The Hope College Department of Dance will present its annual Spring Student Dance Showcase on Friday-Saturday, April 17-18, at the Dow Center, and Monday-Tuesday, April 20-21, at the Knickerbocker Theatre.
All shows begin at 7:30 p.m.
The public is invited. Admission is free.
The showcase of student choreography, presented during the latter part of each fall and spring semester, is designed to highlight the creativity, ingenuity and vibrancy of the student dance artists at Hope. The concerts are student-choreographed, student-performed and student-run.
The showcase features two distinct concert line-ups with a wide variety of styles, including hip hop, jazz, modern/contemporary, ballet, tap and traditional Mexican folk dancing. The program for each of the concert venues will be different, with the pieces matched to the setting that best suits them. Works selected for the Dow “white box” space will have the benefit of a more open, intimate and personal environment with a white floor and backdrop, while the pieces for the Knickerbocker will have the benefit of a traditional “black box” theater with additional technical capacities.
The two concerts are comprised of works produced in Steven Iannacone’s Composition I and Composition II classes, as well as works produced by students of their own accord. A total of 29 works will be presented, including two by active clubs on campus, Hip Hop Anonymous and Hope’s Ballet Folklorico.
Every year, student choreographers who contribute works participate in a mentoring and adjudication process. Faculty co-producers Steven Iannacone and Matthew Farmer meet with each student choreographer several times to give feedback through the student’s creative process. The final aspect of the presenting process consists of the Department of Dance inviting a professional choreographer to Hope’s campus to adjudicate the students’ works, teach several master classes, as well as hold auditions for his/her dance company.
This year’s guest adjudicator is Richard Rivera of New York City. Student choreographers had the unique opportunity to present their work and then engage in an informal dialogue with Rivera, receiving his feedback to guide them with further development. While in residence, Rivera taught a master class in contemporary technique and held an audition for his New York City-based company, PHYSUAL.
Rivera is the artistic director and founder of PHYSUAL, a project dance company started in 2001. Based in New York City, PHYSUAL has served as a vehicle for Rivera to develop his movement vocabulary and choreographic point of view. Core principles of PHYSUAL are to use movement as a catalyst for exploring physical concepts, ideas and creating performance work.
The Dow Center dance studio is on the second floor of the Dow Center, located at 168 E. 13th St., on the corner of 13th Street and Columbia Avenue. The Knickerbocker Theater is located in downtown Holland at 86 E. Eighth St.