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Washington
University Dance Theatre's The Body
Poetic Dec. 6-8 By Liam Otten Washington University Dance Theatre (WUDT), the annual showcase of professionally choreographed works performed by student dancers, will present The Body Poetic, its 2002 concert, at 8 p.m. Dec. 6-7 and at 2 p.m. Dec. 8 in Edison Theatre.
Cecil Slaughter, artist-in-residence and director of WUDT, noted that The Body Poetic "will feature a diverse evening of professionally choreographed dance works, exploring imagination and motion and the concept of the body as an articulate voice." Represented styles will range from African dance to modern to improvisational ballet. Miller is one of the nation's finest contemporary African-American choreographers. Her New York-based company, founded in 1985, was the first American troupe to perform in South Africa after formation of the new government in 1994. Miller trained eight dancers (and two understudies) in Field Work, a restaging of her 1997 Field, set to composer John Adams' Christian Zeal and Activity. "The resetting is about fitting the work to these bodies and these personalities -- about making it personal for these dancers," Miller said. "There's kind of a formality to the space but inside of that formality there is the intention of the dancers to move forward, to save each other from falling, to commit to each other. There is a lyrical formalism as well as a visceral need and passion." Singleton began her career with the Joffrey Ballet in 1965. Two years later, she became the first dancer ever to appear on the cover of a national news magazine -- Time -- when Robert Joffrey created his multimedia ballet Astarte specifically for her. Her selection, The Eclectic Waltz, revolves around a pair of dueling "divas" and their cohorts, with the 11 dancers divided into two competing corps de ballet. The piece is set to the music of Shostakovich, Strauss, Lehar and Kalman. Also on the program are: • Somba Körö: Adjunct faculty member Diadie Bathily premieres this West African dance for 10 performers honoring "mothers everywhere for the trials they undergo for their children." The Glê mask of the Guere people of the Ivory Coast is used in the dance to celebrate a woman giving birth. To the music of Famoudou Konaté. • On Location (II/III): Thirteen dancers perform the latest in a series by Mary-Jean Cowell, coordinator of the Dance Program in the Performing Arts Department in Arts & Sciences, exploring "the abstract formal qualities and emotional associations of different locations." Cowell, formerly of the Kobo Abe Repertory Company in Tokyo, has choreographed more than 50 dances in New York, Hawaii, Tokyo, St. Louis and elsewhere. To music of Robert Moran with musical collage by senior Charlie Olson and Henry Claude, musical coordinator for the Dance Program. • Just Before Waking: An intense work for eight dancers by David W. Marchant, senior artist-in-residence, set to a polyrhythmic, polymetric percussion score commissioned from composer Jake Romig. This new reconstruction incorporates a multimedia video projection. Marchant, also an associate artist with ATREK Contemporary Dance in St. Louis, is a former member of Utah's Repertory Dance Theatre and Corning Dances & Company. • As Is: A structured improvisation for four dancers by Christine Knoblauch-O'Neal, senior artist-in-residence and director of the Ballet Program in Arts & Sciences, based on the classical ballet vocabulary and performed in three movements. "What makes this a unique experience is that the dancers are creating the choreography as they are performing it," Knoblauch-O'Neal said. "To my knowledge, this is only the second time a ballet work of this kind has been attempted in a concert venue." • The Diary: "This work is about transformation," Slaughter said of his work for 10 dancers, "beginning with self-awareness and moving through the pain and fear of self-discovery that leads to self-knowledge. The negative thoughts that displace one's sense of ‘self' are replaced by affirmations of strength and courage." Slaughter is a former member of Dayton Contemporary Dance and has performed principal roles for such nationally recognized choreographers as Donald McKayle, Alvin Ailey and Ulysses Dove. To the music of Sacred Spirits and Motofumi Yamaguchi. Tickets for The Body Poetic are $12, $8 for students and senior citizens, and are available through the Edison Theatre Box Office, 935-6543, and all MetroTix outlets. The concert is sponsored by the Dance Program. For more information, call 935-6543. |
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