Purdue Dance Company to present Spring Works event

WEST LAFAYETTE, Ind. — The Purdue Contemporary Dance Company will present its Spring Works 2013 dance concert April 26-27.  

PCDC is the resident dance company in the Division of Dance, housed in the Patti and Rusty Rueff School of Visual and Performing Arts. Faculty, students and an alumna created seven new dance works this semester for the company.

Performances are at 7:30 p.m. each evening with a matinee performance at 2 p.m. on April 27. All performances will take place in the Nancy T. Hansen Theatre in Purdue's Yue-Kong Pao Hall of Visual and Performing Arts. Tickets are $13 for adults, $11 for students and $7 for those 12 and younger. Tickets can be purchased at all Purdue box offices (765-494-3993) and through Ticketmaster (or 1-800-745-3000).

"The dances this spring are incredibly diverse," said Carol Cunningham-Sigman, division dance chair. "They range from darker emotional works addressing social issues, to silly creatures responding to funny sounds, to explorations of the use of spoken word in place of music in concert dance."

As part of Spring Works:

* Cunningham-Sigman has created "Fallout," an ensemble work that explores how individuals may respond to the aftermath of a nuclear power plant meltdown. Jill Van Brussel, costume technology graduate student, designed the dystopic clothing, and Ian Milliken, graduate sound design major, created the music composition.

* Holly Jaycox, dance division faculty member, created "Under a Fragile Sky." This work presents nine youths living in uncertain emotional times. They express their fears and frustrations as they go through their lives, often feeling isolated and vulnerable.

* Dance faculty member Mary Beth Van Dyke choreographed "Tumescent." The piece unfolds as six dancers explore expanding and contracting physical moments. Undergraduate student Ethan Bates created the original score. 

* Dance faculty member Sally Wallace choreographed "Where the Earth Touches the Sky." Sustained motion, in the manner of Japanese Butoh style dance, is combined in this work with unique forms of partnering, in the style of the well-known modern dance company Pilobolus.

* Alumna Andrea Larsen created the "The Curious Tale of a Something or Other," which offers a Dr. Seuss-like feel as the dancers respond to their movements, which act as the inspiration and initiation of the music they hear. Larsen graduated in December with a degree in psychology and minors in Spanish and dance.

* Allyson Mercer, a senior in food science, choreographed "Con(text)." This piece explores the use of text in concert dance. Mercer uses the premise of out-of-context conversation to create movement that also feels random, but over time relationships evolve and the context is revealed.   

* Lizzie Teer, a senior in public health promotion with a dance minor, choreographed "Exposed." This dance offers the audience a new perspective on stage dance by showing the rear point of view, usually seen only by other dancers waiting in the wings.

Writer: Morgan Stephens, 765-490-4855, MorganLStephens@gmail.com

Sources: Karla Welchans, 765-494-5993, kwelchan@purdue.edu

Carol Cunningham-Sigman, carolec@purdue.edu

Holly Jaycox , hollyj@purdue.edu

Andrea Larsen, aclarsen@purdue.edu

Allyson Mercer, mercer@purdue.edu             

Lizzie Teer,  eteer@purdue.edu

Mary Beth Van Dyke, vandyke@purdue.edu   

Sally Wallace, sallyw@purdue.edu