Arts & Culture
Dance group rehearses dynamic performance, "god of dirt."
Danstage ready to take center stage at the University of Wisconsin-Stevens Point this spring
Arts and Culture Reporter
Chicago’s acclaimed Jump Rhythm Jazz Project teams up with the University of Wisconsin-Stevens Point Department of Theatre and Dance for Danstage 2009.
With new works from dance faculty Joan Karlen, Michael Estanich and Jeannie Hill and the UW-SP premiere of Billy Siegenfeld’s “god of dirt,” Danstage 2009 is packed with originality.
Jump Rhythm Jazz Project’s “god of dirt” is an earth-honoring folk dance that transcends national cultures. This percussive, hand-grasping, heavy-booted movement of life celebrates the wry humor and humility that re-connects people to their own bodies’ wisdom and the earth’s capacity for instruction.
“The two-week residency with members of Jump Rhythm Jazz Project gave me a glimpse of an artistic place that I was unaware of prior to attending college,” said Becky Lewandowski, junior dance major and nutrition minor, “a place in the dance community as well as within myself.”
James Hansen, sophomore musical theatre major added, “The JRJP rehearsal directors kept telling us it’s all about letting go of whatever holds you back. That really freed me up to just move my body and feel the life within me. It really helped me understand that dance isn’t about how elegant you are or how high you can kick, it’s about how much you care about what you’re doing.”
Karlen created an ode to technological communication with “ringtone.” Dancers weave like circuits while projected images flash across the stage offering a look at the difference between physical contact and digital connections.
“It’s been great to collaborate with department of computing and new media technologies faculty Amod Damle and Katie Miller and design technology major Andy Broomell,” Karlen said. “Together we’ve created an interactive stage environment that includes text and video messaging. In one section of the work, images of the dancers are remixed in real time and projected as text – the effect is quite magical.”
“Oz,” choreographed by Hill, is a romp through the emblematic fairytale forest with a twist. Somewhere between Alice’s Wonderland and Dorothy’s Emerald City, dancers tell this story with their tap shoes.
Estanich brings two works to life with ” below the surface of the earth” and “the angel and the albatross.” Comparing the solitary and majestic life of the albatross to that of an angel, Estanich revisits this piece originally created in 2004.
In ”below the surface of the earth,” dancers navigate a serene installation of wind chimes while challenging their physical stamina and moving habits.
“Restaging a work is a different experience than generating a new piece,” Estanich said. “Revisiting ‘the angle and the albatross’ has been a wonderful process and gave me the opportunity to examine elements of the original choreography that I wanted to develop further.”
Danstage 2009 will be presented in Jenkins Theatre on May 1-3 and 7-9, with performances at 7:30 p.m. on Friday, May 1, Saturday, May 2, Thursday, May 7, Friday, May 8 and Saturday, May 9. A matinee will be offered at 2 p.m. on Sunday, May 3.
Tickets are $17 for adults, $16 for senior citizens and $12 for youth. UW-SP students with a valid ID may purchase advance tickets for $4.50 per show or get in free the day of the show if seats are still available. Tickets may be purchased at the University Information and Tickets center in the concourse of the Dreyfus University Center, by calling (715) 346-4100 or (800) 838-3378 or online at www.uwsp.edu/centers/uit/ordering.asp . Visa, MasterCard and Discover are accepted. For previews and commentary on the show, check out the Danstage 2009 blog at www.uwspdanstage.blogspot.com .
