When: December 10, 11, 12 at 7:30 p.m. and December 13 at 2 p.m.
Where: Russell Hall on the Gorham campus of USM
Tickets: $7 for students; $10 for seniors, faculty and staff; $14 for the general public
Reservation: Call the box office at 207-780-5151
Theatre student Audra Curtis (Belfast HS 06) rehearses a dance piece entitled "Breath" on campus in Gorham.
USM Theatre’s annual celebration of bodies in motion, Dance USM!, promises an exhilarating series of performances this year. Faculty choreographers lead student dancers, lighting designers and costumers in performances where hip-hop hangs from the ceiling, as bowling balls and monologues meet Bob Fosse with a shopping cart, in an excited mash-up of dance, sound and full-color fury.
More than 20 student dancers are involved in the show, which features five separate performance pieces. Each piece has unique costumes and lights designed by students.
Theatre major, Jessica Dummich (Winthrop HS 05) and musical theatre major Michael Lynch rehearse "Breath."
In addition to energetic traditional dance pieces, the show this year is focusing on a variety of body-centered performance styles open to theatre students who are not necessarily trained dancers.
“It’s a way for students to discover how to use their bodies in a performative way,” says choreographer and professor, Shannon Zura.
Theatre Professor Shannon Zura oversees a rehearsal.
Zura’s piece, entitled “Breath,” explores the difference between just surviving and living with a sense of emotion and humanity, using four dancers and a pair of long ropes looped around the dancers.
“It asks the question, ‘what would it be like to exist without humanity,’” says Zura. “It’s about existence and simply existing.”
In the tension-filled number, punctuated by long exhalations by the dancers, the rope stands for what binds people together, literally and figuratively. Dancers use the rope to counterbalance each other’s weight as they lean backwards at precarious angles.
“It’s a tough piece,” says theatre major Jessica Dummich (Winthrop HS 05), a dancer in the piece. “It’s built around resistance with the rope.”
Theatre minor, and geography major, Laura Collard (Freeport HS 08) rehearses a dance piece entitled "Breath" on campus in Gorham.
Theatre student Jessica Dummich, seen in a mirror, (Winthrop HS 05) rehearses in Gorham.
Theatre minor, and geography major, Laura Collard (Freeport HS 08) and musical theatre major Michael Lynch rehearse a dance piece entitled "Breath" on campus in Gorham Thursday November 19. The dance, along with several other pieces, will be performed at Dance USM! December 10-13, 2009.
Dance USM! also features a unique dialog-driven piece, a Bob Fosse inspired hot jazz number, an aerial dance studded with multiple props and a story-driven, hip-hop inspired performance. The public is invited.
