in the concert is a work titled "Portrait" by guest choreographer Carolyn Dorfman. She has been designated a Distinguished Artist and granted four Choreography Fellowships by the New Jersey State Council on the Arts, in addition to other choreography honors. She was the first artist to receive the prestigious, and nationally selected, Prudential Prize for Non-Profit Leadership in 1994. A former assistant professor of dance at Centenary College, Dorfman is a master artist/teacher, leading residencies and master classes for both the professional dancer and those new to the art form. She is a guest artist/choreographer at major universities in the U.S. and is on the guest faculty at the Limón Institute in New York. Dorfman most recently received a 2004 Fellowship from the New Jersey State Council on the Arts. Since founding her company in 1982, she has created more than 50 works for CDDC and achieved a highly respected position among artists and arts institutions in New Jersey, New York and nationally.
Other works on the program include dance faculty member Leslie Norton's piece titled "Reflets dans l'eau", a ballet set to several piano pieces by Claude Debussy. This abstract work will open the program conveying images that revolve around the play of light on water. Costume design by Kate Thiele adds to these lovely, colorful images as the ensemble of women move through the space.
Katharina Plumb's ('05) trio titled "Tulip Blue" is second on the program. This lighthearted trio explores the playfulness and joy of movement. The dancers weave in and out of each other manipulating a long, flowing scarf sculpting the space in various ways. The music of Stan Getz and Astrud Gilberto support the fun loving nature of this work. Closing the first half of the program is dance faculty member Bruce Walczyk's "JUST IN CASE," an abstract piece based on actual events that are part of his family heritage. In Germany during WWII, some women and children were sent away from the populated areas that were potential targets for bombing and placed in smaller villages and farming communities.
Upon returning, many found their homes and streets occupied by the Americans and found adaptation inevitable. This non-literal work set to the music of Bjork and Angelo Badalamenti derives from these experiences. Closing the program will be a work choreographed by Heather Koniz ('04) titled "Playing to Daydreams." This purely kinetic piece is highly energetic with a touch of humor with music by Tuck and Patti and Bobby McFerrin.
Performers in the concert include: Christina Brewer, Cecile Brosset, Joshua Bruff, Valerie Danilack, Laura Dick, Kathryn Dunkel, Jane Fitzgerald, Rachel Geringer-Dunn, Kirstin Howard, Jennifer Kahn, Lauren Kiley, Jackie Kook, Ashley Jaffee-Anechiarico, Heather Koniz, Philip Lombardo, Jessica Macken, Carlos Mercedes, Truong Nguyen, Quang Nguyen, Robert Parker, Katharina Plumb, Reagan Sayles, Heather Shapiro, Rachel Swartwout, Mary Ann Vicari, and Billy Weydemeyer.
All seating is general admission. Tickets are $3 student, $5 general. For more information or to reserve tickets call the performing arts box office at 859-4331.
