The Republican Journal: Belfast student in USM dance show

The Republican Journal: Belfast student in USM dance show

USM's annual mash-up of costumes, lights, sound and bodies in motion: DANCE USM!

What: Dance USM!

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.

"Tea and Sympathy" opens and the audience talks back

The show opened to very appreciative audiences this weekend. Meghan Brodie, a Department of Theatre instructor, lead a talk back session with the audience, director William Steele, and the cast after the matinee performance, Sunday afternoon.

Tea and Sympathy deals with fear, diversity and compassion.

Heather Scammon (Scarborough High School grad 2005) plays Laura, the kindly wife of the housemaster at a stuffy boys school, played by Patrick Malloy, right, (Orono High School 2009) who comforts Tom, played by Joseph Skelton Bearor (Bangor High School 2006), when he is tormented by his schoolmates for possibly being gay, in the University of Southern Maine Department of Theatre's production of Tea and Sympathy this November.

Tea and Sympathy

By Robert Anderson

Directed by Professor William Steele

November 6-15, 2009

When: November 6, 7, 12, 13, 14 at 7:30 p.m. & November 8, 15 at 2 p.m. / Special “$5 @ Five” show November 11 at 5 p.m., all tickets $5 / High school matinee performance November 10 at 10 a.m.

Tickets: Students $7, seniors/faculty/staff $10, general public $14 / Season Flex Pass good for six tickets, in any combination (limit two tickets to the spring musical) to the play or plays of your choosing for $40

For reservations: call the Theatre Box Office at 207-780-5151

Where: Russell Hall on the Gorham Campus of the University of Southern Maine

Tea and Sympathy, far ahead of its time, examines the emerging relationship between a student and his schoolmaster's wife against a backdrop of homophobia and hypocrisy in the 1950's.

A sensitive teenage boy named Tom endures the cruelty and suspicion of his teachers and classmates as they taunt and ridicule him for possibly being gay at a stuffy private boy’s academy. The only one who seems to understand, to offer any sympathy, is Laura, the evasive housemaster’s young, compassionate wife.

Heather Scammon (Scarborough High School grad 2005) plays Laura, the kindly wife of the housemaster at a stuffy boys school who comforts Tom, played by Joseph Skelton Bearor (Bangor High School 2006), when he is tormented by his teachers and schoolmates for possibly being gay.

“At its heart, Tea and Sympathy, looks at how we make judgments about other people based on the degree to which they conform to our own preconceived ideals,” says Director and Professor William Steele.

“It’s also about kids who don’t fit in and how the people around them, their peers and parents and teachers, often compound their angst. It’s a sensitive play about a boy, falsely stereotyped, who is rescued by a compassionate woman who is locked in a lonely marriage that is itself based on false pretenses,” he adds.

Following the performance on Sunday November 8, the public is invited to attend a talk-back session. Director William Steele and the cast of the show will field questions about their work, the play, and the relevancy of this story to contemporary audiences. The post-show discussion is free and will be moderated by USM instructor Meghan Brodie.

Goodbye Joe.

Former Russell Hall custodian, Joe Ruminski, has passed away. His family has requested the Russell Hall auditorium for his memorial service since Joe spent most of his time here with us. The service will be this Monday, October 5th between 4:00 - 6:00 p.m. in the Theatre.

Joe's featured obituary in the Portland Press Herald.