L-R: Lloyd Boyd, Rachel Watson, Seve Foster, Hillary Franklin, Kevin Tate, Hannah Smith, Ben Coalter, and Zoe Warshaw in rehearsal for Interim Dean Brenda Daniels' new work. Photo by Steve Davis.
Winter Dance
UNCSA dancers will perform with company-in-residence Hubbard Street 2 in a world
premiere by choreographic competition winner Maurya Kerr. Also on the program
are Valse-Fantaisie by George Balanchine, Act III from Swan
Lake, and a new work by Interim Dance Dean Brenda.
7:30 p.m. Feb. 23-25
2 p.m. Feb. 26
Stevens Center
405 West Fourth St.,
Downtown Winston-Salem
$15 adults / $13 seniors and students
Call the UNCSA Box Office at 336-721-1945 to reserve seats, or click on "Box Office" at the left.
UNCSA’S WINTER DANCE BREATHES NEW LIFE
INTO SWAN LAKE, VALSE-FANTAISIE;
FEATURES WORLD PREMIERES
BY MAURYA KERR AND BRENDA DANIELS
By Jessamyn Stanley
Performing Arts Management student
UNCSA School of Design and Production
In the world of dance, names like Tchaikovsky and Balanchine need no introduction. This year’s University of North Carolina School of the Arts (UNCSA) Winter Dance concert aims to highlight the work of these masters while showcasing two world premiere works and an exciting collaboration with company-in-residence Hubbard Street 2 (HS2).
Featuring world premieres by School of Dance Interim Dean Brenda Daniels and HS2 2011 choreographic competition winner Maurya Kerr, a performance by HS2 dancers, Balanchine’s Valse-Fantaisie, and the dramatic third act of Swan Lake, Winter Dance promises to invigorate dance fans by showcasing the past, present, and future of choreographed movement.
As part of UNCSA School of Dance’s collaboration with HS2, one of the nation’s leading contemporary dance companies, Maurya Kerr will debut a world premiere work utilizing the talents of UNCSA students and HS2 dancers. HS2 was formed in 1997 by Hubbard Street Dance Chicago (HSDC) to prepare dancers ages 18 to 25 for the life of a professional dancer in a contemporary company. The company’s vibrant environment gives dancers the experiences necessary to develop strong technique and an individual voice. HS2’s residency at UNCSA is funded by the Thomas S. Kenan Institute for the Arts.
During Winter Dance, members of HS2 willalso perform a duet by HSDC Resident Choreographer Alejandro Cerrudo.
“The School of Dance is thrilled to host Hubbard Street 2,” said Interim Dean Daniels. “Having this world-renowned group of young professional dancers working directly with our students will provide an inspiring and unforgettable learning experience.”
Maurya Kerr, HS2’s 2011 National Choreographic Competition Winner, danced with Alonzo King LINES Ballet from 1994 to 2006, as well as Pacific Northwest Ballet and Fort Worth Ballet. She is currently a free-lance artist, and has been a principal guest artist with several projects, including Joanna Haigood's Zaccho Dance Theatre, and Alex Ketley's The Foundry. She is a senior faculty member for the LINES Ballet Training and Summer Programs and also serves on faculty for the LINES/Dominican B.F.A. program, allowing her to teach ballet, choreograph, and set King's works. In addition, Kerr is the founder of tinypistol, a dance company based in San Francisco.
Kerr’s inspiration for her new work touches on a number of themes which will resound for both the dancers and the audience.
“I am always interested in vulnerability, yearning, and absence,” said Kerr, who added that she read “literature that deals with the complexities of how appearance often determines what others think we should feel.”
While her inspiration provides the baseline for the piece, Kerr said she is continuously astounded by the entire choreographic process.
“I simply love all the aspects of the process,” she said. “Discovering music, the intellectual preparation, seeing my imagination physically realized, solving the inevitable knotty puzzles, seeing dancers transform to become more brave and honest, and letting the piece become. It never ceases to engage me in such rich ways.”
Brenda Daniels’ world premiere will be the veteran choreographer’s first new work in two years. Daniels has been on the faculty at UNCSA since 1995 and has been the assistant dean for contemporary dance since 2004. She holds the Betsy Friday Distinguished Professorship in Contemporary Dance and her choreography has been commissioned by Lincoln Center, The Joyce Theater, St. Mark’s Church, and theatres throughout Germany and the Netherlands.
With a musical backdrop provided by Johann Sebastian Bach, Daniels’ new work will utilize a vibrant color palette and showcase the elegance and technical precision of UNCSA’s student dancers. Daniels hopes the choreographic and rehearsal process helps the dancers hone their sense of responsibility and patience, characteristics which will help define their skills as they develop into professional artists.
In addition to the world premieres and the HS2 performance, Winter Dance will include George Balanchine’s Valse-Fantaisie, a piece which highlights the iconic choreographer’s legendary attention to detail and musicality. Valse-Fantaisie, one of Balanchine’s smaller chamber ballets, was originally presented as the second section of "Glinkiana." It was choreographed to four different compositions by Mikhail Glinka, Russia’s first national composer who is frequently considered the Mozart of Russia. The music, though it is fast and light, was popularly called “the Melancholy Waltz.”
Valse-Fantaisie is being staged at UNCSA by Deborah Wingert, artistic adviser of Studio Maestro and head faculty at Manhattan Youth Ballet. At the age of 16, Wingert was selected by Balanchine to join New York City Ballet. During her 15 years with the company, Wingert danced more than 25 principal, soloist, and featured roles in productions that include Balanchine’s A Midsummer Night’s Dream, Coppelia, Orpheus, Symphony in C, Jewels, Who Cares?, La Valse, Stars and Stripes, Prodigal Son, Bourree Fantastique, Brahms-Schoenberg Quartet, The Nutcracker, The Four Temperaments, and Mozartiana.
Though Valse-Fantaisie is a well-known piece, Wingert is pleased by the ballet’s continuous evolution which allows it to be an interesting challenge for the dancers. Wingert said she is excited to see such “hungry, talented, and capable dancers” working on one of Balanchine’s finest works. “The music, technical challenges ‒ it’s what Balanchine is all about,” she said.
Winter Dance will also include Act III from Tchaikovsky’s Swan Lake, a piece widely regarded as a major cornerstone of traditional classical ballet repertory. Swan Lake tells the story of Odette, a princess turned into a swan by a sorcerer’s curse. Notably, Act III includes a number of character dances which are integral to much of the classical ballet repertoire.
UNCSA’s production will be restaged by School of Dance Assistant Dean Warren Conover. A former soloist with American Ballet Theatre, Conover performed a wide range of roles from classical to demi-character to modern in more than 50 ballets. He has also appeared on several “Live from Lincoln Center” broadcasts, a “Dance in America” presentation, and he performed a featured role in the television broadcast of Baryshnikov’s The Nutcracker. For 10 years, Conover was the artistic associate/ballet master for HSDC.
Conover believes the skills learned by performing such an important piece of classical ballet repertory are essential to the development of student artists. In particular, the character dances featured during Act III from Swan Lake are very common in traditional ballet. For example, he said, the folk dances featured in Swan Lake can be found in a number of other ballets and they represent the national dances of countries such as Hungary, Russia, Poland, Italy, and Spain. A firm foundation in the specifics of character dances is invaluable to his students, Conover said, and the influence of this knowledge is often noted throughout a dancer’s career.
Conover said he is frequently told by former students: “I know how to do these dances because I learned them at School of the Arts.”
Trey Mauldwin and Madison Geoghegan in rehearsal for Swan Lake Act III.
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