NATCHITOCHES – Guest artists Brandon Collwes and Eric Rivera will be creating and staging works for “Dancescapes,” which will be presented Oct. 17-19 by Northwestern State University Theatre and Dance. 

Collwes was with the Merce Cunningham Dance Company and is now with the Liz Gerring Dance Company. Cunningham was an American dancer and choreographer who was at the forefront of American modern dance for seven decades. Cunningham visited Northwestern in the 1960s and worked with students. 

“One of the main reasons we decided to bring in a re-stager of a classical modern work is so that our students could have this opportunity to be connected to one of the modern dance legends,” said Brett Alan Garfinkel, chair of Northwestern State’s Department of Theatre and Dance. “It is also most important for students to have prestigious names on their resumes when they graduate. Those students chosen to perform in this work will have the advantage of having Merce Cunningham listed on their resume. When they attend professional auditions, those people will see his name and realize the level of performer they are. Cunningham’s technique and choreography are challenging on a whole other level. The students will be challenged in ways they have never been before.” 

Rivera is a faculty member at Virginia Commonwealth University. 

“Eric Rivera’s style was one that I thought would be fun, different, and challenging for our students,” said Garfinkel. “Bringing in guest artists allows our students to network with working professionals in this industry that may hire them later. Eric has set and created works for a multitude of different ballet companies and universities around the world. If Eric works with one of our dancers that he is inspired by, he may hire them later in their career. All opportunities I can offer our students in dance to help them network or get a leg up on the competition will help them succeed after college. My hope is this experience will continue to enrich their experience at NSU.” 

Collwes joined the Merce Cunningham Dance Company in January 2006, where he danced until the close of the Company in 2011 in the final Legacy World Tour. He has been a member of the Liz Gerring Dance Company since 2012 and is currently rehearsal assistant. He also performs with Sally Silvers Dance and has been a frequent guest artist for the Stephen Petronio Dance Company. Brandon has staged MCTrust “MinEvents” for the Student Company of the Mark Morris Dance Center (2019), Connecticut College (2019), and the Greater Hartford Academy Of The Arts (2019). He also co-staged “Changing Steps” at the University of Arts in Philadelphia with Andrea Webber (2023), and currently co-teaches Cunningham Technique with Kimberly Bartosik at DeWitt Clinton High School.  

Since April 2020, he has collaborated as a choreographer/dancer with composer John King on “Sonic Gathering,” which began during the pandemic as a weekly live music and dance performance on Zoom and has since been presented in-person in New York City by CultureHub (2021), Roulette Intermedium (2021) and the Coffey Street Studio (2022). Additionally, his choreography has been presented via augmented reality by Unstumm in Berlin (2022), and by Korda Art In Motion in Stigsbo, Sweden (2023). 

A native of Puerto Rico, Rivera earned his MFA in Choreography from SUNY Purchase College. During his performing career, he danced with Ballet Hispanico of New York for 13 seasons, where he helped create over 20 original works. He performed with Minnesota Ballet as a principal dancer, Ballet Theater of Pennsylvania, Ballet Teatro Municipal de San Juan P.R., Danza Jazz de San Juan, and the European tour of “West Side Story.” He has appeared as a guest artist in companies such as Connecticut Ballet, Thomas Ortiz Dance, Ballet Concierto de Puerto Rico, Bradley Shelver Contemporary Dance Theater, Westchester Ballet, and Brooklyn Ballet. Rivera has performed choreographies of Ann Reinking, Mark Morris, José Limon, Kenneth McMillan, Margot Sappington, Graciela Daniel, Kevin Wynn, Vicente Nebrada, Talley Beatty and George Balanchine. 

His works have been presented by Ballet Contemporáneo de Camagüey in Cuba, EDANCO Dance Festival in the Dominican Republic, Ciudad Interior in Mexico, Dance Iquail, Ashani Dance, Convergence Ballet, Owensboro Dance Company, CSU Fullerton, University of Mississippi, Western Kentucky University, University of Richmond, Orange County College, Purchase College, Goucher College, W&L University, Jacksonville University, Virginia Commonwealth University, the University of Louisiana at Lafayette, L2 Dance Theater, New England Dance Theater, ACDA South, ACDA Baja Region, ACDFA Gala at Little Rock, Arkansas, NY Summer Stage and the show “They Called it Rock.”  

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Brandon Collwes, left, and Eric Rivera