Issued by: Polly Morris
414-372-2077
pollymorris@ameritech.net
Date: June 18, 2002
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Issued by: Polly Morris Date: June 18, 2002 |
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| Long Zhao |
MILWAUKEE - Summer Dance Festival 2002 continues with Summerdances, an evening of new works by the UWM Dance faculty. Summerdances opens Friday, July 12 at 7:30 PM and will be repeated Saturday, July 13 at 8 PM and Sunday, July 14 at 3 PM in the Peck School of the Arts Mainstage Theatre, 2400 N. Kenwood Boulevard. During construction, access to the Mainstage Theatre is through the east doors.
Tickets are $10 general admission/$7 for students and seniors and may be obtained by calling the Peck School of the Arts Box Office at (414) 229-4308. The Friday night performance will be followed by an informal reception.
Summerdances features several premieres as well as revivals of popular works from past seasons. The concert introduces the work of Long Zhao, who joined the Dance Program faculty in the fall. Mr. Zhao is from a family of noted dance artists in China. He began his training at the age of six, graduating from the Beijing Dance Academy as a Ballet instructor. Mr. Zhao joined China Ballet Company where he was promoted to the rank of principal dancer. He was also a founding member of the first modern dance company in China, a company created in collaboration with the American Dance Festival.
Long Zhao arrived in America in 1990, first appearing as a guest soloist with the New Jersey Ballet and Alwin Nikolais and Murray Louis Dance Lab. Later he joined Ballet Florida; was a soloist with the Metropolitan Opera Ballet; and performed with the American Repertory Ballet as a principal dancer. A versatile performer, Mr. Zhao also appeared in the Royal National Theatre's Broadway production of Carousel. Mr. Zhao has been a guest artist with numerous ballet and modern dance companies, working with many major contemporary choreographers. Mr. Zhao received his M.F.A. in Dance from New York University's Tisch School of the Arts. In addition to being a member of the Dance faculty at UWM, Long Zhao continues to perform as a guest artist and teach extensively throughout the world.
Long Zhao has created two pieces for Summerdances: "Ten Thousand Shadows," an atmospheric dance for five women, and "Zoom Out," a duet for twin brothers that explores the dramatic possibilities of resemblance. Both pieces examine closeness and distance: for the twins, it is their inescapable shared identity and profound intimacy as well as their struggles for autonomy; for the women, it is the conflict between their daily, earthbound existences and the places they dream of.
As a choreographer, Long Zhao has received commissions both here and abroad, but he feels his current work reflects a change in perspective that came with the transition from full-time performing to full-time teaching. "I have felt my thinking changing as I adjust to this new life. I am more concerned with making something large out of something small, and with showing my students that dance can be used to communicate on a completely different level. Dance is meant to touch you personally, to help us discover some emotional truth. For myself, I have always felt most competent, most expressive, in the language of movement."
Other new work on Summerdances includes "Ark Song" by Simone Linhares Ferro and "Pastorale" a duet to Strauss songs by Dance Program veteran Janet Lilly. Ferro, who also joined the Dance faculty in the fall, has created an interactive, text-based piece for four couples and "one extra person"--an impish Destiny. After the eight dancers introduce themselves to the audience, revealing deep personal secrets like their affinity for Martha Stewart or their fondness for collecting butterflies, they begin a series of duets that explore friendship, affection, jealousy, and shyness. However, the dancers will not be left entirely to their own devices: Destiny, after all, has the power to change the future. Set to the waltzes of Richard Strauss and a percussion piece by Quinn Collins, "Ark Song" holds many surprises for the audience, who will be called upon to play their part in the coupling process. Among the Summerdances revivals is "Gotta Go," a piece originally created and performed by faculty member Ed Burgess and guest artist Brian Jeffrey ten years ago. Burgess is putting "Gotta Go" back together for two of the Dance Program's male students. At its premiere in 1991, Tom Strini described "Gotta Go" as "a frenetic sketch about guys going nowhere in a big hurry...imagine a pair of Grouchos on speed doing `Waiting for Godot.' It's the funniest dance I have ever seen."
"It's still funny," according to Burgess, who sometimes finds life "much too serious." "It has been very amusing working on it again, passing something fun on to two other guys." The music is by Mickey Hart.
André Tyson's contribution to Summerdances is a restaging of sections 2 and 3 of his popular "burning Karma," a large work that explores cause and effect and the belief that positive acts resonate and can burn off the negative aspects of this existence. The music is by Gabrielle Roth and the Mirrors.
Dani Kuepper, a member of the Danceworks Performance Company and an instructor in the Dance Program, will restage "Virtue and Vice." When "Virtue and Vice" premiered on a Danceworks concert in late 2001, Tom Strini of The Milwaukee Journal Sentinel described it as "the best new work" of the year. The revival exemplifies the collaborative aspect of Summer Dance Festival: Kuepper is setting the piece on herself, DPC colleague Kim Johnson, Catey Ott, and Kelly Anderson--all Dance Program alumnae currently working in the profession.
Summer Dance Festival 2002 is part of an ongoing series of summer dance festivals that bring together local companies, Peck School of the Arts alumni, the UWM faculty, graduate and undergraduate students, and guest artists. The Festival is Milwaukee's most ambitious summer dance event and involves collaboration at many levels. The Festival will continue with Dancemakers, a concert of graduate student work (July 26-28). Dances-To-Go, a regular fixture of the summer dance season, returns to Lake Park June 27 and July 18. This free outdoor event features site-specific works by UWM Dance Program Director Marcia Parsons and some of the undergraduates majoring in dance. The evening begins at dusk in the shadow of the lighthouse. Grab a blanket and come on over! (Please see attached Fact Sheet for details).
UWM Summerdances
Friday, July 12 at 7:30 PM
Saturday, July 13 at 8 PM
Sunday, July 14 at 3 PM
Peck School of the Arts Mainstage Theatre, 2400 East Kenwood Boulevard
New work by UWM Dance faculty members Long Zhao, Simone Ferro, Janet Lilly,
Ed Burgess and André Tyson.
Dancemakers
Friday, July 26 at 7:30 PM
Saturday, July 27 at 8 PM
Sunday, July 28 at 3 PM
Mitchell Hall Chamber Theatre, 3203 North Downer Avenue
New work by UWM Dance Program graduate students.
Dances-To-Go
June 27 at 7:30 PM
July 18 at 7:30 PM
Free performances in Lake Park, right by the lighthouse. Grab a blanket and
come on over! Dances by Marcia Parsons and UWM Dance majors.
Tickets: $10 general admission/$7 students & seniors. Please call (414) 229-4308.
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