Pedro Lander leaps over Jacqueline Paulsen during rehearsal for “Ritual” premiering in Dancescape 2013.
Brad Farrell ’13
The Winona State University Department of Theatre & Dance will present Dancescape 2013 at 7:30 p.m. Feb. 14-16 on the Main Stage of the Performing Arts Center.
This annual Winona dance event features original choreography and performances by 65 WSU students, faculty and a guest choreographer.
Tickets are $8 for students with an I.D., and $12 for the general public. Tickets are available online at: www.winona.edu/thad or by calling the WSU box office at 507-457-5235. Box office hours are noon to 4 p.m. Monday through Thursday starting Feb. 11. The box office will also be open one hour before each show.
Student choreographers whose works were selected include Genevieve Draskoci-Johnson, Kelsey Etter, Sydney Swanson, Natalie Klug, Kayla Kujak, Eve Viner, Pedro Lander, Alyssa Sawinski, and graduating seniors Christina Slowinski and Lior Shragg.
Faculty and guest artist choreography includes works by Crystal Edwards of Black Label Movement, ballet adjunct faculty member Carissa Zieske, and two works by dance program director Gretchen Cohenour.
Edwards is a Florida-native performance artist and is currently a dancer for Black Label Movement based out of Minneapolis. Edwards graduated with a BFA in Dance from the University of Florida and has since danced professionally for Moving Current, HEMISPHERE Dance, and has toured nationally and internationally with Diavolo Dance Theater based in Los Angeles. Her residency and commissioned work for WSU is made possible with support from Bill Koutsky through the WSU Foundation.
Students will perform Edward’s work, “Through the Grapevine,” which was created during a weeklong intensive residency this fall at WSU. The piece investigates the movement of information over time. It explores how manipulation, whether intentional or unintentional, affects the subject matter and the impact on everyone involved.
“Ritual” is a highly energetic dance constructed by Cohenour and inspired by the piece “Ritual Music” composed by David Skidmore. This collaborative work features live music of percussion students at WSU: Matt Ernster, Lior Shragg,Gerald Ehrman and Alex Jaeger. The piece also features collaboration with graphic design professor Chun Lok Mah and senior graphic design major Michael Stueve, who also created the Dancescape 2013 poster design.
Back by popular demand, “Deja Trois,” choreographed by Cohenour, is a trio for three women set to music by Dan Hicks and His Hot Licks. Trapped in a musical time loop, the dancers break free and escape the confines of their lovesick fantasy world.
Zieske created a classical ballet piece, “Epiphany,” which focuses on the praiseworthy and beautiful things of life. The piece looks above the reality that we see and feel to something bigger and greater.
Choreographed by Slowinski, “Happiness” is a modern piece looking at relationships and the battle of finding true happiness.
“Fade Out And Seek … Love Under The Lights,” a classical jazz piece choreographed by Draskoci-Johnson, depicts an urban tribe of individuals looking for love in dark city streets. The movement is inspired by Pink Panther-like characters, traditional musical theater and jazz funk music.
Swanson’s “The Edge of Order” is a minimalist modern dance inspired by pedestrian movements and the boxes in which we contain our belongings and ourselves.
“Identidad,” choreographed by Lander, is a mix between abstraction and reality of what composes internal struggle and its translation into the external world.
Based on his travel study research in Ghana, senior music major Shragg has staged a celebration dance, “Kpanlogo,” from the Ga people in southern Ghana. “Kpanlogo” is a type of drum, a musical style and an emotion. This dance features the integration of live percussion.
“Seeing Kites Flying” is a dance for men created by Kujak and inspired by her study of psychology, developing physicality and consciousness.
Etter choreographed the piece “Representation,” which is based off the design of a computer program. It focuses on a control aspect and features partnering work as binary representation.
