Senior Dance Concert

Friday and Saturday, April 17 & 18 | 8:00 p.m.
Senior Dance Concert
Dance Cube, Performing Arts & Humanities Building

The Department of Dance presents the Senior Dance Concert. Featuring new works by Stephanie Depew, Rebecca Behnke, Ciara Clements, Ariana Johnson and Lindey Allen, the production presents  premier performances of capstone projects in choreography. These unique works will explore the past, present, and future of the human experience through elaborate and exciting movement.

Mortified, by Stephanie Depew, examines the innermost feelings that we encounter in our lives. It explores the embarrassing, sentimental, and exciting moments in life that are generally kept private. Stephanie Depew brings these internal experiences to life with expressive abstract movement to a musical score consisting of real journal entries and letters. Mortified is emotionally charged and uses solo and partner-work to depict private stories and how there stories affect many lives.

Imprints, a new work by Rebecca Behnke, is a dynamic and thoughtful piece that utilizes a variety of movement styles. The choreography employs Dance and Movement Therapy (DMT) techniques as a mode of exploration, investigating the connection between mind and body, and the effect of past experiences on current movement patterns. In a collaborate process, new movement was created using the dancers’ personal experiences. Through intricate choreography, Imprints examines how memories are held in the body, and the effect of these memories in present daily life. Unison and individual movement explores the effect of established movement patterns on current interactions and relationships.

In Untitled, a new work by Ciara Clements, disparate ideas collide in an examination of American pastimes glorifying competition, violence and pain, and the endless toil required to keep the wheels of the American machine turning. Complicity, denial, revelry, joy and loneliness are all intertwined as the machine grinds us up and spits us out. What agency do we have when the parameters have already been set? How do we come together when competition is so highly prized? Where is our humanity in the midst of these invisible forces changing our lives?

Family Stone, choreographed by Ariana Johnson, depicts family life experiences stemming from the past into the future. The conceptual idea of family history is interwoven throughout the piece with rhythmic beats and strong movements. Dancers Mia Kimball, Alaysha Outlaw and Marina Nicholas utilize shapes and movements that flow across the ground as a unit and also solo. With a score of African beats and voice, this piece reflects how family life and history become intermingled with daily life.

$12 general admission $7 students and seniors.

Advance tickets via credit card available online through MissionTix. For information and reservations for pick-up at will call, contact the Dance Box Office at 410-455-6240.