Dance Theatre Concerts Scheduled Dec. 7, 8 and 9

Date: 11/29/06
Contact: Marc Lebovitz

The Illinois State Dance Theatre will present its fall concert at 7:30 p.m. Dec. 7, 8 and 9 plus a 2 p.m. matinee performance on Dec. 9 in the Center for the Performing Arts Theatre. The annual concert will present original works of faculty and guest artists including the premieres of new works by Laurie Merriman, Greg Merriman, Maureen Miner and Sara Semonis, and pieces by College of Fine Arts Dean Lon Gordon and guest artists Kim Neal Nofsinger and Eddy Ocampo.

Tickets are $12 for the general public, $10 for ISU faculty-staff, $9 for senior citizens and $8 for students and are available at the Center for the Performing Arts box office from noon to 5 p.m. weekdays or by calling (309) 438-2535.

The concert will open with a very personal work by Dance Theatre Director Laurie Merriman titled "Shades of Heart." The dance piece was inspired by the passing of Merriman's mother-in-law last summer and was commissioned after her memorial while in a two-week residency at the Tennessee Governor's School for the Arts. The work is a contemporary ballet featuring 12 dancers on pointe. The music is from Bajazet by Antonio Vivaldi. The campus presentation will be the first full production of the piece.

The next work, by dance faculty member Sara Semonis, is titled "Failing to Perform the Function that is Normally Expected." The piece is for four dancers is a humorous reflection on the dysfunction that surrounds our daily lives. The apparent inconsequential choices that are consistently presented can sometimes be the most important decisions of our lives.

Following that will be a work in progress by Lon Gordon, featuring six dancers and 18 Momigami Scrolls. Original music is provided by School of Theatre sound designer, Aaron Paolucci. This work is inspired by human behavior patterns in the cornbelt, and the costumes at a Paris Fashion Show.

Just before intermission, eight dancers will perform "Good Bye to the Pity Party," choreographed by guest artist Kim Neal Nofsinger, a faculty member at Middle Tennessee State University and former Illinois State dance faculty member. The piece requires the dancers to utilize both their acting and dance technique interpreting a cast of rather odd, nearly pathetic characters.

Following intermission, a piece titled "in the process of building place" will be presented, choreographed by faculty member Maureen Miner. Miner collaborated with composer and music faculty member David Feurzeig and theatre set designer John Stark to create a unique environment. This work explores the process of inhabiting a new place and the changes that occur as one both molds and is molded by it. It looks at the fashioning of new relationships to the physical environment of the place as well as the people encountered in it.

Dance faculty member Greg Merriman created a large group work for 15 dancers titled "Can I Stay With You Tonight?" with music by The Crystal Method. The piece tells the story of three young artists recently relocated to a major metropolitan city. In their youthful exuberance, the threesome attempt to express their individuality, along with what was touted as above average talent in their home states. The three dancers are indeed swallowed up by the big city and end up together in non-dancing jobs in Dubuque, Iowa.

The concert will conclude with a piece by guest artist Eddy Ocampo, a Chicago dancer and choreographer, titled "Standing Alone at the Crossroads." Ocampo set this work for 11 dancers during his 10-day residency stay at Illinois State in early October. Set to music by Susumu Yokota and an original composition by ISU student sound designer Laura Prather, "Standing Alone" premiered at Chicago's Athenaeum Theatre last month as a part of "Dance Chicago." Illinois State's dancers, designers and production crew gave seven performances throughout November during Dance Chicago.