Dance/Hartwell returns April 3-5 to showcase new Brockport choreography

It's time again for DANCE/Hartwell, presented by the Department of Dance on April 3rd-5th, featuring three exciting new choreographic works by Molly Christie, Cynthia Hermann, and Mark Schmidt—who are each candidates for a Master of Fine Arts degree in dance. The "students have crafted an impressive display of new choreography, brought to life by the most skilled and expressive young artists, from one of the country’s leading departments of dance,” notes Artistic Director and Assistant Professor of Dance at Brockport, Suzanne Oliver. Maura Keefe, assistant professor of dance and graduate program coordinator is Artistic Director responsibilities with Oliver for Dance/Hartwell.

The featured MFA works will include two dances by Mark Schmidt exploring a physical vocabulary inspired by the cultural practices and movement qualities found in the New York underground House dance scene. Originating in Chicago and New York, House is a musical genre and dance style with roots in African-American vernacular jazz-tap. “Socially,” Schmidt observed, “this dance form is an affirmation and celebration of cultural marginality through communal dancing.” The diverse cast celebrates, explores, recreates, and reinvents the rituals and social practices of house dance culture on the concert stage.

Molly Christie’s piece will explore the embodiment and transformation of encoded ritual movement and rhythmic languages from two sacred dance and music traditions. The traditional works are transformed for the concert dance stage. An original musical score by Clement Joseph, weaving both modern and traditional musical languages and instrumentation, has been commissioned to accompany the piece.

Cynthia Hermann will be working with two movements from Beethoven’s 7th Symphony, the Allegretto and the Allegro Con Brio. “Within my choreography,” said Hermann, “I hope to bring to life the energy and emotion that I feel when I listen to these two pieces of music. Beethoven's music is sophisticated and complex so my goal for the work is to choreograph two pieces that dance with the music rather than to it.”

The remaining dances in the concert will include choreography selected in an adjudicated process open to all graduate and undergraduate dance students. We hope you come out for a wonderful evening of dance!

Performances are being Thursday–Saturday, April 3–5, at 7:30 pm, Hartwell Dance Theater, Kenyon Street. Tickets for DANCE/Hartwell are $12 general/$10 seniors/$8 students and are available at the Tower Fine Arts Box Office on Holley Street. For more information, call (585)395-ARTS.