The dance faculty is proud to be members of a college that supports collaboration. We welcome the creative additions of guest artist Luc Vanier, Associate Professor at University of Wisconsin- Milwaukee, and UWSP colleagues Sean Connors, Assistant Professor and UWSP Percussion Ensemble Director, Cindy McCabe, Professor and Chair of the Department of Mathematical Sciences, and Women’s Basketball Assistant Coach Diane Hawkins.
Universities continue to be important innovative centers whose leadership and resources make possible the range of artistic experimentation and contemporary inquiry that prepare our students to communicate, contribute and lead as global citizen artists. Thank you to UWSP’s administration for continuing to support the arts and for recognizing creative endeavors as professional academic research.
In Danstage 2012 the dancers are collaborating with faculty in crafting original research. While in residence from February 19-24 Luc Vanier restaged his intricate and compelling 2008 choreography, “Triptych”, a work that has been performed by Milwaukee Ballet II and Your Mother Dances in Milwaukee, and at the Minneapolis Fringe Festival.
Associate Professor Michael Estanich’s “Inhabitants of Tall Grass” is danced within an installation of tall prairie grasses where the dancers explore the sophisticated relationships between lines, curves and patterns through space. In Michael’s ensemble work “Homeland” the ensemble investigates memory, nostalgia and wonder, through physical, emotional and intellectual notions of home.
Associate Professor Jeannie Hill’s “The Sum is Greater” is a danced basketball game that blurs the line between athlete and dancer. Rhythmic sequences reflect Jeannie’s research with Mathematics Professor Cindy McCabe of repetitive patterns in the Fibonacci numbers.
And, in my new work “Round the Corner”, a collaboration with Sean Connors and Percussion Ensemble members, you’ll hear seven movements of Paul Lansky’s lyrical and forceful score “Threads.” The dancers’ interpretation of the score and choreography weaves and merges movement theme “threads” in a meditation on life’s beauty and mysteries.
Thank you to our outstanding technical and design team, stage managers and production crew for their vision, enthusiasm and dedication. Thank you, too, to all who support the dancers behind the scenes.
We hope you enjoy Danstage 2012 as we celebrate the deepening artistry, stylistic range and full expression of our dancers.
Joan Karlen, Director
Danstage 2012
