Friday, February 2, 2007

Contact:  Bala Sarasvati, 706/338-0516, baladance@aol.com, bala@uga.edu

UGA Department of Dance presents CORE Spring Collection 2007 Feb. 28–March 3, New Dance Theatre, Dance Bldg., 8:00 pm

Athens, Ga. – CORE Concert Dance Company Spring Collection 2007 will feature dance, music, film and aerial arts performed by University of Georgia dance majors Catherine Herrmann, Claire Molla, Cara O’Grady, Jennifer Plesher, Emily Sims, Amelia Murphy and Corie B. Thomas. Guests performing with the company are Hariqbal Basi, Sally O’Grady, Taylor Faust, Seth Hendershot and Jay Varnedoe.

CORE will premiere “Mystic Portal,” a six-part piece integrating aerial arts to portray a magical journey through space and time. CORE transcends aerial illusions in “Skywalk,” a film with an electronic music score created by UGA Hodgson School of Music graduate and five-year CORE collaborator, Ryan Burruss (who is currently studying and composing music in The Hague, Netherlands). 

The “POPular CULTar”dance series will feature live electronic percussion by Seth Hendershot, a well-known Athens musician who joins the company in an improvisational format to depict a whimsical look at “Iconidentity.”

CORE will perform other dance premieres that reflect various scenes, genres and stylistic attributes found in popular music and culture, including “Indie Nights,” “The Way She Moves,” “The Bachelor from Rome” (pictured above are Jay Varnedoe and Claire Molla) and  “In d’ Club.” Hariqbal Basi, a triple academic major at UGA and winner of a national Bollywood dance contest, joins CORE with “Bollywood Fusion,” a tour de force solo combining traditional and contemporary Middle Eastern dance styles.

Two dances originally premiered in New York City, “5 Degrees of Separation” (2001) and “Urban Birds” (2002) will showcase the dancers’ technical virtuosity and stamina. “Urban Birds” was staged by guest choreographer Larry Keigwin and has been performed at the American Dance Festival, Jacobs Pillow, Bates Dance Festival and throughout the United States by Keigwin’s New York City-based dance company. This humorous piece has been an audience favorite in New York City since its inception. Pete Gorneault (MFA ’05, theatre and film studies), technical director in the dance department, will create lighting design and special effects to compliment digitally generated film projection by Bala Sarasvati.

Tickets are $12 for adults and $8 for students and senior citizens and can be purchased in advance at the Tate Student Center ticket office (706/542-8074) Monday through Friday 9 a.m. to 4 p.m., M-F 9:00 a.m. or at the door.