The University of Wyoming Theater and Dance Department will present its spring dance concert “Variegations” at 7:30 p.m. tonight through March 2 on the UW Fine Arts Main Stage. The program will feature new contemporary ballet pieces, modern dance and will introduce screendance to audience members.
Screendance incorporates the grace and beauty of the human body in motion and the choreography of camera angles, cuts and lighting to create an art form that moves beyond the stage.
Rachael Shaw, visiting dance faculty member, created “Slip,” a screendance that explores the relationship between two moving bodies. With the camera, the choreographer is able to direct the audience’s eye by getting in as close as she wants to a specific movement, like hand gestures or torso movements, or by zooming out to show how the movements work together.
“I worked on some phrases with the dancers and I worked on a set with some of the people here in set design and basically filmed these different things,” Shaw said. “I’m using the medium of film as the second part of the process,”
A number of people behind the scenes, such as the set designers, costumers and lighting technicians, get the credit for helping bring her vision to life, but she did the choreography, filming and editing work herself.
Relationships will also be the focus of guest artist Andre Megerdichian’s series of duets titled “Curve.” Bach’s Cello Suites will provide the backdrop for an exploration of the dynamics of relationships.
“Variegations” also will feature new pieces by UW dance professors, Marsha Knight and Lawrence Jackson.
Knight choreographed a contemporary ballet piece, “The Lark Ascending” set to the first movement of a classical song of the same name by English composer Ralph Vaughan Williams. In March, Knight plans to present “The Lark Ascending” for adjudication at the American College Dance Festival Association’s northwest conference in Cedar City, Utah.
Jackson created a new contemporary piece called “Crossing” that is set to music by contemporary composer Rene Aubry. “Crossing” explores the difficult process of transitioning or crossing over into new terrain.
Though preparation for “Variegations” is key, Shaw explained choreographers use different timetables for their rehearsals.
“Preparation time is as varied as the individual choreographers,” she said. “I started last semester in November with brief rehearsals, as did Marsha Knight. Lawrence Jackson began in January. We all started an intensive rehearsal process in January.”
