Velocity: Choreography Showcase at the Koger Center
April 10, 2013
COLUMBIA, SC – April 18, 2013
Students and faculty of the dance program at the University of
South Carolina will perform their original works April 18 at the
Koger Center, when they present Velocity: Student and
Faculty Choreography Showcase.
Dance faculty member Cindy Flach is directing the concert,
which will feature 12 original new works created by students
and faculty of the program. Dance styles represented during
the evening include ballet, contemporary, jazz and hip hop.
Among the premiere works are:
•The Ties That Bind Us by faculty member Kyomi Mercadante, which she says is “portrayal of the oppression of women that too frequently occurs throughout the world.” Mercadante has performed professionally with Ballet Dallas, The Richmond Ballet, and, locally, Unbound Dance Theatre.
•Three by faculty member Stephanie Wilkins, a highly personal work based on the loss of three important people in her life. Wilkins is adjunct dance faculty at both USC and Columbia College. This is the first work she has created for the USC Dance Company.
•A Stone, a tree, an open sky, a ballet piece by faculty member Kerri Lambert, which she describes as “about images and patterns; a painting, not a puzzle.” Lambert’s choreography has been presented at AtlantaBalletFest and the Emerging Choreographers Concert of the Southeast Regional Ballet Association.
•Same Love by senior Dance Performance major Charlotte Stewart, which takes its inspiration from the motto in the USC Seal which reads “Learning humanizes character and does not permit it to be cruel.”
•Echo, by senior Dance Education major Carmen Dent, which is set to an original composition by music graduate student Viktor Lazarov entitled Dance Movement: Homage to Reich and Pashu. The piece will be played with fellow graduate student Claudio Olivera on one grand piano (four hands on the piano) with dancers interacting with the piano, the players and the music.
Preparation for the Choreography Showcase, which is staged in the fall and spring semesters, begins months before the performance. Choreographers begin by auditioning dancers and, once a cast is selected, developing and rehearsing an early version of the work to be performed for a panel of faculty adjudicators, who offer constructive critiques. Works are further developed and judged again by the same panel to guarantee placement in the showcase.
The addition of faculty works in the showcase is unique to this concert. Flach explains, “The three faculty choreographers – Kerri Lambert, Stephanie Wilkins and Kiyomi Mercadante – have been essential members of my adjudication team for the student showcases the past three semesters. After guiding the students’ works we began discussing some of their ideas for new ballets and reminiscing about works that they have choreographed in the past. All of them wanted to see the USC student dancers challenged a bit more, as well as introduced to different styles, new approaches and methods of making dances, and a wealth of reasons to dance.”
Student choreographers for the showcase are: Hannah Bailey, Hannah Brown, Kelsey Nyman Crum, Carmen Dent, Amanda Hurst, Meredith Madden, Emily Nutall, Beth Smith and Charlotte Stewart.
Performance time is 7:30pm. Tickets are $12 for students, $14 for USC faculty/staff, military and seniors (60+) and $18 for the general public. Tickets can be reserved by calling the box office at (803) 777-5112, or charged by phone at (803) 251-2222. The Koger Center is located at 1051 Greene St.
For more information about Velocity: Student and Faculty Choreography Showcase or the dance program at the University of SC, please contact Kevin Bush via email at [email protected] or by phone at 803-777-9353.
