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Show V. id i r . "A I P ? I . , .N n "QUADRICINIUM" is an original piece of music choreographed and danced by Michele Rusinko, member of the WSC dance faculty. BRENDA DAVIS, WSC dance faculty, created "Multifariously Yours" to be previewed at Crystal Crest by Orchesis Dance Theatre. "SEPARATE VOICES" is performed by Shawn Nottingham and Mauria Brough. Text: Leona Vandre This was a time for experimentation, collaboration, expansion and change for dance at Weber State College. Dancers and choreographers experimented with space in November when Orchesis Dance Theatre presented a concert in the Monson Theatre. The usual frame of the proscenium and distance from the audience was replaced by a three-sided stage which provided audience intimacy. Student choreographers created dances . . . about coming of age -Mauria Brough's "Passages and Pink Ribbons"; with a jazz quality -Cynthia Sahleen's "Malta"; based on martial arts movements -Michael Trujillo's "Dai San"; and using sacks as props -Shawn Nottingham and Susan Uhrey's "La Figure A La Figure." Michele Rusinko, director of dance at WSC, choreographed and danced the solo "A Simple Vision," accompanied by guitarist Robert Wiesenfeld. She also collaborated with theatre arts student Rick Hamblin on "Separate Voices," a piece in which dancers spoke passages as they moved. Guitarist Daniel McKay provided accompaniment for "Ballet Movement to Bach" ' by adjunct faculty member Penny Dudleston. Local choreographers Leona Vandre and Melanie Clifford created "98" and "Another Country," respectively. Dancers from Ben Lomond High School performed the latter. For the finale, Brenda L. Davis choreographed a jazz dance, "Multifariously Yours," which was dedicated to the proposition "You can't be uptight when you boogie," - i A sp a x '. ' ' . "' 'I '"-u .'S;"V, " - according to Rusinko. Collaboration with other performing arts and artists was a goal Rusinko reached on two occasions. The first was the premiere performance of "Quadricinium," a musical suite written for solo viola, solo dancer and percussionist. Rusinko and Dr. Michael Palumbo, violist and music faculty member, were searching for-music for a joint concert. A nation-wide composition competition, sponsored by the Schools of Education and Arts and Humanities, was held. Sixty scores were submitted. Maurice Gardner's composition "Quadricinium" was chosen. Percussionist Dr. Donald Keipp joined Rusinko and Dr. Palumbo in the performance. Rusinko directed a second collaboration, "Portraits and Parallels," the joint concert between Orchesis Dance Theatre and the Weber State Theatre, May 1-3 in the Allred Theatre. The concert focused on the human condition. A period piece choreographed by Mauria Brough and Shawn Nottingham had a 1930's flavor and took its inspiration from a story by Charles Bukowski. Rusinko provided a look at the lines of Emily Dickinson and E.B. White in two solos she choreographed, which were danced by Susan Seifert and Rick Hamblin. Two works premiered in November, "Separate Voices" and 'La Figure A La Figure," were restaged for the Allred Theatre. The latter was the WSC entry in the Regional Dance Festival. Cynthia Sahleen choreographed "Chimera" to an original synthesizer score by Dan Markosian. Once again, the final dance on the concert was a work by Brenda L. Davis, this time in collaboration with Rusinko. The critically acclaimed piece reflects upon life in the 1980's for five women who share the name Alice. "A as in Abererant" was danced by Brough, Sahleen, Carla Brown, Sheila Simmons and Franceen Jones. The most significant change in the WSC dance program was the certification of the dance teaching minor. Education majors can now minor in dance as a result of the action taken by the State Board of Education. The approval is seen as a boost to the incorporation of dance into the curriculum of local school districts. Dance |