By Janie Magruder
GCU News Bureau
The themes of gravity and physics in a tumultuous world of dance will be explored and demonstrated by students in Grand Canyon University’s Dance Department this week.
“Gravity,” featuring 12 works by emerging student artists expressing their creative points of view, is scheduled for 7:30 p.m. Wednesday and Thursday in GCU’s Thunderground. The Spring Student Spotlight concerts are free and open to the public.
A diversity of dance styles is planned representing a range of choreographic aesthetics from contemporary modern to flamenco. Both choreographed and performed by students, the pieces will display students’ myriad and considerable talents, said concert faculty director Bekki Price, a faculty member in the College of Fine Arts and Production.
For example, dance major Miguel Acero not only choreographed “Misconception of the unspoken,” a piece that explores roles in dance, he also made the costumes and worked with classmate Catherine Castellanos to compose the music.
The concerts likely will provoke a range of emotions, including, most notably in one piece, humor.
“Dance majors Michelle Bissonnette and Caitlin Lively will undoubtedly have the audience laughing with their hilarious piece, ‘The pedagogical practices of imagery in the classroom,’ inspired by their experiences preparing to become teachers in the dance classroom,” Price said.
And you’ve got to love this title: “A grande ice coffee in a venti sized cup with nonfat milk to the top, two pumps of sugar-free vanilla sweetener and easy caramel drizzle,” a piece choreographed by Kimberly Harris and Nicole Mayes, with an original score by Zachary Alexander, and to be performed by Bissonnette, Michael Clemmer and Cayla Jennings.
Other dance performances scheduled for this spring are “To each their own: An evening of dance,” at 7:30 p.m. Tuesday, April 7, in Thunderground, and the “Ballet to Broadway” Spring Dance Concerts, featuring student matinees at 9:30 a.m. Thursday and Friday, April 16 and 17, and 7:30 p.m. Friday and Saturday, April 17 and 18, all in Ethington Theatre.
For more information and tickets, click here, email [email protected] or call the box office at 602-639-8880.
Contact Janie Magruder at 602-639-8018 or [email protected].
