Herberger Mainstage Dance showcases the best student choreography with New Danceworks concert series

TEMPE, Ariz. - Herberger College Master of Fine Arts dance students will choreograph and perform the best of their repertoire this school year during theNew Danceworks series of concerts held in October, January and March on the ASU Tempe Campus. The series, part of the Department of Dance graduate curriculum, is an excellent way for local audiences to see emerging artists, trends and techniques that are changing the face of modern dance.

New Danceworks I , Oct. 20-22, features a total of three completely different works choreographed by Keira Hart, Liz Young and AJ Niehaus.

Hart choreographed and designed sets and costumes for "Look, Don't Touch, All the Pretty Things," a multi-section work resembling a haute couture dance fashion show. The work explores the nature of fashion shows where the models (dancers) become empowered and influenced by the clothes they wear. Hart's work examines how women are seen in the fashion world and on the cinematic screen and stage.

"The Takeover" by Liz Young is an explosion of color and costumes that mixes dance, theatre and comic strip art. The work tells a story of a central character, Tuey Burns, who loses her wallet, sending her into obsessive thoughts about stolen identities. The work jumps from real scenarios to the fantastical and ridiculous, creating a surprising performance. "The Takeover" communicates the funny and sometimes painful adjustment to being human, being an artist, having fears, wanting to be heard and experiencing life.

The Herberger College Dance Studio Theater has a vision-based sensing environment of three cameras that make it possible for performers to affect their surroundings. AJ Niehaus' work "Talking String" incorporates both wearable sensing and vision sensing technology in a multimedia performance of lighting, sound and video projection loosely based on the novel Snow Crash by Neal Stephenson. As the dancers move around the space, they influence the audio and video occurring on stage and in turn, are affected by the technology through auditory cues. Characters from cyberpunk and popular culture inspire each performer's movement.

Tickets for the New Danceworks series are $5-18 and available online at http://herbergercollege.asu.edu/mainstage/or through the Herberger College Box Office, 480-965-6447. New Danceworks I show times are Oct. 20-22, 7:30 p.m. and Oct. 23, 2 p.m. New Danceworks II is Jan. 26-28, 7:30 p.m. and Jan. 29, 2 p.m.; New Danceworks III is March 2-4, 7:30 p.m. and March 5, 2 p.m. All concerts are in ASU's Dance Studio Theatre, PE East 132, 551 E. Orange St.

The Department of Dance, rated among the top 10 programs in the country, is a division of the Herberger College of Fine Arts at Arizona State University. To learn more, visit http://dance.asu.edu 

Media Contact:
Denise Tanguay 
480.965.7144
denise.tanguay@asu.edu