Dance

Spring Photos: CONTRA-TIEMPO: joyUS justUS

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On Friday, February 8, 2019 the New England premiere of joyUS justUS (2018), a participatory urban Latin dance theater experience, took on joy as the ultimate expression of struggle and resistance against hardship and injustice, reclaiming the narrative of people of color by embodying stories about the beauty and power of hope, faith, and family. Los Angeles-based CONTRA-TIEMPO has created physically intense and politically astute performance work since 2005—collages of salsa, Afro-Cuban, hip hop, and contemporary dance with compelling text and original music.

Photos by Sandy Aldieri of Perceptions Photography. Click here to view the full album on Flickr.

Fall Photos: Symposium: Enacting Ethnicity and Nationalism in Indonesian Performing Arts

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On Saturday, November 10, 2018 His Excellency Sri Sultan Hamengkubuwono X of Indonesia gave the keynote address for a symposium focusing on the dynamic interaction between the state and the Javanese ethnic group. There are hundreds of traditional performing arts in Indonesia, each associated with a specific ethnic group/sub-group and the geographical region that is the ethnic group’s homeland (e.g., the performing arts of Batak, Minangkabau, Aceh, Sunda, Central Java, East Java, Banyuwangi, etc.). The history of the Indonesian archipelago is one of myriad inter-cultural encounters between these groups alternately defined by geography, ethnic identity, and political affiliation. The processes of hybridization that have resulted have profoundly influenced Indonesian culture and attempts to shape Indonesian national identity. The performing arts play a primary role in articulating these interacting cultural, social, and political forces.

Photos by Sandy Aldieri. Click here to view the full album on Flickr.

 

Fall Photos: Music and Dance of Yogyakarta

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On Friday, November 9, 2018 in conjunction with a visit from Hamengkubuwono X, the Sultan of Yogyakarta in Indonesia, Wesleyan University hosted a performance by the court dancers and musicians of Yogyakarta, featuring the instruments of the Wesleyan gamelan, one of the finest sets of the instruments in the world—mostly gong and metallophone instruments made of bronze—usually housed on campus in World Music Hall.

Photos by Richard Marinelli. Click here to view the full album on Flickr.

Fall Photos: Fall Faculty Dance Concert: Wrapped in Us

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On Friday, October 26, 2018 visiting Assistant Professors Julie Mulvihill and Joya Powell presented Wrapped in Us, an evening of multidisciplinary, visceral, risk-taking and performance sharing.

In Composing Compromise: A Performance Collage, performers and audience traverse together, sharing choice and change. Together with the space and the audience, the performers explored in movement the act of becoming a group. Wesleyan student collaborators explored what holds us back and celebrate what brings us together as they ask the question: What if compromise is an act of discovery?

Hair Ties by Movement of the People Dance Company is a multidisciplinary, dance-theater piece inspired by America’s fear of Black power and beauty. Inspired by the Tignon Laws of the 1800s, this evocative work is a celebration of Black beauty, creativity, and ingenuity in the face of perpetual oppression. This work is a collaboration with Evelyn Green (videographer), Amina Henry (wordsmith), and Hair Ties interviewees.

Photos by Sandy Aldieri. Click here to view the full album on Flickr.

Fall Photos: Mythili Prakash

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On Sunday, October 14, 2018 at Crowell Concert Hall, Mythili Prakash made her Connecticut debut to conclude the 42nd annual Navaratri Festival at Wesleyan. The dynamic Mythili Prakash began her career as a Bharata Natyam performer at the age of eight. Since 1990, she has toured as a soloist in the United Kingdom, Scotland, France, Singapore, the United States, and Mexico. Highly acclaimed for her virtuosic skill as a performer, she stays deeply rooted in the inherent spirituality of the art form, which is the driving inspiration of her choreographic explorations. She was also cast in the award-winning film Life of Pi (2012).

Photos by Richard Marinelli. Click here to view the full album on Flickr.

Fall Photos: Raphael Xavier: Point of Interest

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On Friday, September 21, 2018 crackling with high-energy physicality, Point of Interest (2016) featured a series of solos, duets, and quintets set to Raphael Xavier’s soundscape of beats, spoken word poetry, and musical rhythms. Philadelphia-based Raphael Xavier is a self-taught hip hop dancer and breaking artist originally from Wilmington, Delaware. A photographer, musician, and former company member with Rennie Harris Puremovement, he is an innovative movement conceptualist who has helped expand the boundaries of dance since 1983.
Following the 50 minute performance there was a 30 minute talkback with the artist moderated by Visiting Assistant Professor of Dance Joya Powell.
There was a free masterclass with Raphael Xavier on Saturday, September 22, 2018 at 11am in the Bessie Schönberg Dance Studio, located at 247 Pine Street. Open to all, no reservations were required.

Photos by Richard Marinelli. Click here to view the full album on Flickr.

 

Fall Photos: Common Moment: ON DISPLAY

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On Friday, August 31, 2018 first year students in the Class of 2022 partnered with choreographer Heidi Latsky to create her installation ON DISPLAY on Andrus Field. Followed by a fire dancing performance by the student group Prometheus.
A deconstructed art exhibition/fashion show, ON DISPLAY is a commentary on the body as spectacle and on society’s obsession with body image. At its most concrete, ON DISPLAY is a human sculpture gallery bound by simple performance rules. More deeply, ON DISPLAY dares us to explore the idea of the gaze through a meditative, playful, embodied inquiry. In the installation, we are challenged to be in our simplest state, to commit to the exercise without judgement, to trust both our individuality and the group, and to experience profoundly the act of seeing and being seen.

Photos by Sandy Aldieri. Click here to view the full album on Flickr.

Spring Photos: Dance Department Celebrates Susan Lourie: 40 Years of Excellence in Teaching at Wesleyan

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On Saturday, April 7, 2018 The Dance Department honored Susan Lourie’s 40 years of teaching at Wesleyan with a tribute performance featuring invited alumni, guests, and current faculty and students. The performance was preceded by informal movement-based activities and performance by alumni along with Susan Lourie in the Bessie Schönberg Dance Studio.

Photos by Sandy Aldieri of Perceptions Photography. Click here to view the full album on Flickr.

Spring Photos: Susan Lourie Dance Class

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On Monday, March 26, 2018 long-time Wesleyan professor, Susan Lourie gave a dance class at the Bessie Schonberg Dance Studio.

Photos by Sandy Aldieri of Perceptions Photography. Click here to view the full album on Flickr.

Spring Photos: Masayo Ishigure: Koto 360°

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On Friday, February 16, 2018 A musical dialogue between the east and west, Koto 360° featured traditional Japanese instruments alongside classical guitar, tap dancing, and percussion. This concert included contemporary compositions by Hikaru Sawai, John Neptune, and a New England premiere by Celil Refik Kaya.

Photos by Sandy Aldieri of Perceptions Photography. Click here to view the full album on Flickr.