Mahaney Arts Center Dance Theatre

Led by Michael J. Morris in Lida Winfield’s Creative Process class, this workshop provides an introduction to butoh as a resource for creative process, specifically for accessing potentially unfamiliar and unexamined physical possibilities. Butoh is a postmodern Japanese dance form that emerged from the work of Kazuo Ohno and Tatsumi Hijikata in the 1950s. No previous dance experience necessary. Free

Middlebury College alumna Ellen Smith Ahern ‘05 has worked professionally with a diverse array of artists — including Jane Comfort, Tiffany Rhynard, Polly Motley, Paul Besaw, and Lida Winfield — all of whom have shaped her understanding of dance as a means of communication and connection.  She has taught and performed throughout the world, and brings this experience to her master classes, cultivating human relationships through movement and stillness.

Drawing on images, sound, and energy derived from Dance Company of Middlebury (DCM)’s residency in Detroit, Michigan, From Somewhere offers a simultaneously beautiful and haunting portrait of human geography. This performance will culminate the two-semester creative process guided by DCM director Tzveta Kassabova in collaboration with Joshua Bisset and Laura Quattrocchi of Shua Group challenging the dancers to respond creatively to outside environments. The work will tour to Dance Place in Washington, DC. Sponsored by the Dance Program. Tickets: $12/10/6; on sale January 11

Border / Zones culminates the two-semester creative process of the Dance Company of Middlebury (DCM), guided by artistic director Scotty Hardwig, with additional choreography by Omar Carrum, Guggenheim fellow, and director of the Mazatlan Professional School of Dance and Delfos Danza, their professional company in residence. Carrum creates an original work for the students during a residency in Middlebury during fall 2016, and the exchange continues on DCM’s tour to Mazatlan, Mexico, in January 2017.

Border / Zones culminates the two-semester creative process of the Dance Company of Middlebury (DCM), guided by artistic director Scotty Hardwig, with additional choreography by Omar Carrum, Guggenheim fellow, and director of the Mazatlan Professional School of Dance and Delfos Danza, their professional company in residence. Carrum creates an original work for the students during a residency in Middlebury during fall 2016, and the exchange continues on DCM’s tour to Mazatlan, Mexico, in January 2017.

Advanced student choreographers audition dancers for the annual Fall Dance Concert (December 2-3), which includes the 2016 Newcomers’ Piece, directed by Gabriel Forestieri. Dancers chosen for performance must attend a minimum of two approved technique classes consistently each week in order to be eligible to perform in program-sponsored events. Taking class supports the development of artistry, technical range, and performance skill. The Newcomers’ Piece is open to anyone who has not yet performed in a Dance Program sponsored concert.

Movement Matters with Maree ReMalia.

Andi Lloyd, Vice President for Academic Affairs and Dean of Faculty

James van Dyke, Assistant Professor of Modern European Art History, Department of Art History and Archaeology, University of Missouri-Columbia, will consider the meaning of the technique of silverpoint drawing in Otto Dix’s scenes of sex, violence, and sexual violence in and after 1933, in particular asking whether two portraits made and exhibited in Berlin in 1935 can be seen as sly responses to both his critics and Nazi ideology in general. Enjoy further conversation over a light lunch in the lobby. Sponsored by the Middlebury College Museum of Art and the Committee on the Arts.