Homecoming: Dancing Together
Join alumni, current students, and faculty for a session of improvisation with dance program musicians, from 10 a.m.–noon. Then at 1 p.m., attend an open, informal showing of tiny story, a new duet by Kate Elias ’06 and Ellen Smith ’05, featuring music composed and performed by Abe Streep ’04. This occasion is also an opportunity for returning alumni to share their latest work—interested alumni: contact the dance program at 802-443-5245 or dance@middlebury.edu.
Saturday, October 27, at the Mahaney Center for the Arts, Dance Theatre. Free
Residency with Marlon Barrios Solano
While in residency with the Dance Company of Middlebury, Venezuelan-dance, new-media artist Marlon Barrios Solano will create improvisational performances within digital, real-time environments. Join us for these public events:
Master Class in Interactive Technology and Improvisation
Thursday, November 1, at 3:00 p.m., in the Mahaney Center for the Arts, Dance Theatre. Free
Informal Showing of New Work
Friday, November 2, at 4:30 p.m., in the Mahaney Center for the Arts, Dance Theatre. Free
Please group the 2 Nugent_Matteson Dance sections together.
Nugent+Matteson Dance Residency
Nugent+Matteson Dance, founded in 2005, supports the collaborative and individual choreography, performing, and teaching of Jennifer Nugent and Paul Matteson ’00. Their work focuses on human relationships, interacting in the moment on stage through dancing and, sometimes, speaking that is physical and phrased.
Master Class in Intermediate/Advanced Dance Technique and Partnering
Wednesday, November 7, at 2:45 p.m., in the Mahaney Center for the Arts, Dance Theatre. Free
Master Class in Advanced Beginning Dance Technique
Thursday, November 8, at 9:30 a.m., in the Mahaney Center for the Arts, Dance Theatre. Free
Master Class in Beginning Technique and Partnering
Thursday, November 8, at 3 p.m., in the Mahaney Center for the Arts, Dance Theatre. Free
Nugent+Matteson Dance Performance
The work of acclaimed dancers Jennifer Nugent and Paul Matteson ’00 was described last year in The New York Times as “that rare work that lives up to its advance billing . . . a delight.” Nugent and Matteson are known for their precarious, imaginative, and playful dances. They will present four in their Middlebury performances: Fare Well highlights their synchronistic partnering within Edmund Mooney’s richly atmospheric sound score. Block Idol, a solo by Matteson, with music by Michael Krassner, layers bittersweet coming-of-age narratives with seemingly impossible physical challenges. Semi-Formal, a solo by Nugent and performed to live music by violinist Heather Somerland, is a hip-circling ceremony of ballroom dance fantasies. And the final piece, Saints Smother Swans, is an intricately technical new duet for Nugent and Matteson, choreographed by Terry Creach. Lighting is by Middlebury’s own Jennifer Ponder. During 2007–2008, Nugent+Matteson Dance has residencies in Russia, Seattle, New York, Vermont, Utah, and Florida and will be preparing a New York City performance season at Danspace Project, next December.
“Their resilience, their ability to duplicate moves when they dance side by side, and the speed with which each can accommodate to the other’s new ideas bespeak understanding and respect, and symbolize love.” — Deborah Jowitt,. The Village Voice
Friday–Saturday, November 9–10, at 8:00 p.m., in the Mahaney Center for the Arts, Dance Theatre. Tickets: $15/12/5
Martha Ann Underhill and the Fall Dance Concert
Classically trained dance major Martha Ann Underhill ’07 presents senior work, including a contemporary group piece based on her Southern heritage and a multimedia solo reflecting her dance experience. The fall dance concert also showcases the emerging voice and vision of the program’s up-and-coming choreographers, including Philippe Bronchtein ’10, Sophie Levine ’10, Adriane Medina ’07, and Yina Ng ’09. The evening includes the annual Newcomers’ Piece, choreographed this year by Artist in Residence Leyya Tawil. Always full of energy, invention, and collaborative spirit, these choreographed works represent the culmination of intensive creative work exploring the art of dance making.
Friday–Saturday, November 30–December 1, at 8:00 p.m., in the Mahaney Center for the Arts, Dance Theatre. Tickets: $5/4/3; on sale Nov. 13
Play Reading: Death and the King’s Horseman
(See the Theatre page for full information on this event.)
Sunday, December 2, at 2:00 p.m., in the Mahaney Center for the Arts, Dance Theatre. Free
Taking Flight
A “lightly produced” showing of dance experiments by the new batch of choreographers emerging from the Advanced Beginning Dance course.
Wednesday, December 5, at 4:30 p.m., in the Mahaney Center for the Arts, Dance Theatre. Free
Dance Company of Middlebury: Informal Showing
The company welcomes your feedback as we continue to develop the new work I’m Right, You’re Wrong for performance and tour in January.
Thursday, December 6, at 4:30 p.m., in the Mahaney Center for the Arts, Dance Theatre. Free
The Falling by Rebecca Marcus ’08
Senior dance major Rebecca Marcus ’08 presents an evening of choreography inspired by poems written during her years at Middlebury. Her unconventional use of the stage space brings the audience into physical and emotional intimacy with the dancers, blurring the boundary between who is watching and who is dancing.
Friday–Saturday, December 7–8, at 5:00 p.m., in the Mahaney Center for the Arts, Dance Theatre. Tickets: $5/4/3; on sale Nov. 20