Archive: Arts & Entertainment

Aurora, New York—The Wells College Theatre and Dance Department proudly presents The Next Journey: Faculty Dance Concert 2016. The performance will take place at 7:30 p.m. on Friday and Saturday, April 8 and 9, in Phipps Auditorium of Macmillan Hall on the Wells College campus in Aurora, N.Y. Admission is free and open to the public. An annual favorite, this year's concert features a range of new and repertory work by Wells dance faculty choreographers Jeanne Goddard and Tucker Davis and special guest artist Julie Nathanielsz, performed by the 18 students of the Wells College Dance Ensemble.

Tucker Davis, lecturer in dance, will premier "Microspheres," an exploration of construction, deconstruction and boundaries created especially for the Wells College Dance Ensemble and set to the music of Philip Glass. Davis says about his choreography, "I am working from the point of view that there is no beginning or ending to the process of perception, and that we often create illusions of the finite to satisfy our need for order and hierarchical thinking."

Guest artist Julie Nathanielsz will offer "The Isabellas," a women's quintet that "arises (loosely!) from a fascination with the wild, tragic life of Isabella Blow and the energy of Lily Allen's early hit songs" according to the choreographer. Of fashion editor Isabella Blow, journalist Cathy Horyn has said, "Her effect was of an umbrella opening in a phone booth." Music for "The Isabellas" is by Lily Allen with an additional sound score by Nathanielsz.

Professor of Dance Jeanne Goddard will premier "Dream State," a large ensemble piece inspired by the boldness of women explorers. In particular Goddard mentions Mary Kingsley, who escaped Victorian England to conduct scientific research in West Africa and wrote with great courage and wit about her experiences and her fascination with that continent. Baritone Steven Stull and pianist William Cowdery will perform selections from Vaughan Williams' "Songs of Travel" as accompaniment. Goddard will also perform in this new work, celebrating her final dance concert at Wells College before her retirement.

In addition to the ensemble works on the program, student dancers will perform a series of solos from Goddard's own concert repertory, from the 1980's to the present. Works in this series include "One Who Was Working" inspired by Gertrude Stein and Pablo Picasso, and "Something about a lamp…" with a text score by Ethan MacCormick using the voice of Professor Emeritus Hugo Theimer.

Scenic and lighting design for the concert is by Patricia Goebel, resident designer for the Wells College Theatre and Dance Department. Members of the 2016 Wells College Dance Ensemble are: Ariel Adams, Carly Barry, Nina Daniels, Bethany Gore, Eamonn Moneypenny Hall, Ryan Kangas, Jasmine Milton, Leah Mosher, Mackenzie Porter, Macy Smolsky, Savannah Sprague-Jackson, Meghan Terry, Mariah Thurston, Justine Tibbits, Sarah Uhrig, LeAnne Weber, Dana Winston-Day, Audrey Woolever.

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