肉肉传媒

KENNESAW, Ga. | Oct 20, 2020

Dance-for-Camera event rethinks how to present dance

肉肉传媒鈥檚 Department of Dance will present 鈥淭hreshold鈥� Nov. 12-15, via ArtsKSU Virtual. The performances are free of charge and only a simple reservation is required to watch. 鈥淭hreshold鈥� celebrates the diverse artistic voices of the KSU Dance community through original works performed by the award-winning KSU Dance Company, in the first dance-for-camera event for 肉肉传媒 State. 

The restraints of attempting to host an audience during a pandemic led faculty to seek creative options. Artistic director and assistant professor Lisa K. Lock said, 鈥淲e came to the solution that we could create a performance specifically for the camera鈥�by adapting to the situation, by rethinking about how to present the media of dance in a live performance.鈥� 

Department of Dance chair Marsha Barsky added, 鈥淒oing a dance-for-camera event actually allowed us to escape restraints, both for the audience and the dancers. The very nature of contemporary dance is that it鈥檚 an evolving method, the heart of our work on contemporary performance. The choreographers are looking at new frameworks and artistic strategy at this unique moment and evolving their perspectives and practices.鈥�

Each work combines cutting-edge technology with original choreography, created by distinguished faculty members Andrea Knowlton, Sean Nguyen-Hilton, McCree O鈥橩elley, and guest artist Thang Dao.

鈥淧op Rocks鈥� directed and choreographed by Knowlton, bursts with brightness, color, and nostalgic textures that will transport the audience back to an earlier time in their life when friendship and enjoyment mattered most. Knowlton said, 鈥淭he performers were highly involved in the creative process. With all that is going on in the world, I wanted to provide a safe place for my student performers to experience the joy of movement and self-expression as they embody the effervescence of youth.鈥�

Nguyen-Hilton approaches his work 鈥渋 have to remember it won鈥檛 always be this way鈥� through the lens of contemporary folk dance. To capture the essence of isolation and reunion, Nguyen-Hilton鈥檚 work is presented in the exterior landscape of a meadow and the interior stage at the KSU Dance Theater.

O鈥橩elly鈥檚 piece, 鈥淎nd We Will Dance鈥� celebrates dance and the beauty of ballet. Through a series of solos, each dancer expresses the longing to return to the stage and the joy and thrill of performing.

Escapism is the driving theme of Dao鈥檚 piece 鈥渞un(A)way鈥� as it allows the mind and body to find places that allow freedom and space for self. He said, 鈥淲e are living in a surreal reality and I wanted to give myself and the dancers a space to address their inner struggles and the liberation through first, making, and then, embodying.鈥�

Barsky said, 鈥淭he KSU choreographers have risen to this occasion; each choreographer is creating work that honors dance and celebrates dance as an art form. Also, this unique time transforms audience/dancer relationships, but the work also becomes more accessible to audiences beyond the metropolitan area, beyond the state鈥檚 borders, to the world. It becomes boundless.鈥�  

Another unique aspect about the event will be conversations with the choreographers to allow a closer look into the thought processes behind the works. 鈥淒ance can be very abstract, so it鈥檚 helpful to hear the choreographer talk about it,鈥� said Lock.

鈥淚 hope the audience will experience a new way of connecting with contemporary dance and feel the joy, intensity, virtuosity and power; the celebration of the body in motion and our shared humanity in this moment, in a different medium from what we normally present. I hope the camera will guide the audience to see new perspectives,鈥� said Barsky.

Don鈥檛 miss 鈥淭hreshold鈥� Nov. 12-15, via ArtsKSU Virtual. Reserve your space for this free, virtual performance.

--Kathie Beckett