Original student dance works performed in Young Choreographers Showcase

(From left) Eliotte Henderson, Elissa Eggers, Adrienne Hayes, Corinn Williams and Alex Gordon in There are certain shades of limelight that can wreck a girl’s complexion, choreographed by Hayes. Photo by David Marchant. Download high-res version.

Washington University’s Performing Arts Department (PAD) in Arts & Sciences will present its fourth biennial Young Choreographers Showcase Friday, April 9, through Sunday, April 11, in the Annelise Mertz Dance Studio.

The concert will feature more than a dozen dancers in nine original works created by student choreographers in the PAD’s Dance Program.

Performances will begin at 8 p.m. Friday and Saturday, April 9 and 10; and at 2 p.m. Sunday, April 11. Tickets are $15, or $10 for seniors, students and Washington University faculty and staff. Tickets are available through the Edison Theatre Box Office at (314) 935-6543.

The Annelise Mertz Dance Studio is located in the Mallinckrodt Center, 6445 Forsyth Blvd. For more information, call (314) 935-6543.

“Young Choreographers Showcase represents the full spectrum of our dancers’ interests and activities,” says David W. Marchant, senior lecturer in dance, who serves as co-artistic director for the showcase, along with senior Corinn Williams.

“This year, we have a nice balance of solos, duets, trios and group works,” Marchant says. “There’s also a nice range of styles, from ballet to a variety of contemporary works. There’s a lot of energy here.”

All dances were chosen by a jury comprising the PAD’s four full-time dance faculty — Marchant, Mary-Jean Cowell, Christine Knoblauch-O’Neal and Cecil Slaughter — as well as Williams and Ting-Ting Chang, PhD, the Andrew W. Mellon Postdoctoral Fellow in Dance. Yet, once works are selected, virtually all aspects of staging the showcase, including lighting and costumes, are managed by the students themselves.

“This is a largely student-realized concert. Students are responsible for managing their own rehearsals, for lighting designs, costume designs and manning crew positions,” Marchant says. “Our student stage manager, Eliana Wallack, has been indispensable in organizing all aspects of the production.

“That requires a high degree of cooperation,” he says. “The students work together beautifully. They understand that their individual success also depends on that of their peers.”

“All of the choreographers have unique styles and come from different parts of the country,” Williams says, “and these works reflect that diversity of training.”

At the same time, “we’ve all spent years dancing together and collaborating on one another’s pieces,” Williams says. “I think that sense of camaraderie is what really unifies this concert.”

In addition to serving as co-artistic director, Williams choreographs CityScape, a contemporary work for five dancers inspired by the daily activities of urban streets. “I looked at the city itself as a kind of improvisation,” she says of the piece, which features lighting design by Sean Savoie, lecturer in the PAD. “I wanted to see how that would work as formal choreography.”

Also on the program:

Ador. Leah Flamm performs this solo, which she recently presented at the American College Dance Festival Association’s Central Region Conference, held March 19-22 at the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign. Lighting designer is David Hahn.

Intoxicating Suffocation. Alex Gordon and Danielle Wallis perform Gordon’s duet, which “portrays the damaged relationship between two people who fail to break away from one another once they have met, even though they keep damaging one another,” Gordon says. Lighting designer is Artem Kreimer.

There are certain shades of limelight that can wreck a girl’s complexion. Adrienne Hayes choreographs this work for five dancers. “Sometimes the attention we originally seek ends up being more of a burden than a gift,” Hayes says, “and consequently we get caught in a cycle of wanting the attention and then trying to escape it.” Lighting designer is Zach Fullenkamp.

It Has Come to Pass. Eliotte Henderson choreographs and performs this solo, which explores the idea of moving on and “the moment when one decides to make the step forward into the next phase of life, after coming to the realization that the past is what brought he/she to that point,” Henderson says. Lighting designer is Dan Tobin.

Back. Chelsea Kebodeaux choreographs this duet, which she performs with Jonathan Monroe-Cook. “The dance is about two people who are separated but still have a connection,” Kebodeaux says. “The spacing of the dance emphasizes the center ‘aisle’ of the stage as a sort of meeting point. The movement plays on themes of lines that are then broken.” Lighting designer is David Hirsh.

Landmarks. Lindsey King choreographs this trio, which she performs with Kebodeaux and Peggy Lackey. “Landmarks is a ballet piece about journey, discovery and not knowing exactly where you’re going to end up,” King says. Lighting designer is Dave Pilla.

Human Condition. Anna Paszkiewicz choreographs this duet, which she performs with Gordon. “There is potential for human connection we all want and yet never pursue,” she says. Lighting designer is Alex Haserodt.

In. Kristin Yancy choreographs and performs in this work for five dancers. “In is an experimental exploration of the restrictions we, as human beings and as artists, place on ourselves,” Yancy says, “whether they be physical, mental or emotional — and a closer look at what happens when those boundaries are removed.” Lighting designer is Jackie Casper.