The Stephen F. Austin State University Repertory Dance Company will perform in concert at 7:30 p.m. Friday, Feb. 4, and Saturday, Feb. 5, at 3 and 7:30 p.m. in W.M. Turner Auditorium on the SFA campus.
The concert features works by dance program faculty and guest artists. Dance majors Kathleen Higgins and Marka Wood also have been invited to have their senior choreographic projects produced.
Professor Stan Bobo choreographed "Bailero," a lyrical solo that premiered in 1994 and has been restaged for second-year company member Erika Marschke.
Adjunct faculty member Heather Samuelson contributes "Hallucination," a driving duet exploring multiple facets of one's personality. In addition, Samuelson has restaged "AfterImages," the award-winning and nationally acclaimed work of Dr. Cindy Gratz. The work dealing with the trauma of abuse against women, was included as a topic of discussion in the recent Faith and Trauma Conference, cosponsored by the SFA Department of Sociology.
Guest artist Becky Valls of the University of Houston conducted a residency for dance program students in September and restaged "Different Trains," a full-company work danced to the third section of Steve Reich's composition of the same name. While the work reveals movement motifs, gestures, and costume designs that evoke imagery associated with Holocaust victims following World War II, the choreographic design is largely abstract.
Valls is a seasoned choreographer who has had works presented in venues including Diverse Works, Big Range Dance Festival, Chrysalis Dance Company, JCC Dance Month, Weekend of Texas Contemporary Dance at Miller Outdoor Theatre, San Jacinto College, High School for the Performing and Visual Arts and Rice University.
Elizabeth Rhodes, professor in the Department of Kinesiology and Health Science and company director, choreographed two dances. Dancers in "Three Kinds of Blues," a light-hearted theatrical piece, immerse themselves in the music of Big Mama Thornton and "Boss of the Blues" Joe Turner. Rhodes also has collaborated with music faculty member Kevin Kelleher who created a soundscape for dance movement derived from the Afro-Panamanian tradition, "Los Diablos de Espejo." Rhodes observed the cultural dance form while on a research grant in Panama and has recreated costuming in the spirit of the work with brightly colored satin hoop skirts that sway as the devils play.
Following the concert, the company will continue rehearsing select works from the repertory as they will prepare to represent SFA at the American College Dance Festival, which will be hosted by New Mexico State University.
Tickets, which will be sold at the door, are $15 for general admission, $10 for SFA faculty, staff and senior citizens, and $5 for students. For more information, call (936) 468-1543, or e-mail dance@sfasu.edu.
Axe ’Em, Jacks!