Hope College's annual major dance concert, Dance 36, will run Friday and Saturday, March 5-6, and the following weekend, Thursday-Saturday, March 11-13, at 8 p.m. at the Knickerbocker Theatre in downtown Holland.
Hope College's annual major dance concert, Dance 36, will run Friday and Saturday, March 5-6, and the following weekend, Thursday-Saturday, March 11-13, at 8 p.m. at the Knickerbocker Theatre in downtown Holland.
The program will present a variety of works created by Hope's dance faculty as well as guest faculty/choreographers Tracy Kofford and Dorrell Martin.
° "Into the Night," choreographed by Alicia Diaz and Matthew Thornton, is a piece about emerging from one world and moving into another. It explores and experiments with different movement qualities, and has been created in collaboration with Hope College dance students.
° "Dark White," choreographed by Steven Iannacone, is described as "a white landscape... mist, frost, smoke, ash... searing heat, frigid air... figures."
° "Dit Dah," choreographed by Rosanne Marie Mork, is an experiment in time. Hope College sophomore Kristen Reschke of Naperville, Ill., taps out Morse Code messages which pop to the cyclorama as a sort of thought-bubble commentary on life.
° "Maybe this time....," choreographed by guest artist Tracy Kofford, follows the ins and outs and ups and downs of relationships.
° "A Naming...," choreographed by Angie Yetzke in collaboration with the dancers, depicts the process of stripping away labels, both given and self-inflicted, to order to uncover and celebrate a unique name and purpose.
° "Vignettes on a Boulevard," choreographed by Amanda Smith, is a contemporary ballet on pointe set on a 1940s street corner.
° "Facades," choreographed by guest artist Dorrell Martin, is a contemporary work which explores a deeper and more meaningful relationship of humanity by looking past artificial appearances of human connection in today's society. "Facades" features music by Phillip Glass and an original score by 2007 Hope graduate Steven Rodriguez of Holland.
Guest choreographer Tracy Kofford is originally from Southern California, where he began dancing with tap at age nine and began working in theatre at age 13. He holds a BFA degree in dance from the University of California at Santa Barbara and an MFA degree from New York University Tisch School of the Arts, where he received a full scholarship. He is currently a member of Jennifer Muller/The Works and Williams/Henry Dance Company. He has toured and set works both nationally and internationally. Kofford has taught in New York City, the University of Missouri-Kansas City, Adelphi University, the Richard Stockton College in New Jersey and Europe.
Guest choreographer Dorrell Martin is director of jazz and contemporary dance at the JoffreySchool in New York City. Martin has performed in musicals such as "Aida," "Swing" and "West Side Story," and was a soloist for the national touring company of "A Few Good Men... Dancin." He has worked with recording artists such as Emma Bunton and Solange. He has been artist-in-residence at Hope College, where he set the musical "Wonderful Town." Martin is the founder and artistic director of Dorrell Martin Dance Fusion and the former artistic director of Houston Metropolitan Dance Company.
Costumes are designed by Darlene K. Christopher, Susan Eyler and Hope junior Magdalene Reishus of Kokomo, Ind. Lighting design is by Erik Alberg.
Tickets for Dance 36 are on sale at the ticket office in the main lobby of the DeVos Fieldhouse, and cost $7 for regular admission, and $5 for students and senior citizens. The ticket office is open weekdays from 10 a.m. to 5 p.m. and can be called at (616) 395-7890.
The DeVos Fieldhouse is located at 222 Fairbanks Ave., between Ninth and 11th streets. The Knickerbocker Theatre is located at 86 E. Eighth St.