Program Showcases Works By Guest Artists, W&L Students
The Washington and Lee University Department of Theatre, Dance & Film Studies will present the W&L Repertory Dance Company in a program of multifaceted dance works created by nationally renowned choreographers, starting tonight.
The concerts in the Lenfest Center will run through Friday, all starting at 7:30 p.m.
The fully produced concert of six works contains the fruit of five artistic residencies that occurred during winter term. Choreographers Katrina Atkin, Waeli Wang, Elizabeth Stich, Sarah Zehdner and Tara Mullins each spent five days on campus offering master classes for the W&L community and holding intensive choreographic rehearsals with student dancers. Following the residencies, the dance company continued to rehearse the works for an additional 12 weeks under the direction of W&L professor of dance Jenefer Davies.
Katrina Atkin worked with nine W&L dancers and, in conjunction with them, choreographed “Time is Fleeing - Time is Eternal.” The dance explores loss and change from multiple viewpoints, but the story that the
MADISON LILLY group ultimately tells is one of shared experience and human beauty. Atkin is a dance and fiber artist/educator dedicated to exploring art’s capacity as a powerful tool for healing and resistance, and has taught at University for the Arts and Temple University in Philadelphia.
Describing her dance “Speak/Memory,” artist Waeli Wang said, “Stepping into the contours of memory, steeped in a sense of dreaming, nostalgia, and longing, we evoke a thought from Nabokov’s memoir: ‘Our existence is but a brief crack of light between two eternities of darkness.’” Wang, a movement artist, filmmaker and educator, worked with a large group of students to explore the overlap between critical dancemaking, and to identity, transform and challenge unjust social relations while filling in the gaps of our collective memory.
Elizabeth Stich is an assistant professor at the University of Georgia, specializing in contemporary and aerial dance. Stich’s scholarly research on aerial dance has been published in the Journal of Dance Education and Choreographic Practices and presented at numerous conferences. Her current research and forthcoming book focus on creative practice for aerialists and the intersection of aerial arts and dance improvisation. She created a solo for W&L senior aerialist Misha Lin, showcasing the aerial lyra apparatus.
“Enduring Disposition” is the creation of Sara Zehnder, whose choreographic research is rooted in feminism, and aims to cultivate community, inclusivity, and equity by focusing on different relationships through touch. This trio is set to excerpts from speeches by Michelle Obama, Emma Watson, and Hillary Clinton. Her work has been shown at the internationally acclaimed Jacob’s Pillow Inside/Out Festival, the American Dance Guild Festival, and numerous other national and international festivals. Zehnder currently serves as director of dance and associate professor at Springfield College in Massachusetts.
Tara Mullins is a professor of dance at NC State who uses dance and the arts as a springboard to delve into topics such as the arts and public health, affirmative action and the arts, and the intersection of STEM with dance. She also created Against the Railing, a digital platform and mixed media dance piece that tells the immigration stories of the NC State community. Her residency on campus was spent working with five students developing Resume Normal Activities, a response to a UNC Chapel Hill lockdown caused by an active shooter on campus. The piece is meant to encourage conversation and consideration of the real problem of guns in our schools.
Artistic director Jenefer Davies, speaking about curating the residencies said, “Bringing guest artists to campus gives the students the opportunity to experience a professional dance environment, learn innovative new works, engage with varied teaching methodologies, and practice embodied learning. It’s a beautiful practice-asresearch opportunity for them.”
Davies, the head of the Department of Theatre, Dance & Film, was named Researcher of the Year by the National Dance Education Organization for her work contextualizing a curriculum and creating pedagogical paths for aerial dance in higher education. Her book “Writing the Body: The Art of Dance Composition” was recently published by Routledge Press.
The evening concert includes her ongoing research choreography, “Wallflowers/ Wildflowers.” This dance employs humor as a tool of feminist resistance. It is a satirical look at the patriarchy, the marginalization of women, and at power dynamics. It challenges oppressive discourse, inequality, and personifies the burden of oppression.
Tickets for this week’s concerts can be purchased at (540) 458-8000 or online at: https://my.wlu.edu/lenfest-center/ wandl-repertory-dance-company.
