UW Dance Department: Neither East Nor West

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UW-Madison’s dynamic dance department continues to celebrate its 90th anniversary with its annual faculty concert. It’s an exploration of duality featuring UW alum and guest choreographer Rosalind Newman, whose work the Village Voice calls “stunning,” and contemporary pieces from Madison’s dance stars Kate Corby, Li Chiao-Ping, Liz Sexe, Marlene Skog, Chris Walker and Jin-Wen Yu. Through Feb. 11.

press release: The UW-Madison Dance Department kicks off the second half of its 90th anniversary year with its annual faculty concert “Neither East Nor West,” February 2-4 and 9-11 at the Margaret H’Doubler Performance Space, Lathrop Hall, 1050 University Avenue.

“Neither East Nor West” features the original choreography of New York guest artist and UW-Madison alumna Rosalind Newman whose work is described by the Village Voice as "so stunning you can't quite believe what you're seeing" and six contemporary dance works by UW-Madison artists Kate Corby, Li Chiao-Ping, Liz Sexe, Marlene Skog, Chris Walker, and Jin-Wen Yu.

The mix of works explore duality and contemplate two sides--the individual and the system, the one and the other, lost and found. The concert opens with Liz Sexe’s "Folding, Unfolding, Refolding” which takes place in a world of paper. Sexe's cast deconstruct and reconstruct the space in an attempt to reflect human interactions with others, the environment and the self. 

Hip meets Renaissance in Li Chiao-Ping’s latest postmodern group work "Fallen Among Thieves," a larger ensemble piece that explores a highly-abstracted tale of love lost and found. Inspired by the lyrics of Brazilian pop song artist Morris Albert, dancers navigate complex choreographies of self and others, feeling their way through each interaction. 

Jin-Wen Yu and Chris Walker both present quartets. Through popular American movement expressions, originally shaped by African traditions, Walker examines how structures prevent advancement and how individuals further advancement through his new work "Between." Yu's "Paging Into Imaginations" is a poetic work aimed at telling life stories by creating an imaginative, surreal world of movement and paper. 

Internationally acclaimed guest artist Rosalind Newman is in residence at the Dance Department Jan 17-Feb 4, setting her work on 12 student dancers. Newman's original New York company, Rosalind Newman and Dancers, had major seasons in New York at the Joyce Theater and Dance Theater Workshop. The company toured the U.S. and Europe performing in many prestigious international festivals and venues such as Jacob’s Pillow Dance Festival, Paris International Dance Festival, Holland Festival, in London at the Dance Umbrella and Sadler’s Wells, and the Academy of Arts in Berlin. Newman received her PhD in the philosophy of contemporary dance from London Contemporary Dance School, University of Kent.

Also on the program are Marlene Skog's contemporary ballet for two dancers that explores the symbiosis of differences, offering a look at “the other” in both partnership and the surreal world and Kate Corby's "Two," a work from 2011 where Corby plays with the myriad possibilities of duets with a cast of eight. "Two" quietly builds to an exhilarating conclusion of rapid movement negotiated in a tight space, offering a timeless metaphor for the complicated nature of individual and systemic relationships. 

Tickets for “Neither East Nor West” are $20/general admission and $15/students and seniors. Show times are 8:00 p.m. on Thursday & Friday February 2 & 3, 2:30 p.m. on Saturday February 4, 8:00 p.m. on Thursday & Friday February 9 & 10 and 2:30 p.m. on February 11. Tickets may be purchased in advance at www.uniontheater.wisc.edu, by phone (608) 265-2787, or in person at the Campus Arts Box Office, Memorial Union, 800 Langdon Street, Madison, WI. Reserved seating. There will be receptions on Friday, February 2 and Friday February 10 with the choreographers and performers in Virginia Harrison Parlor, Lathrop Hall immediately following the show. Refreshments will be served.

Support for this concert was made through the UW-Madison Graduate School, the UW-Madison School of Education, the Anonymous Fund and Friends of UW-Madison Dance.