{"id":12719,"date":"2014-04-02T10:03:00","date_gmt":"2014-04-02T14:03:00","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/www.montclair.edu\/news\/article.php?ArticleID=12719"},"modified":"2014-04-02T10:03:00","modified_gmt":"2014-04-02T14:03:00","slug":"12719_department-of-theatre-and-dance-presents-danceworks-2014","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.montclair.edu\/arts\/2014\/04\/02\/12719_department-of-theatre-and-dance-presents-danceworks-2014\/","title":{"rendered":"Department of Theatre and Dance Presents \u201cDanceworks 2014\u201d"},"content":{"rendered":"

From April 3 through April 6, 2014, at the Alexander Kasser Theater, ÌÇÐÄvlog\u2019s Department of Theatre and Dance is presenting Danceworks, <\/em>the annual dance program featuring works by leading contemporary choreographers performed by Theatre and Dance students.<\/span><\/p>\n

<\/p>\n

United by the theme, \u201cMinding the Dance,\u201d this year\u2019s program includes Wonderland<\/em>, by Andrea Miller, choreographer and artistic director of Gallim Dance; Spatial Dialogues<\/em> by Montclair State Theatre and Dance professor Nancy Lushington; Spent Days Out Yonder<\/em>, a Mozart homage choreographed by Bill T. Jones; Strict Love<\/em> by Doug Varone; Earl Mosley\u2019s Oh My Love<\/em>; and Sentenced to Sentences<\/em> by choreographer and comedienne Claire Porter, a 2013-2014 John Simon Guggenheim Memorial Foundation Fellow. <\/span><\/p>\n

\u201cPorter is the first-ever Guggenheim Fellow to participate in our arts programs \u2013 or anywhere else at Montclair State,\u201d says Theatre and Dance professor Neil Baldwin. \u201cHer piece, Sentenced to Sentences,<\/em> was commissioned by the department\u2019s New Works Initiative.\u201d<\/span><\/p>\n

The NWI program, which is funded by College of the Arts Advisory Board Chairman Robert Gregory and his wife, Holly, is committed to the development and production of new original works from leading artists. \u201cClaire Porter was selected from a field of more than 50 applicants to develop a specially commissioned piece that uses students from both theatre and dance disciplines,\u201d explains Baldwin. <\/span><\/p>\n

\u201cThese works are truly a hybrid of theater and dance that are developed at the University, with student dancers and actors,\u201d Baldwin continues. \u201cThis is a very precious alliance. As a department, we really value the NWI for giving students an opportunity to engage so thoroughly in the process of creating and devising an important new work.\u201d<\/span><\/p>\n

With its ensemble of 12 student dancers and eight actors, Sentenced to Sentences<\/em> is a truly interdisciplinary performance piece. While the work debuted at the University in October, as part of its Works-A-Foot<\/em> program, University students have since performed it at the Bradford Elementary School and the Rosa Parks Community School, as well as at the 92nd Street Y in Manhattan. <\/span><\/p>\n

Porter has regularly visited campus to work with students to develop and refine her work that is inspired by the question \u201cwhat is a sentence?\u201d \u201cIt takes months to bring a piece like this to the level of perfection we are seeking,\u201d said Baldwin. \u201cThe students love Claire. She\u2019s a comedic performer who doesn\u2019t take herself too seriously \u2013 but she does take her work very seriously.\u201d<\/span><\/p>\n

Dancer Kim Kafka enjoyed the process of working with the celebrated choreographer. \u201cShe was able to get inspiration from us,\u201d she says. \u201cThe piece is new every time.\u201d<\/span><\/p>\n

\u201cPorter will also be doing a professional development workshop on \u201cIntegrating Text and Movement\u201d for public school teachers through the University\u2019s Network for Educational Renewal on May 19,\u201d said Dance Education professor Elizabeth McPherson.<\/span><\/p>\n

The University presented its first Danceworks <\/em>program in 1987. \u201cWe present works by guest artists of great renown to give the students the opportunity to experience both historical works of great importance as well as more contemporary works,\u201d said Theatre and Dance professor and director of Dance Lorraine Katterhenry.<\/span><\/p>\n

Danceworks<\/span><\/em> performances begin on Thursday, April 3, and run through Sunday, April 6, at the University\u2019s Alexander Kasser Theater. Tickets are available through the University\u2019s Peak Performances program at peakperfs.org<\/a>.<\/span><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Program includes commissioned work by Guggenheim Fellow Claire Porter<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":23,"featured_media":206738,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"inline_featured_image":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[12],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-12719","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-190_theatre-dance"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.montclair.edu\/arts\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/12719","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.montclair.edu\/arts\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.montclair.edu\/arts\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.montclair.edu\/arts\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/23"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.montclair.edu\/arts\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=12719"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.montclair.edu\/arts\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/12719\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.montclair.edu\/arts\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/206738"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.montclair.edu\/arts\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=12719"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.montclair.edu\/arts\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=12719"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.montclair.edu\/arts\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=12719"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}