January 20, 2015— The University of Oregon’s Department of Dance will present Dance 2015, the annual faculty dance concert, at 8 p.m. on Feb. 12, 13, and 14 in the newly-remodeled Robinson Theatre, part of the Miller Theatre Complex on the UO campus. The concert marks an ongoing collaborative relationship between the dance and theatre arts departments at the UO.

 

Concert tickets cost $10 for general admission and $5 for student and seniors, and are available in advance from the UO Ticket Office, 541-346-4363. Tickets may be available at the door except in the case of a sold out performance.

 

Dance 2015 will feature the new choreography “Light. White” by New York-based choreographer Michelle Boulé. Boulé is a recipient of the university’s Boekelheide Award, a unique award that circulates among recipients in the UO’s dance, music, and chemistry departments. Boulé has refined her piece during the month of January with the help of UO student dancers.

 

“The students have been incredibly curious, engaged, and intelligent in their approaches to the work we’ve been doing,” said Boulé. “I found myself inspired by creative choices that were made and by the dialogues we had in class.”

 

Boulé has been excited to workshop her choreography here at the UO before taking it to New York City later this spring for its official premiere. She notes that her work on the Robinson Theatre stage will explore notions of the material versus the immaterial and male versus female, and will also explore race and ethnicity. 

 

“I’ve borrowed from the quantum physics idea that a change or shift in a single atom or particle affects the entire system,” Boulé explained. “My interests are in looking at the invisible architectures created by movement. ‘Light. White’ is an attempt to be in dialogue with all the seemingly intangible effects of dance and choreography.”

 

Additional pieces on the Dance 2015 program will include works by UO dance faculty members, including Steven Chatfield’s “Brute,” an exploration of movement synchrony; Brad Garner’s two-part work consisting of “Sanctum” and “Into the Fold,” which ruminate on shared groupthink among flocking or swarming organisms; Rita Honka’s “Requisite Resolve,” which springs from images of how one pushes through daily life; Habib Iddrisu’s “Lagmia,” which will showcase Pan-African aesthetics in dance; Walter Kennedy’s “Perfidia,” which will weave a spell inspired by magic realism; and Shannon Mockli’s premiere “Canyons,” which draws inspiration from the dynamic qualities and imagery of Southwestern slot canyons and boasts an original score by UO composer Christian Cherry.

 

For UO Department of Theatre Arts head John Schmor, the annual collaboration between his own department and the UO Department of Dance represents a unique point of interplay between two complementary performing arts.

 

“Every year since I joined the UO in 1999, the annual Faculty Dance Concert has offered work I find inventive, challenging, precise, and heartfelt,” Schmor said. “I know for our department's lighting and costume design students and faculty, the interchange is especially rewarding.”

 

“I hope our two departments will sustain and strengthen our shared possibilities for as long as there is a University of Oregon,” Schmor added.