By Emily Daniels and Jessica Luton
edbd1173@uga.edu, jluton@uga.edu
The UGA department of dance will present its 2016 Senior Exit Dance Concert Nov. 9-11 at 8 p.m. in the New Dance Theatre, located in the dance building on Sanford Drive.
The Senior Exit Dance Concert is a compilation of the growth and versatility that each dance major has attained in the last four years. From various music and dance styles to a multitude of props such as buckets, mirrors and staves, each work represents a puzzle piece of the larger picture that makes up the dance department’s graduating seniors. The show will present a spectrum of creativity and passion for dance that each choreographer has carried along through their undergraduate journey.
Nine B.F.A. candidates will demonstrate their artistic style, passion and vision through the art of dance. Each will present their creative progress as dancers, performers and choreographers with works of complex themes and dynamic movement. B.F.A. candidates include Mitzi Anderson, Emily Daniels, Leigh Ducas, Meg Gourley, Francesca Mokry, Becca Patsalos, Madison Schrama, Tylar Smith and MaryBeth Stinson.
Anderson’s choreography explores the effects of body image that stem from societal pressures, comparison to others and the interpretation of one’s mirror image.
Daniels’ choreography will focus on the concept of human relationships in her work, emphasizing that comfort zones in life cause conflict and disconnection.
Ducas’ work derives its message from the exploration of joy and happiness and the ability people have to consciously choose to remain happy in the face of any difficulties they may encounter.
Gourley’s project explores the dichotomy between the transition and the arrival, working with a continuing flow of one movement into another while maneuvering the dancers in a large pattern through the space and beyond the fourth wall.
Mokry’s work focuses on the concept of conformity through unifying and repetitive movement.
Patsalos’ choreography will provoke the concept of nothingness and mindfulness, emphasizing how the two of them coexist.
Schrama will be centralizing her dynamic movement vocabulary around the concept of time and how personal experiences can associate with it.
Smith will engage the audience with a piece devoted to victims of the sex trafficking industry.
Stinson’s piece will convey a psychological exploration of how people’s thoughts affect their behaviors and actions. The work explores three states of mind and what it feels and looks like for dancers to enter and exit a particular feeling, mood or mindset.
Tickets can be purchased at the Tate Student Center cashier’s window, charged by phone at 706-542-4400, purchased online at pac.uga.edu or purchased with cash, major credit card or personal check at the door. Ticket prices are $8 for students and seniors and $12 for general admission. Parking is available at the South Campus parking deck next to the Georgia Center for Continuing Education or in lots adjacent to the dance building.