to Host a Gathering of Support for Japan April 11
Contact: Sherena Geariety, Western Washington University Dance Program coordinator, (360) 650-3879,or sherena.geariety@wwu.edu
BELLINGHAM – Western Washington University’s Department of Theatre and Dance will present its annual Faculty Dance Concert April 14-17 in the Performing Arts Center (PAC) Mainstage Theater.
The Department of Theatre and Dance has been honored for a fourth time with a National Endowment for the Arts grant to restage a Masterpiece of American Modern Dance. Dance faculty member Susan Haines was awarded the grant for dance students to learn two dances by famed choreographer Martha Graham, which will be performed as part of the Faculty Dance Concert. The grant supported a two-week residency with an artist from the Martha Graham Dance Company in New York and the rights to perform these famous works of art.
students will perform “The Theme and Variations Duet from Appalachian Spring,” set to the famous score by Aaron Copeland, and “Steps in the Street,” a piece for 15 women set to the driving music of Wallingford Riegger.
“Steps in the Street” is a masterpiece of modern dance. It is inspired by devastation, homelessness, and exile – themes readily grasped by dancers and audiences alike. This dance is from a larger work, “Chronicle,” that Martha Graham created the same year she turned down Hitler’s invitation to perform at the arts festival running concurrently with the Berlin Olympics.
“Appalachian Spring” is inspired by the hope and determination of the American people. students will perform the Bride and Husbandman roles, set to Aaron Copeland’s famous Shaker hymn score.
The universal anti-war theme of “Steps in the Street” will still resonate with audience members in 2011, showing how art can play a vital role in political and social commentary. The duet from “Appalachian Spring” will showcase a softer side of Graham’s work.
The grant also supported two major artistic collaborations within the Western community.
Carol Guess, a associate professor of English, and her graduate seminar students created flash fiction pieces based on the movement and content of the Graham pieces. Selected students will offer readings during the Faculty Dance Concert.
Theater faculty David Saxton, J. Wiese, Gregory Pulver and Rachel Anderson nominated Theater Design students to create the lighting design and costuming for the pieces. The new costume design for “Steps in the Street” by Adrienne Perry will offer a contemporary take on the original dresses from 1936, showcasing the timelessness of Graham’s choreography. Student lighting designers Shannon Miller and Ian McKnight will realize the designs for the dances.
In addition to the restaged works, the concert will also feature new choreography by Dance faculty members: Nolan Dennett will premiere a visually dynamic work set to Mozart; Penny Hutchinson created a new work for six women; Richard Merrill presents a piece inspired by film noir; and dancers will create the score in Pam Kuntz's piece that explores the challenge of isolation.
The “Faculty Dance Concert” will show at 7:30 p.m., Thursday through Saturday, April 14-16, and at 2 p.m. on Sunday, April 17.
Tickets are available through the Box Office and are $15 general admission; $12 seniors, faculty and staff; and $10 students.
Box Office hours are 11 a.m. to 5 p.m. Monday through Saturday and one hour prior to the performance. For individual tickets or disability accommodations, contact the Box Office at (360) 650-6146 or visit .
For more information, visit or contact Sherena Geariety at (360) 650-3879.