'Dance Close-Up'

Faculty present new and original work

By Liam Otten

The Performing Arts Department in Arts and Sciences will present its fourth annual "Dance Close-Up," an intimate and informal presentation of new and original choreography by the department's dance faculty, at 8 p.m. Sept. 10, 11 and 12 in the Mallinckrodt Center Dance Studio, Room 207. The evening will feature seven works in a variety of dance styles, including modern dance, ballet, African and Indian dance.

An additional performance will be held at 3 p.m. Sept. 13 as a benefit for local groups supporting battered women (see accompanying story).

"'Dance Close-Up' allows us to share our own work with students, colleagues and the surrounding community," said Mary-Jean Cowell, Ph.D., associate professor and coordinator of the Dance Program, who serves as artistic director for "Dance Close-Up." "It's our equivalent to a research publication."

The evening will feature seven dances, including "Unforgettable," a new collaboration between Christine A. O'Neal, Annamaria Pileggi and William Whitaker, all performing arts faculty. Set to the music of Nat King Cole and Natalie Cole, "Unforgettable" is a chilling depiction of a woman's escape from an abusive relationship and is based on a series of interviews with abuse victims and counselors. O'Neal, director of the University's ballet program and a former soloist with the National Ballet and American Ballet Theatre, choreographed and performs the work. Some scenes also were developed with the help of Michael Monsey, a local actor who specializes in staged fighting.

"The piece is based on ballroom dancing -- which is very circular, full of loops and swirls -- in order to speak to the 'cycle' of abuse," O'Neal said.

Parents should be warned that "Unforgettable" -- which will be the last work performed in each evening's program -- contains language and situations not appropriate for young children.

Other dances include:

• "Lamban" -- Chiquita Payne, adjunct dance faculty, performs this traditional West African dance to the accompaniment of live drumming.

• "Mr. Johnson Regrets" -- David W. Marchant, a fifth-year artist in residence, and dancer Carrie Hanson will combine forces for this peek into the lives of an isolated couple whose grasp of reality might be suspect.

• "For Robert: On Order(s)" -- Five members of the performing arts faculty -- Pileggi, Ann Fox, Arthur H. Hirsch, Jeffrey S. Matthews and Valerie Safron -- join choreographer Mary-Jean Cowell and director Whitaker in a wry meditation on the essential, pleasurable and sometimes irritating functions of order.

• "Rain" -- Asha Prem, adjunct dance faculty, performs an original work to the music of the Anglo-Indian band Colonial Cousins.

• "Sanctum" -- Mary Ann Rund, adjunct dance faculty, performs this exploration into the realm of chosen confinement and the freedom found within.

• "Offering" -- Rund and Dawn Karlovsky, adjunct dance faculty, perform a new duet.