ASU Dancers use multimedia to explore social themes in New Danceworks I
TEMPE, Ariz. – Master of Fine Arts degree candidates in dance have choreographed six unique works that comprise New Danceworks I for ASU’s Herberger Mainstage Dance, beginning Nov. 6. Choreographers Jennifer Walker, Meredith Koloski and Apryl Seech have created a rich texture of work that weaves social themes throughout multimedia dance performances. Melissa Rolnick, assistant professor of dance, also choreographed a piece for the concert.
WHEN: Nov. 5 at 4 p.m. (special preview); Nov. 6, 7, 8 at 7:30 p.m., and Nov. 9 at 2 p.m.
WHERE: Dance Theatre, PE East 132, 551 E. Orange St. on the Arizona State University campus in Tempe
TICKETS: $14 adults; $12 seniors, faculty, staff and ASU alumni; $5 students. Buy-one, Get-one free on the first Friday of any Mainstage production.
INFORMATION: 480-965-6447
Meredith Koloski is working toward her MFA degree with an emphasis in choreography, education and dance technology. The American College Dance Festival twice named Koloski Outstanding Choreographer of the Year and her choreography was presented at the Andy Warhol Museum in Pittsburgh in 1999. Koloski will perform a solo piece and also choreographed “MEUE,” a work based on the fields of movement analysis and kinetics that is set on eight dancers.
Jennifer Walker is a third year graduate student currently involved with several outreach projects for ASU Dance. Her choreography has been presented in New York, Florida and Oklahoma and she was artistic director for Jennifer Walker & Company based in New York City. Walker’s “Blue Canteen” is a multimedia piece inspired by artistic dance trends developed in the 1960s and is set to the music of Canned Heat, Janis Joplin and Bob Dylan. In Walker’s “Shell Shocked,” seven dancers explore the theme of war’s impact on the human psyche.
Apryl Seech has danced with the Spinning Yarns Dance Collective in San Francisco and Intersect Dance Theater in Ann Arbor Michigan. She will perform the interactive media piece “Tracks,” a reflection on addiction and self-abuse inspired by her brother’s death. Her work “Bread and Roses” is based on the struggle for dignity in the workplace, inspired by the 1913 textile strike that occurred in Massachusetts and became known as the Bread and Roses strike. The multimedia piece includes five dancers and one performer on video.
Melissa Rolnick, assistant professor of dance, is originally from New York and has been performing since 1981. She choreographed “Hannigan’s Imprint,” which will be performed by Jennifer Walker. “Imprint” was inspired by Rolnick’s hiking trip to Hannigan’s Pass, in Washington’s North Cascades mountain range.
The Department of Dance in the ASU Herberger College of Fine Arts is nationally ranked in the top 10 by Dance Teacher magazine. Its graduate program is ranked fifth and its undergraduate program is ranked ninth. The ARCO Performance Arts College Guide calls the department one of the “most highly recommended programs” in the country. To learn more about the Department of Dance, visithttp://dance.asu.edu.
Media Contact:
Denise Tanguay
480.965.7144
denise.tanguay@asu.edu