On The Edge of Your Feet: April 2012

    Kelsey Brennan, Carrie Walpole

Vulnerability and fear, control and spontaneity, the challenge of gender stereotypes and anxieties over body image: In life and love as well as in dance, it’s the daily battle for balance--on the edge of your feet. 

On the Edge Of Your Feet, the HSU spring dance concert, is performed Thursdays through Saturdays, April 3-6 and 11-13 at 7:30 p.m. and April 7 at 2 p.m. in the Van Duzer Theatre on the HSU campus in Arcata. $10 general/$8 seniors, students and children, with a limited number of free seats to HSU students at each performance, from HSU Box Office (826-3928) or at the door. Directed by Sharon Butcher, produced by HSU Department of Theatre, Film and Dance.

Media: KHSU Artwaves, Tri-City Weekly, North Coast Journal, Humboldt State Now.  Reviewed in North Coast Journal.

   Dancers Walter Fogler and Kara Ajetunmobi

With the usual variety in styles and movements, this year’s HSU dance studies concert features more student choreography, and is accented towards the contemporary in music as well as dance. Contemporary issues inspired many of the choreographers.

                                                                Carrie Walpole

There are three solo dances: “In the Void” by Carrie Walpole’s (which was selected for performance in this year’s American College Dance Festival), "Pieces on the Floor"  by Dani Gutierrez, and "Mirror Mirror on my Thighs" by Keili Simmons Marble.

 “We had many good solos this year,” said artistic director Sharon Butcher. “It was hard to choose just three.”

Of the remaining eight dances, seven are also by students (including “Courage in Both Hands” by Jenny Wright, selected as well for the American College Dance Festival) and one by dance faculty member Laura Munoz.

                                                                    Keili Simmons Marble, Jared Mathis

While some of the dances emerged from a class process designed to investigate elements of personal growth or social issues, nearly all the choreographers named such subjects as influencing the creation of their dances. Their challenge was to develop a dance vocabulary to give body to these explorations.

 What the inspiration for many of these dances might have in common is the struggle for balance, in life as well as in dancing “On the Edge of Your Feet.”

 In Carrie Walpole’s solo, the dancer’s goal is to find a balance between control and letting go. Kelly-May Roberts explores the pressures of negative energy that can unbalance a life by going to the dark side to explore a body taken over by evil.

 In Jenny Wright’s “Courage in Both Hands,” dancers explore the balances of fear and vulnerability involved in authentic human connection. Kara Ajetunmobi is inspired by balancing the security of the familiar with the challenge of the new.

 Other dances explore the possibilities of balancing the natural and the artificial, group and individual, confidence and uncertainty. Or they explore forces that throw you off balance, like cultural notions of body image and gender stereotypes, or opposition and the unforeseen.

                            Keili Simmons Marble

Another regular feature of the annual dance concert is a raffle that helps support such activities as sending student dancers to the American College Dance Festival and Conference.

 “I often see a big jump in the maturity of the dancers who attend the festival,” Sharon Butcher said. “When they see what other dancers in other places are doing, it really makes a difference. There’s a greater level of maturity, ability and attitude about the art form. It shows as well in their performance skills.”

 This year the prizes from local businesses include an ipad mini, as well as gift certificates. Tickets will be sold at all performances, and the drawing is held on the final Saturday.

Note: The following descriptions of dances in the concert are based on statements by the choreographers. 

On the Edge of Your Feet: The Dances

Pieces on the Floor
Choreographer and dancer: Dani Gutierrez

 A solo that uses jazz to contrast power with the loss of control, and to show how stability can become disrupted by uncertainty.

 Dani Gutierrez is a junior majoring in English and Dance Studies.

    Dancers: Hailey Oster, Julia Kandus,  Keili Marble

  Vibora
  Choreographer: Fiona Rose Melia and Dancers
Dancers: Shannon Adams, Jacqueline Bookstein, Julia Kandus, Lyndsey Lascheck, Keili Simmons Marble, Hailey Oster.

 A dance investigation of organic movement punctured by acute twitches of existence. 

 Fiona Rose Melia is a sophomore majoring in Dance Studies.

    Dancers Patricia Carter, Jared Mathis, Jasmine Wolfe

   Best Kept Secret
   Choreographer: Kelly-May Roberts 
    Dancers: Micol Arias, Bevon Brye, Justin Betancourt, Jacqueline Bookstein, Patricia Carter, Tyler Fisher, Jared Mathis, Emily Pinckney, Jasmine Wolfe.

 The dancers embody how evil can penetrate and dominate physically and emotionally, to explore the effects of negative energy that surrounds us in all walks of life.

 Kelly-May Roberts is a British exchange student majoring in Dance Teaching and Performance.

                             

    Dancers (foreground): Carrie Walpole, Keili Simmons Marble; (back) Kelsey Brennan, Jared Mathis               
                    
                    Living the Dream
                   Choreographer: Camille Ruiz
                   Dancers: Micol Arias, Kelsey Brennan, Dani Gutierrez, Jared Mathis, Keili Simmons Marble, Aimee Page, Bekah Staub, Carrie Walpole.

 A piece that applies the use of force, while honoring individual differences, desires and personal insights.

Camille Ruiz is a senior majoring in Dance Studies and Cellular/Molecular Biology.

    
   In the Void
 Choreographer and dancer: Carrie Walpole

 A contemporary solo highlighting the contrast between the body’s flow and tension, inspired by the struggle to push against inhibiting barriers to personal growth. The dancer’s goal is to find a balance between control and knowing when to let go, as well as how to embrace love when it is within her capabilities, and accept the loss when it is not. 

 Carrie Walpole is a senior majoring in Dance Studies.

    Dancers: Kara Ajetunmobi and Walter Fogler

Innermost Secrets
Choreographer: Lizzie Chapman
Dancers: Kara Ajetunmobi, Walter Fogler.

 A duet that combines contemporary movement with movement created naturally through feeling. 

 Lizzie Chapman is a junior majoring in Theatre Arts and Dance Studies.

     Dancers: Kelsey Brennan, Kara Ajetunmobi, Jasmine Wolfe

   Courage in Both Hands
   Choreographer: Jenny Wright
   Dancers: Kara Ajetunmobi, Kelsey Brennan, Kelly-May Roberts, Camille Ruiz, Jasmine Wolfe.

 How do we approach life with the courage of vulnerability? Jenny Wright’s contemporary choreography focuses on the struggle to allow ourselves to be seen as we truly are, despite the fear we are not enough.

 Jenny Wright is a sophomore majoring in Dance Studies.

   Mirror, Mirror on my Thighs 
   Choreographer and Dancer: Keili Simmons Marble

 This solo dance grapples with body image and the personal doubts created by infectious cultural notions of female beauty. 

 Keili Simmons Marble is a senior majoring in Theatre, Dance Studies and Biological Anthropology.

                       Dancers: Fiona Melia, Dani Gutierrez, Carrie Walpole

Seeking the Bubble
Choreographer: Kara Ajetunmobi
Dancers: Kelsey Brennan, Dani Gutierrez, Briana Hare, Fiona Melia, Claire Paterson, Allie Phinney, Camille Ruiz, Carrie Walpole, Jenny Wright.

 Using swift and fluid movement, partner work, group sections and solos, this dance is inspired by the challenge of leaving the comfort zone for the unfamiliar in order to attain a goal. 

 Kara Ajetunmobi is a senior majoring in Dance Studies.

                    Dancers Bevon Brye, Nathalie Mostrel, Eboni Sessions   
      
   Living with Thirst
   Choreographer: Laura Munoz 
    Dancers: Bevon Brye, Lyndsey Lascheck, Nathalie Mostrel, Eboni Sessions, Eric Sorensen.

 A dance that explores trust and a sense of journeying together in an ensemble. “I like to play with lines of force in the space, with action and consequence, with spontaneous action, and with the musicality of one dancer, a duet, a trio, a quartet—all of the possible combinations of dancers.” 

 Laura Munoz teaches dance in the HSU Department of Theatre, Film and Dance.

       Dancers: Dani Gutierrez, Kara Ajetunmobi, Camille Ruiz

As One
Choreographer: Carrie Walpole
Dancers: Kara Ajetumobi, Dani Gutierrez, Kendall Lewis, Kelly-May Roberts, Camille Ruiz, Jasmine Wolfe.

 The dancers push the boundaries of gender stereotyping to explore the different kinds of strength within women, both individually and together as a group. 

Carrie Walpole is a senior majoring in Dance Studies.

On the Edge of Your Feet: Our Production

Artistic Director: Sharon Butcher
Lighting and Multi-Media Presentation: Greta Stockwell
Sound Design: Glen Nagy
Original Music Composer: Ian Taylor
Technical Director: Jayson Mohatt

Volunteer Costume Designers:
Erica Fromdahl ("In the Void," "As One")
Monica Siegenthaler ("Vibora")
Katie Dawson ("Pieces on the Floor")
Ryan Ayala ("Living the Dream")
Kaden O'Keefe ("Best Kept Secret")

Costume Mentors: Catherine Brown, Rae Robison
Other Costume Contributions: Kevin Sharkey
Photography: Kellie Brown
Publicity/blog copy & design: Bill Kowinski