April 21, 2016  

Purdue dance company presents Spring Works recital

WEST LAFAYETTE, Ind. — The Purdue Contemporary Dance Company will present its Spring Works dance concert April 29-30. Seven works will be presented, six choreographed by faculty and one by a student.

The spring concert features choreography exploring both emotional content and abstract pattern-based movement. Manipulation of clothing, rope and partners will be featured in the works. The dances are accompanied by original music and sound created by students in the sound design program. 

The group is the resident dance company in the Division of Dance at the Patti and Rusty Rueff School of Visual and Performing Arts. Performances will be held in Yue-Kong Pao Hall's Nancy T. Hansen Theatre at 7:30 p.m. each evening, with a matinee at 2 p.m. on April 30.

Tickets are $14 for the public, $11 for students and $7 for those 12 and younger. Tickets can be purchased at Loeb or Pao Hall box offices at 765-494-3933 or 800-914-SHOW and through Ticketmaster at 800-745-3000.

The dances include:

* "Dances with Partners," choreographed by faculty member Sally Wallace. Offers partnering techniques of social dance combined with contemporary dance partnering. The creative process involved exploring the different gender norms of traditional social dance and contemporary dance partnering between four couples.

* "Thanks Alicia," choreographed by faculty member Melodie Carr. This piece depicts those whose lives revolve around the care of others and is based on the personal experiences of the dancers’ friends and family who are caregivers.

* “Outrunning the Night,” choreographed by faculty member Carol Cunningham-Sigman. It explores the fusion of hip-hop dance with classic modern dance movement. This dance work portrays a youthful group of friends exploring an urban environment at nightfall as relationships with one another unfold.                                                                                 

* “Oppositional Rho,” choreographed by faculty member Kathleen Hickey. It is physical exploration inspired by differences of opinion and viewpoints within a conversation. 

* "Variation for Eleven," choreographed by faculty member Renee Murray. The abstract work created explores theme and variation. The eleven dancers cascade through movement motifs that bring to the viewer images of an evolving kaleidoscope or ripples in water. 

* "Every Road Leads to a Story," choreographed by faculty member Mary Beth Van Dyke. This modern dance work translates into movement a mixture of personal experiences in both public and private spaces. The thematic content was inspired by the diverse experiences of the eight-member cast. 

"Frācta," choreographed by Esra Coskun, a doctoral candidate in the philosophy and literature program. Inspired by Camille Claudel's life, the work portrays the mental breakdown of the artist through the movement of her statues. 

News service contact: John Hughey, 765-494-2432, hugheyj@purdue.edu

Source: Karla Welchans, Division of Dance, 765-494-5993, kwelchan@purdue.edu 

Related website:

College of Liberal Arts www.cla.purdue.edu 

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