The Florida State University School of Dance will present “An Evening of Dance,” highlighting the broad scope of choreographic exploration and breadth of performance capabilities of the students and faculty.
Performances will take place at 7:30 p.m. Friday, Nov. 2, and Saturday, Nov. 3, at the Nancy Smith Fichter Dance Theatre in Montgomery Hall, located on the FSU campus.
The diverse program will feature five works spanning a range of dance genres from a contemporary ballet to postmodern explorations of current societal concerns demonstrating students’ and faculty’s commitment to versatility, research and excellence in the field of dance.
“An Evening of Dance” features work of Visiting Artist in Residence Ann Carlson, retired School of Dance faculty Dan Wagoner, and current faculty Josephine Garibaldi, Caleb Mitchell and Kehinde Ishangi.
Carlson worked with 16 students during an intensive two-week residency to restage and adapt her seminal work “Flag,” originally set in 1990. “Flag2Redo” continues to explore the flag as a symbolic embodiment of nationhood, but Carlson wanted to give the dancers agency over this adaptation. Carlson, a MANCC Living Legacy Artist, has completed four residencies at the Maggie Allesee National Center for Choreography and is a nationally recognized interdisciplinary choreographer and recipient of numerous awards and fellowships.
Wagoner, who retired in 2014, will restage “One Thing After the Other.” Rachel S. Hunter, current adjunct faculty and production manager, was in the original cast and served as the rehearsal assistant for Wagoner while he built the work in 2012. Choreographed to John Cage’s “Credo in Us,” Hunter has worked with the cast using a collection of notes, drawings and videos. Hunter hopes that the restaging offers an opportunity for a new generation of dancers and audience to experience Wagoner’s choreographic work.
Assistant Professor Kehinde Ishangi’s “Not My Enemy” is a work-in-progress collection consisting of three sections. Ishangi received inspiration from dialogues with her father, a Vietnam veteran, and a book, “Blood,” by author Wallace Terry. The three completed sections deal with the war, PTSD and healing. Ishangi plans on completing the work with two additional sections that will address familial and patriotic responses of veterans.
Two new choreographic works will be presented this year. Joséphine A. Garibaldi, the artistic director for this year’s concert, has collaborated with the dancers to choreograph a new work “the sky will last longer than I.” This piece, based on the Jankovics 1974 animation “Sisyphus,” brings attention to the weights of life and the nature of enduring.
New faculty member, Caleb Mitchell, contributes a ballet pointe work to the concert series. Mitchell describes his piece, set to music by Johan Johansson, as a neoclassical ballet with a post neoclassical aesthetic.
Prior to the Friday performance, there will be a pre-show discussion at 6:45 p.m. in Room 216 of Montgomery Hall. Guests will have the opportunity to engage in dialogue with the choreographers. The discussion will be facilitated by Assistant Professor Hannah Schwadron.
Tickets for “An Evening of Dance” performances are $18 for adults, $16 for senior citizens, $12 for children and non-FSU students and $10 for FSU students with ID. All seating is general admission. For ticket information, contact the Fine Arts Tickets Office at (850) 644-6500 or online at tickets.fsu.edu.
Tickets may also be purchased directly before each performance at Montgomery Hall. The box office closes 15 minutes after the start of each performance.