Athens, Ga. – A dance troupe from the University of Georgia has been invited to perform at Washington’s John F. Kennedy Center for the Performing Arts in May. The troupe, named CORE, will represent schools in the Southeast at the National American College Dance Festival Association (ACDFA) Conference.
UGA’s performance, called “Coeur de CORE,” was one of three chosen from a field of 48 dances that were performed earlier at the ACDFA’s regional meeting at Florida State University in Tallahassee. The conference in Washington will be May 16-18.
“I was amazed with what everyone at the regional conference had to say about the movement, style and performance of the dancers from UGA,” said Bala Sarasvati, head of UGA’s dance department and choreographer of “Coeur de CORE.”
UGA students who will dance in the performance are Laura Henry of Knoxville, Tenn., Beth Lewis of Valdosta and Tiffany Sweat of Augusta. All three will graduate in May and will be among the first to receive a Bachelor of Fine Arts degree in dance from UGA.
Judges who picked the UGA performance for the Kennedy Center included Steve Rocks (a veteran of the Martha Graham Company and Alvin Ailey Dance Companies); Wendy Perron (editor-in-chief of Dance Magazine); and Ann Reinking (choreographer of the film Chicago and co-choreographer of Fosse).
Reinking praised UGA’s performance in the regionals.
“[It] had focus and strength, well-used power and wonderful athleticism,” she said. “The choreographer did brilliant stops and directional changes. The [stops in the] piece take your breath . . . superb . . . fierce.”
The Department of Dance, a unit of UGA’s Franklin College of Arts and Sciences, offers an A.B. and a BFA in dance, as well as a minor, and houses two pre-professional dance companies – the UGA Ballet Ensemble and the CORE Concert Dance Company. The department offers choreography by students, faculty and distinguished guest artists annually and provides training to aspiring performers and elective courses in ballet, ballroom, jazz, modern tap and Pilates for the UGA community. The Franklin College serves more than 16,000 undergraduate and graduate students each year through the teaching and research of more than 630 faculty members as well as through the resources of 30 academic departments and more than 20 centers and programs. For more information, visit www.franklin.uga.edu and www.franklin.uga.edu/dance/index.html.
##
