When the blue curtain rises, audiences will be immersed in the contemporary and veteran works of faculty and guest choreographers as the Cal State Long Beach College of the Arts and Department of Dance presents “CSULB Dance In Concert.” Performances will take place at the Martha B. Knoebel Dance Theater April 26 – 29.
The concert presents a wide variety of pieces ranging in theme and style, from a post-modern dance-theater hybrid questioning reality to a contemporary ballet showcasing the importance of each individual in a community.
“None of the five pieces [are] alike,” said concert director Rebecca Bryant. “You’re seeing so many different aspects of the larger dance world in this one show.”
Beginning the show is guest artist Colleen Thomas’ work, “Catching His Tears (33° N, 118° W),” which features an original score by Christopher Lancaster and explores the tension we feel when facing the unknown. The rehearsal of the work was overseen by CSULB faculty member Keith Johnson.
“This dance was a pretty easy one to be rehearsal director for because I was familiar with the work [and] I loved the dance,” said Johnson. “I think audiences will be in awe of the physicality and complexity of the craft of this dance… Some will only respond to the [dancing] and others will identify with the poetic images, and hopefully, most will see… everything in between.”
Next is Colleen Dunagan’s “21st Century Funky,” a celebration of diversity and individuality set to Rychard Cooper’s composition with Cooper on synthesizer, and original guitar samplings by Matt Patgue.
“Which themes resonate is highly dependent on the audience member,” said Dunagan. “I’m working on [creating] an accessible dance — one that offers the audience a chance to get caught up in the dancers’ love of movement [and performance].”
Rebecca Bryant’s “in this piece, something will be revealed and something will stay concealed,” is a solo, originally performed by Bryant ten years ago, set on three dancers. The piece mainly utilizes language and vocalizations to support the dance, as opposed to a full musical score.
“I often use language to get at larger societal ideas that I feel like movement alone isn’t specific enough [for],” said Bryant. “I often have a bit of an agenda as an artist and I’ll use the [script] with the movement together to create friction.”
Sophie Monat’s “Place” explores the part the individual plays within the community, and features live accompaniment from Bob Cole Conservatory pianist Paul Blackwell.
“I felt that having live accompaniment could create a sense of intimacy and immediacy that felt right for this piece,” said Monat.
The work is set to Bach’s Two and Three Part Inventions, written specifically for the solo piano, and also spotlights the diverse background of the performers by sampling the dancers’ voices speaking in their native languages, including Russian, Spanish and Japanese.
“I was very interested in exploring the idea of belonging,” said Monat. “I wanted to show how the unique histories represented by the individuals onstage can come together to create a whole: one community made stronger by the sum of its parts.”
Andrew Vaca’s “Celebration,” originally choreographed in 2007, is a commemoration of his parents’ wedding anniversary. In the ten years since the original staging, Vaca says while much of his choreography has stayed the same, some changes were made both intentionally and inadvertently.
“When you reconstruct a dance, it always changes,” said Vaca. “Obviously, you [have] new people in it, but… you [also] have to rethink the time you’re living in now.”