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Oct. 24 , 2007

Contacts: Arts at Emory, Jessica Moore, jkmoore@emory.edu, 404-727-1687
Emory Dance Program, Sally Radell, sradell@emory.edu, 404-727-2835

Release written by Sally Radell

Emory Dance Company Fall Concert: “Frames and References”

The Emory Dance Company presents its fall concert, “Frames and References,” featuring an eclectic mix of dances with themes related to syncopated time, clothing, landscapes, relationships and protest from Nov. 15-17, 2007 at 8 p.m. with an additional 2 p.m. matinee on Nov. 17 in the Schwartz Center Dance Studio, 1700 North Decatur Road. The concert includes works choreographed by guest artists David Dorfman Dance Company, Armando Luna and Kathleen Wessel, and faculty members Sally Radell, George Staib and Lori Teague. For tickets ($10 general public; $6 Emory faculty, staff, students and discount category groups), information and a listing of discount categories and directions, visit www.arts.emory.edu or call the Arts at Emory box office at 404-727-5050. A reception follows the Nov. 17 concert and proceeds from that performance benefit the Emory Friends of Dance Scholarship Fund.

David Dorfman company members Molly Poerstel and Karl Rogers are setting an adaptation of Dorfman’s acclaimed work “underground” on members of the Emory Dance Company. The two dancers are creating a new work for the Emory dancers inspired by the themes in “underground” including the untethered exploration of the violent social upheaval of the 1960s in contrast with the upcoming generation almost entirely unexposed to mass activism. Since it’s founding in 1985, David Dorfman Dance has performed extensively in New York City and throughout North and South America, Great Britain and Europe. David Dorfman and the company’s dancers and artistic collaborators have been honored with eight New York Dance and Performance (“Bessie”) Awards. This residency has been made possible by a grant from the Emory Coca-Cola Artist-in-Residence program.

Guest artist Armando Luna returns to Emory for a second year to set a piece on the Emory Dance Company. Currently serving as the principal teacher of the Atlanta Ballet Centre for Dance Education, Luna is a frequent guest artist in Atlanta and the surrounding region. Choreographed for a group of 24 dancers, Luna’s piece entitled, “You Can,” is set to the music of classical composer Leroy Anderson. This lighthearted dance explores the crisp unison movement of an ensemble to create a layered, intricate visual picture.

Emory Dance Program graduate Kathleen Wessel (2003 Emory College graduate) received her MFA degree in dance last spring from Florida State University and has moved back to Atlanta to pursue a professional career in dance. For this concert Wessel has created a new work for 12 dancers with music by Eartha Kitt. This dynamic, quirky, sometimes funny, sometimes unsettling dance explores the shaky foundations on which gender roles are built. Kitt’s growling, sensual voice and her dry humor provide the impetus for a glimpse into a harsher reality of contradiction, anger and oddity.

Sally Radell, director of the dance at Emory, will bring back “Clotheslines,” which was originally choreographed in 1990 and was recently included in her retrospective dance concert in September at Emory. “Clotheslines” is a large and humorous group episodic work that revolves around obsessions with clothes and the complex process of making daily clothing selections. The piece is layered with dancers hung on clotheslines, a ritualistic Greek chorus, intricate cloth folding rituals and commentary interspersed with supplicant bowing and chanting.

“Borrow, Steal, but never beg” is a new work choreographed by dance faculty member George Staib. Set to music by the Kronos Quartet, who will be performing at Emory on Feb. 9, 2008 as part of the Flora Glenn Candler Concert Series, this piece playfully examines the spirit and energy of a nomadic people. As a choreographer, Staib strives to make work that is emotionally driven as well as visually compelling.

Faculty member Lori Teague’s new piece “The Rights of Breath” offers an opportunity for us to understand environmental states in relation to the energy within us. The dancers embody change as well as pattern, and growth as well as destruction. The work explores the way in which beauty sustains itself and survives in nature. Teague’s involvement in environmental issues coupled with her personal connection to natural landscapes serve as her inspiration.

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EMORY DANCE PROGRAM
The mission of the Emory Dance Program is to provide a curriculum that interweaves both the practical and theoretical to foster students' creative, intellectual, and communicative powers in the field of dance. We seek to develop skilled and uniquely expressive individuals who move and act with intelligence and sensitivity, think independently, and value original thought and diversity.

ARTS AT EMORY
Emory University provides a dynamic, multi-disciplinary environment for the study, creation, and presentation of the arts.

EDITORS NOTE: Photographs available upon request.

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