Category Archives: Dance

Window on the Work: Christopher Fleming 9/16/2012

Join the Swarthmore Project of the Dept. of Music Dance in a WINDOW ON THE WORK with CHRISTOPHER FLEMING

Where: Boyer Studio

When: 3PM, Sunday, September 16

Established in 2012, the newly formed BalletFleming has quickly emerged as an innovative and exciting new dance company. In creating original works by choreographer, writer and director Christopher Fleming, the group explores innovative approaches to storytelling, musical theatre and symphonic expositions.

As a member of the New York City Ballet, Mr. Fleming danced Principal roles in works by George Balanchine, Jerome Robbins and Peter Martins. He also headed a group of soloists and principals from New York City Ballet, which toured Europe with his choreography as well as that of George Balanchine. With Mr. Balanchine’s encouragement he embarked on a career as a choreographer and received a fellowship from the National Choreographic Institute under the Direction of Barbara Weisberger.  Mr. Fleming served as the Artistic Director of the Compañia Colombiana de Ballet at the Teatro Colon in Bogota, Colombia from 1985 to 1990. He was named Artistic Director of Bay Ballet Theatre in Tampa, Florida in 1993. For ten years he served as Assistant Director and Resident Choreographer for The Rock School for Dance Education, in Philadelphia, PA.

Faculty Lecture: Kumudini Lakhia 9/20, Scheuer Room

Kumudini Lakhia will lecture on Dance in India on September 20 (4:15-6PM) in the Scheuer Room, Kohlberg.

Indian dance is an important artistic expression of India’s cultural heritage.  This audio-visual presentation by visiting Cornell Professor Kumudini Lakhia will chart the contemporization of classical dance traditions.  She will present a brief history of Indian dance and then focus on Kathak , a north Indian classical form,  to show how the body is molded in the Kathak technique.  She will illustrate this by using her own choreographic innovations and discuss her motivations for breaking out of the traditional repertoire.  She will conclude with her contributions to the modern development of Kathak as a concert dance form and its increasing relevance in India and its diaspora.

Kumudini Lakhia, the visiting Cornell Professor in the Dance Program, is one of the most accomplished and highly recognized artists in India, in the field of dance and choreography.   Her innovations in the field of Kathak, a classical Indian dance from North India, are equivalent to innovations by trail blazers such as Martha Graham.  She founded Kadamb Center of Dance and Music in Ahmadabad, Gujarat in 1967.   She is a pioneering figure in the Indian contemporary dance movement and her works set in motion what is known now as contemporary Kathak.  Her choreographies are landmarks in the annals of Indian dance and they range from contemporary choreographies to some of the iconic creations in Bombay films.  Kumudini is the recipient of some of the highest civilian awards in India such as the Sangeet Natak Academy award, Padma Shri and Padma Bhusan.  She is one of the most sought after teachers and choreographers in the world, working and collaborating with international dance stars such as Akram Khan.   Her life and work are the focus of the book “Movement in Stills: The Dance and Life of Kumudini Lakhia” by Reena Shah.  Her students are also internationally renowned dancers and choreographers such as Aditi Mangaldas, Daksha Seth, and Prashant Shah.  Apart from teaching at Kadamb, she holds regular workshops and classes in the U.K, Canada, and USA.   She carries the message that tradition and innovation are not oppositional ideas, but that tradition can be the springboard for creativity and innovation.

Kate Speer ’08 with STICKS AND STONES in the 2012 Fringe

Sticks & Stones opens this weekend in Philly!

virtual high five!
send to your BFF!
Philly Fringe Festival
September 2012
Fri, 7th 7:30pm
Sat, 8th 4pm
Sat, 8th 7:30pm

Location
Mascher Co-op
155 Cecil B. Moore
Philadelphia, PA 19122

Tickets
$15 General Admission
$10 Student + 25 & younger*
$8 DancePASS**

For tickets, contact the Festival Box Office at (215) 413-1318 or visit www.livearts-fringe.org . Tickets are also available at the door (cash/check only).
*Student + 25 & younger discount ONLY available in person at the Festival Box Office or at the door. Must provide valid I.D.
**DancePASS discount ONLY available at the door.

Ticket Deals
Save money and still see our show!!!!

2-for-1 Deal
Friday, September 7th buy two tickets
for the price of one. Available only at the door!

Children get in FREE!
Kids apparently love our show, so make it a family night, because 12-and-under get in for free!

Visit www.katespeerdance.org for more info.
Kate Speer ’08
695 Manhattan Dr, #203 Boulder , CO 80303

Math + Dance = Where Patterns Collide

Sponsored by Bryn Mawr College Department of Mathematics and Swarthmore College Dance Program. Supported by the Mellon Tri-College Creative Residencies Program.

A New Mathematical Performance Work with Dr. Karl Schaffer

Final Showing of Residency

Wednesday, September 26, 4:30 to 6:00 PM

4:30-5PM Participatory workshop of concepts

5-6PM Informal presentation of the work

Swarthmore College, Troy Dance Studio, Lang Performing Arts Center

*********

Where Patterns Collide: Math & Dance
Mathematics and dance are linked in many beautiful and surprising ways: the geometry of the moving body, the symmetries of dancers arrayed across the stage, the rhythmic patterns of dance phrasing, the complex connections between dancers, the varied paths through space. In this interactive workshop we will examine the ways that choreographers employ mathematical concepts, both consciously and unconsciously, and see how mathematical questions sometimes arise within a dance. All are welcome.

 

Karl Schaffer is co-founder and co-artistic director of the Dr. Schaffer and Mr. Stern Dance Ensemble, which has toured throughout North America since 1988. They have received five National Endowment for the Arts grants for their artistic and educational work linking dance and mathematics. His most recent concert, “The Daughters of Hypatia” celebrates the lives, work, and struggles of great women mathematicians.  He teaches mathematics at De Anza College in California when not dancing. Contact KarlSchaffer:  karl_schaffer@yahoo.com.

Green Chair Dance Group performs in the Wilmington Fringe September 2012

Tandem Biking and Other Dangerous Pastimes for Two is back!

Join Green Chair at the Wilmington Fringe Festival September 27-29, 2012. http://www.fringewilmingtonde.com/

Sept. 27 @ 8:30pm
Sept. 28 at 6:30pm
Sept. 29 at 8:00pm

Christina Cultural
Arts Center
705 N. Market St.
Wilmington, DE 19801

Tickets: $5
Available starting Sept. 1 on the Fringe website or at the door.

http://www.greenchairdancegroup.com/

Green Chair is Sarah Gladwin Camp ’05,  Hannah de Keijzer ’06, and Gregory Holt ’05.

Tavia Odinak ’09 presents MEAT GAME in Brooklyn

Meat Game is finally a reality!
I am so proud of this project, and would love to share it with you.
I will be presenting my work on:

June 15 & 16, 2012
8 PM

The Aldous Theater, Triskelion Arts
118 North 11 th Street, 3 rd Floor
Brooklyn, NY 11249

Tickets are $10 at the door,
but you may reserve your seats in advance
by emailing:
MeatGameTix@gmail.com .

Commemorative Dance for Lyndsley Wilkerson ’97

Commemorative Dance for Lyndsley Wilkerson ’97

This silent participatory dance is being offered to the ’97 and other alumni as a space to honor Lyndsley Wilkerson ’97 who passed away recently. Its an extended “moment of silence” but in movement. Be assured it’s a very simple dance anyone can do. Basically it’s a slow motion meltdown from standing (or sitting) to lying fully supported by the ground.

We aim to dance in the courtyard near the belltower if permitted, otherwise we will dance somewhere near the belltower. Come find us.

We are inviting people who are not physically at Swarthmore to do this dance at the same time to join in at the time we dance (between 1:30 and 2pm).You are also invited to dance at another time or more than once and share your experiences with us.

If you chose to do this, please document your participation, ie take a photo or write a little acount of your experience and share it with us.

These can be shared via the DearLyndsley.com website in the “Upload your Memory” section by first sharing of a memory about Lyndsley or what inspired you to dance in her memory. Then add any other thoughts/reflections/ images of the dance. Instructions are on the site. We are dancing/moving at the same time that her family and friends are hosting a celebration her life in New Jersey. If you would like more details about this, contact: Erik Huneke at  ehuneke@umich.edu.

Then we will have a map of the connections and acknowledgment of those lives she has touched and where that love and influence have rippled out all over the world.

We are also inviting other alumni to dance in honor of classmates/loved ones who have passed away, including Tara Schubert ’98.

For instructions of how to do the very simple silent dance,
please email Colleen Bartley ’96 : Colleen.Bartley@gmail.com