Momentum
A Dance Concert

April 10 and 11 at 7:30 PM
April 12 at 2:00 PM
The Rose Theatre
FREE Admission

The Department of Theatre & Dance will present its annual Spring Dance Concert, Momentum, on Friday and Saturday, April 10 and 11, at 7:30 p.m. and Sunday, April 12 at 2 p.m. in the Rose Theatre on the University of Memphis campus.  The creative choreography by guest artists and University faculty explores a wide range of human experience expressed through movement, music, and the spoken word.  The talented dancers of the U of M dance program bring the works to life with the strength, passion and extreme physicality of their performance.

Guest artist, Keith Thompson, has created a new work for U of M students titled Untamed Resonance, inspired by a quote by Martha Graham, “Dance is the hidden language of the soul of the body.” The music is by Max Richter with sound design by U of M music faculty Scott Hines. The movement evokes tableaus of rich kinetic energy, community support and the human condition at its finest.

Dorse Brown and Countess Winfrey, U of M dance alums currently dancing professionally with Dayton Contemporary Dance Company, returned to their alma mater to develop a new piece for a group of eight dancers.  allegationDECLARATIONaffirmation,  set to a medley of songs by Loscil, James Blake, and Chromatics,  conjures a dark, unsettled world.  The dancers move low to the ground in a weighted, heavy quality punctuated by frozen shapes, sudden sharp movement, and asymmetric isolations.

Tamara Prince-Parrish, the Artistic Director of Bridging Souls Productions, has contributed two works to the concert and Rebecca Cochran, the Artistic Director of Memphis’ Project: Motion Dance Collective, explores the frailty of life and the gravity of preserving family chronicles, in her work, Life Through a Lens.  For Ballet lovers, adjunct professor of dance Nancy Kline has staged a version of The Dying Swan made famous in the early 20th century by the Russian ballerina, Anna Pavlova.

Jill Guyton Nee, a recent MFA graduate from The Ohio State University, is the most recent addition to the Theatre & Dance faculty at the University.  She has choreographed an edgy, kinetic duet for two women and a collaborative work with Jesse Koza (Stage Director, Artist-In-Residence, Opera Memphis / Artist Diploma at University of Memphis) to a Philip Glass piece (Knee Play 5).

Finally, Wayne Smith, a perennial favorite with U of M dance audiences, will offer his unique brand of loose-limbed, jazz-inspired improvisational dancing.  Smith is also the artistic director and concert coordinator of Momentum.

Act 1

Moving Words
Video by Andrew Lau Harper

Get Some Wind for the Sailboat
Choreographer: Jill Guyton Nee (Assistant Professor, Dance)
Composer: Phillip Glass, “Knee Play 5”
Performed by: Students of the Rudi E. Scheidt School of Music and the Department of Theatre & Dance
Performers: Rachael Arnwine, Stephen Blancq, Angelina Ceara Clark, Trinica Goods, Jared Harden, Allie Huber, Devon Inghram, Justin Mays and Hannah Misenheimer

The Dying Swan (1905)
Choreographer: Mikhail Fokine
Music: Camille Saint-Saens
Restaged by Nancy Shainberg Kline (Adjunct Professor, Dance)
Performer: Emily Perkins

WE
Choreographer: Tamara Prince-Parrish (Alum, Adjunct Professor, Dance)
Music: Orginal score by Tamar Love “Three Cello’s Edie’s Love Song”
Performers: Trinica Goods and Justin Mays

allegationDECLARATIONaffirmation
Choreographer: Countess Winfrey (Guest/Alum) and Dorse Brown (Guest/Alum)
Music: Umbra by Loscil; Retrograde by James Blake; Tick of the Clock by Chromatics (agrranged by Dorse Brown)
Performers: Rachael Arnwine, Hillary Burns, Angelina Ceara Clark, Trinica Goods, Fred Gray and Hannah Misenheimer
Rehearsal Director: Lauren Stallings

Act 2

Two to 2, too
Choreographer: Jill Guyton Nee (Assistant Professor, Dance)
Music: “Hover I” Andrew Bird; “Chinatown” Do Make Say Think
Performers: Christina McKinney and Jill Guyton Nee

Life Through a Lens (a work in progress)
Choreographer: Rebecca R. Cochran (Guest/Alum)
Music: Solitude by Duke Ellington
Performers: Angelina Ceara Clark, Devon Inghram, Jaukeem Balcom, and Hannah Misenheimer

Etching Sketches…
Choreographer/director: Wayne M. Smith (Alum/Adjunct Professor, Dance) in collaboration with the performers
Music: Included Ultra Nate, Diana Ross, EarthWind&Fire, Twink and Basement Jaxx
Performers: Stephen Blancq, Jared Harden, Madison McGhee, Christina McKinney, Hannah Pratcher and Wayne Smith

Images
Choreographer: Tamara Prince-Parrish (Alum/ Adjunct Professor, Dance)
Music: Taskin by Poppy Ackroyd
Perfomers: Angelina Ceara Clark, Emma Cool and Hannah Joyner

Untamed Resonance
Choreographer: Keith A. Thompson (Guest Artist)
Music: Max Richter
Sound Deigner: Scott Hines
Performers: Rachael Arnwine, Emma Cool, Trinica Goods, Jared Harden, Jessy Harrison, Devon Inghram, Cheyenne Johnson and Justin Mays 
Rehearsal Director: Wayne M. Smith

Production Support Staff
Production Coordinator: Wayne M. Smith 
Lighting Designer: Mandy Heath
Light Board Operator: Mikayla Fournier
Manager, Michael D. Rose Theatre: Elizabeth Fudge
Technical Coordinator, Michael D. Rose Theatre: Matt Cantelon
Poster Design: Gary Golightly 
Social Media: Lauren Stallings