SRU’s Dance Department hosts annual faculty and guest concert

Oct. 17, 2019

SLIPPERY ROCK, Pa. — Slippery Rock University's Dance Department will host its annual Faculty and Guest Artist concert at 2 p.m. and 6:30 p.m., Oct. 20 at Butler County Community College's Succop Theatre.

The Faculty and Guest Artist concert is a collaboration of SRU dance and art students, faculty and nationally and internationally known guest artists.

"Every year we like to feature faculty and guest artist choreography," said Nora Ambrosio, SRU professor of dance and the concert's director. "We have many concerts that focus on student choreography but our faculty are still practicing artists and they are going, literally, all around the country, if not the world, conducting creative research and performing. We really wanted to be able to show Slippery Rock and the surrounding communities what our faculty are capable of."

The concert will feature 63 student dancers and singers, seven guest artists, nine faculty members, as well as SRU's Afro-Colombian Dance Ensemble.

Guest artists include:
● Maddison Manolis, '18, co-artistic director of MVment, a female duet company.
● Alison Vitale, '18, co-artistic director of MVment.
● Luis Fernando Trouchon, a Colombian choreographer best known for his work in Afro-Colombian dance.
● Francine Elizabeth Ott, a dance lecturer at North Carolina State University.
● Marta Renzi, a filmmaker, choreographer and a New York Dance and Performance Award winner.
● Grady McLeod Bowman, a New York City-based choreographer and creative
artist.
● Representatives of Martha Graham Resources, a division of the Martha Graham Center of Contemporary Dance, which was established in honor of American modern dancer and choreographer Martha Graham.

Ambrosio is excited for the students to work with the guest artists in order to receive a more diverse dance experience.

"Bringing in guest artists to work with our students offers them a different perspective and voice from what our faculty offer them. It provides an opportunity to work in a different manner and really contributes to the students' education," said Ambrosio.

Besides Ambrosio, other SRU faculty that are coordinating, performing and choreographing the event include:
● Jesse Factor, an instructor of dance, who will be acting as a regisseur and choreographer.
● Andy Hasenpflug, an instructor of dance, who will be performing.
● Heather Hertel, an associate professor of art, who has contributed to the design and creation of wearable art sailcloths.
● Jennifer Keller, a professor of dance, who will serve as a choreographer and cinematographer.
● Ursula Payne, a professor of dance, who will be performing.
● Jaya Mani, an instructor of dance, who will be serving as a choreographer.
● Melissa Teodoro, an associate professor of dance, who has contributed through research, reconstruction and restaging.
● Lindsay Viatori, an associate professor of dance, who will serve as a choreographer and performer.

The concert will include up to 10 performances consisting of Afro-Colombian and contemporary dance and jazz.

The concert will open with "Celebration (1934)," a piece originally premiered Feb. 25, 1934 at the Guild Theatre in New York City and performed at Jacob's Pillow in 2019, a dance center, school and performance space located in Becket, Massachusetts. Jacob's Pillow is known for hosting the oldest, internationally acclaimed summer dance festival in the United States.

Reconstructed for this modern performance, "Celebration" is a dance that is a minimalist study of joy. It will be performed by students under the direction of representatives from the Martha Graham Center of Contemporary Dance. It is considered a classic example of the stark abstraction of Graham's formative years and the vocabulary she was creating: clear, forceful gesture full of angularities and gruff athleticism. Originally performed by a cast of 12 women, Ambrosio describes the work as "pure, austere, succinct expression. It has no storyline but is exuberance itself."

The second half of the concert will open up with a collaboration of film and dance as Renzi and Keller present "Tumult," a short film set in a school auditorium. It centers on two groups of students who move, meet and part, and is described by Renzi and Keller as "innocence and experience on seemingly parallel paths." The film marks the third collaboration between the pair. Renzi served as the director and Keller as the cinematographer.

For the alumni performance, Mannolis and Vitale will be performing "Quick, recover," a dance representative of their signature athletic and intricate styles, derived from a fusion of various modern dance styles. The piece is heavily influenced by contact improvisation, a dance form based on the communication between two moving bodies that are in physical contact; and their combined relationship to the physical laws that govern their motion-gravity, momentum and inertia.

SRU students taking part in the event as dancers, singers or stage staff are:
● Reva Adams, a junior dance major from Vero Beach, Florida.
● Vanessa Adams, a junior dual major in exercise science and dance from Lower Burrell.
● Kendall Alexander, a senior dual major in dance and psychology from Valley Stream, New York.
● Taylor Andrekanic, a sophomore dual major in dance and communication from White Oak.
● Laura Ardner, a junior dance major from York.
● Olivia Barner, a junior dual major in dance and exercise science from Hermitage.
● Logun Beck, a junior dance major from Cherry Tree.
● Kali Booker, a freshman dual major in dance and communication from New Castle.
● Erin Brod, a freshman dance major from Medina, Ohio.
● Sydni Brooks, a junior dance major from Cheltenham, Maryland.
● Lea Buonavolonta, a sophomore dance major from Girard, Ohio.
● Rachel Carlisle, a senior dance major from Canonsburg.
● Auriana Carrington, a freshman dance major from Venetia.
● Jennifer Cass, a freshman dual major in dance and business administration from McDonald.
● Ilisa Chasser, a freshman dual major in early childhood education and dance from Lancaster.
● Alyssa Colon, a freshman dance major from Clifton, New Jersey.
● Hannah Corey, a junior dual major in exercise science and dance from Sarver.
● Jade Daniels, a junior dual major in dance and exercise science from Hurricane, West Virginia.
● Abigail Di Gravio, a freshman dual major in early childhood education and dance from Glen Mills.
● Anna DeRubeis, a freshman dual major in early childhood and special education and dance from Altoona.
● Sarah Dietsch, a junior dance major from Russell.
● Kaitlyn Falce, a junior dual major in dance and exercise science from Pittsburgh,
● Isabel Farr, a sophomore dance major from Avon Lake, Ohio.
● Colette Fischer, a freshman dual major in dance and business administration from Sylvania, Ohio.
● Rosemary Franklin, a senior dual major in recreational therapy and dance from Milan, Michigan.
● Anaya Gass, a senior dance major from Vernon, New Jersey.
● Emily Hayson, a sophomore dual major in exercise science and dance from Fombell.
● Kathryn Hines, a senior dance major from Cranberry Township.
● Karin Hoglund, a junior dance major from Wilmette, Illinois.
● Talynn Holman, a junior dual major in dance and business administration from Philadelphia.
● Bethany Joyce, a junior dance major from Lancaster.
● Luvenia Kalia, a junior dance major from Georgetown, Penang, Malaysia.
● Jessica Kintigh, a senior dual major in dance and history from Greensburg.
● Brenna Kloes, a senior dual major in early childhood and special education and dance from Sarver.
● Wenzday Koskey, a senior dual major in dance and public health from Tarentum.
● Faythe Lewis, a sophomore dual major in recreational therapy and dance from Tipton.
● Rachel Male, a freshman dance major from Columbia.
● Lauren McBarron, a senior dance major from Harrison City.
● Caitlin O'Halloran, a freshman dance major from Pittsburgh.
● Airiann Page, a junior dual major in dance and exercise science from Trafford.
● Alisha Pelkey, a senior dance major from Woodbine, Maryland.
● Noelle Potts, a senior dual major in social work and dance from Colver.
● Kelvin Rodriguez, a sophomore dance major from Lancaster.
● Alanna Rygelski, a senior dance and communication major from Glenshaw.
● Hailey Sanders, a junior dual major in exercise science and dance from Altoona.
● Ashleigh Schuler, a senior dance major from Williamsport.
● Austin Shaffer, a freshman dance major from Granville, Ohio.
● Olivia Shirley, a sophomore dance and psychology major from New Kensington.
● Tiffany Shrom, a senior dance major from Quarryville.
● Skylar Smith, a sophomore dance major from Walworth, New York.
● Victoria Stachelrodt, a senior dual major in dance and business administration from Franklin.
● Hayden Summers, a freshman dance major from Charleston, West Virginia.
● Mollie Sweeney, a senior dual major in early childhood and special education and dance from Freeport.
● Nechelle Trawick, a senior dual major in public health and dance from Philadelphia.
● Bailey Turner, a junior dual major in psychology and dance from McClellandtown.
● Cameron Waters, a senior dual major in dance and business administration from New Castle.
● Kaitlin Yankovich, a sophomore dance major from Ridgway.
● Sophia Yocum, a freshman dual major in dance and communication from Hummelstown.

Admission for each show is $15. Tickets can be purchased in advance by calling the Smith Student Center Information Desk at 724.738.4926 or at the door the day of the event.

MEDIA CONTACT: Lesa Bressanelli | 724.738.2091 | lnb1009@sru.edu