Fall Dance Concert 2014: Time Pieces

Fall Dance Concert 2014: Time Pieces

November 21-23
Main Stage Theater

The Macalester College Theatre and Dance Department presents Timepieces, the 2014 Fall Dance Concert, featuring new choreographic works by students, faculty, and guest artist Karen Charles.

Choreographer Karen Charles’ Uncertain Reality speaks to the human desire to impose order on every aspect of one’s life, when in reality order is a truly temporary state of being. This piece asserts that chaos and uncertainty actually sustain the world no matter how much we resist.

The following members of the Macalester Theatre and Dance Department will also be presenting choreography:

Krista Langberg’s The Imaginary Medallion is a piece for five women that looks at how forces beyond one’s control consistently shape who we are. The dance is simultaneously highly structured and askew; a personal story and not a personal story. Patricia Brown’s Fiery Days is inspired by the rhythmic power and beauty of the music of LeRoy J. White. It is about courage, faith, and tenacity in the face of struggle. A Soft Throbbing of Time, choreographed by Wynn Fricke, suggests a surreal otherworld enlivened by the electronic music of Frank Bretschneider. A haiku by Jack Kerouac and Beethoven’s Opus 111 inspire Azure Cascades, choreographed by Becky Heist. Music Professor Mark Mazullo accompanies live on piano.

Student works include Hana Sato’s ‘15 (Minneapolis, Minn.) Upekkha, which is an exploration of the mental states, achieved through equanimity, a fundamental value in Buddhist teachings. Laurel Thompson’s ‘15 (Northfield, Minn.) Lost on a Moment looks into the physicality of dance. It is about the freedom that comes from being completely present in the body, letting go of all thoughts, and letting the body take over. Katie Rank’s ‘15 (St. Louis, Mo.) It Lasts By Not Lasting is a duet that sheds light on abandonment and what it means when two people are driven apart. What happens when one touches, catches and falls without a partner? The choreography is danced to Japanese music of composers Eri Chiemi and Koichi Sugii. Hector S. Bautista Aniceto’s ‘15 (Veracruz, Ver., Mexico) Lotus Red questions and analyzes the feminine force, trying to break the conflation of feminine with fragility, emotionality, and privacy by the Mexican society. This piece attempts to find a new space for freedom. Like a red lotus, the dance preserves the beauty and strength of the feminine force and elevates it to a higher realm.