Athens, Ga. – The University of Georgia CORE Concert Contemporary and Aerial Dance Company will present a dance, aerial dance and multimedia concert Feb. 25-28 at 8 p.m. in the New Dance Theater in the dance building on Sanford Drive.
The concert on “The Human Soul Connection” will guide the audience through an exploration of the human soul. Atlanta-based dance companies Staibdance and Zoetic Dance Ensemble will join students on stage.
“In this presentation of repertory and new works that explore the human soul connection, we will highlight the talent of UGA student artists,” said Bala Sarasvati, CORE artistic director and the Jane Willson Professor in the Arts. “We will also showcase several alums who exemplify continued artistic and creative development in their career endeavors.”
Pieces in the performance include “Mutual Resonance,” displaying a variety of shared relationships and incorporating multiple aerial apparatus including bungee, single point lyra, silks and slings; “Threshold 2010,” embodying right and left brain-wave connections; and “Hallelujah,” incorporating sustained physical partnering and film animation created by Mark Callahan, director of UGA’s Ideas for Creative Exploration. “Flight Dreams,” performed internationally in 2013, will give the audience an aura of flight through lyrical aerial dance, and “Da Lo Devotion,” which premiered recently in New York City will portray sound and emotional magnitude and intensity, similar to Doppler effect wave maps.
Guest choreographer and dance faculty member Tamara Thomas will present “Overcoming Inertia,” a high-spirited excerpt from a full-evening dance originally created in Jamaica in 2013.
“This piece is a physical depiction of the mental work that occurs when we as individuals choose to topple the forces in our lives that keep us in unproductive cycles,” Thomas said.
Staibdance artistic director and choreographer George Staib will be presenting excerpts from “Attic.” Born in pre-Revolutionary Iran, Staib draws on his memories of a country with both rich cultural traditions and dangerous political unrest.
“In creating ‘Attic,’ together with a cast of 12 dancers, I considered how and where we hold, carry, store and often bury remembrances of the past,” he said.
Zoetic artistic director and choreographer Mallory Baxley will premiere “LUX,” a choreographic work inspired by how the memories of youth influence and shape perspectives and outlooks.
“LUX examines the complexities of reality and fantasy,” Baxley said. “Through diverse movement language and athleticism, LUX captures the essence of playful energy and mystery.”
UGA students included in the concert are Ronnie J. Anderson, Meg Babcock Adams, Michael Ball, Alexis Birts, Amy Chambers, Emily Daniels, Mirna Minkov, Francesca Mokry and Tylar Smith.
CORE Concert Dance Company alums performing in the concert include HyeYoung Borden, Baxley and Zoetic company member Chryssy Oseni and Staibdance company members Anna Bracewell, Claire Molla, Lacey Pinson and Amelia Reiser.
Tickets are $16 for the general public and $10 for students and seniors and are available through the Tate Student Center box office, online at pac.uga.edu, by phone at 706-542-4400 or at the door beginning at 7 p.m. each evening of the concert.
A student group rate of $5 per ticket is available for those who make a one-time purchase of eight or more student tickets. To purchase group tickets, contact the department of dance at 706-542-4415 by Feb. 24.
For more information on the CORE Concert Contemporary and Aerial Dance Company, see http://coreconcertdance.com/CORE_Concert_Dance_Company.html. For a preview video of the performance, see http://youtu.be/H6gPCtPJ-DY.
Information on Thomas, Staibdance and the Zoetic Dance Ensemble is available at http://tamarathomasdance.wix.com/tamarathomasdance, www.staibdance.com and http://zoeticdance.org.
