NATCHITOCHES – Northwestern State University’s Department of Theatre and Dance will present its spring dance concert Feb. 8-10 in the A.A. Fredericks Auditorium. Performance time is 7:30 p.m. each evening with a 2 p.m. performance on Feb. 10. Tickets are $15 for adults and $12 for children and senior citizens. NSU, BPCC@NSU and Louisiana School for Math, Science, and the Arts students are admitted free with a current student I.D.
The choreography is by Alex McBride, Joy Campbell, Kirstin Riehl and Brett Alan Garfinkel.
The program is “falling apart, falling together” with choreography by McBride with generative collaboration from cast. The music is by Julianne Mahoney of New Iberia and Stuart Welch of Lafayette and costumes by Jessie Parr. The cast is Lara Bankston of Kenner, Jaeda Barrett, Cullen Barrilleaux and Journey Wills of New Orleans, Jillian Duggan of Shreveport, Gabrielle Marino of Lafayette, Nicole Miller of Rayville, Carleigh Murphy of Meadville, Pennsylvania, Allyce Richards of Fort Johnson, Ariyonna Sarpy of Natchitoches, Khuyên Trần of Ho Chi Minh City, Vietnam, and Journey Wills. Vee Duran is the rehearsal assistant.
McBride said, “falling apart, falling together” is the second adaptation of an original solo work that was researched and created over the summer of 2023 entitled “EROSION: landscape reveals us.”
“Originally being a solo work, I was interested in what it would be like to translate the solo form onto multiple dancing bodies,” said McBride. “The initial research, the starting point, was an investigation of how erosion (land, time, relationships, etc.) affects us as individuals. This second interpretation has allowed me to translate that singular ‘affect’ onto many different bodies on stage.”
According to McBride, the original composition is a sound score developed by Welch, who is a digital composer, with original steel guitar sound by Mahoney, a member of The Holiday Playgirls.
“I began this process with a central question posed to the cast: what is eroding in your life?” said McBride.
Campbell is the choreographer of “Just Tappin’” with costumes by Parr. The cast is Barrilleaux, Duggan, Trần, Marino, Sarpy, Savannah Matthews of Benton and Julia Kuchler of New Orleans.
“For this piece I wanted to focus on the duality of the art of tap as both a dance form and a percussive instrument, as well as the social aspect of tap that dates back to its origins in early America,” said Campbell. “For this reason, I chose to have the dancers perform acapella, so that the rhythms of the taps become the music. The piece incorporates counter-rhythms, body percussion rhythms and historical Easter eggs from iconic tap repertoire including ‘The Shim Sham’ and Buster Brown’s ‘Laura.’
“Obstacles” is choreographed by Riehl. The music is by Ludovico Einaudi. The poem is by Dave Steele and narrated by Caleb Barton. The costumes are by Parr. The cast is Barrett, Duggan and Marino.
“My piece originated with exploration of movement to convey the obstacles of navigating a hidden disability,” said Riehl. “Visual impairment is a spectrum, and no two people see things the same. I am utilizing my voice as an artist to support others losing their eyesight. My hope is that this work brings awareness to stigmas that are often placed on the visually impaired. The only limits to what we can achieve are the ones we place upon ourselves.”
“Vogue” is choreographed by Garfinkel with music by Madonna, lighting by Garfinkel and costumes by Parr. The cast is Barrett, Barrilleaux, Elizabeth Cook of Alexandria, Star Davis of Natchitoches, Makynli Delcambre of New Iberia, Murphy, Kwincy Pierre of Lafayette, Sarpy, Trần and Wills.
“I first choreographed ‘Vogue’ in my first Spring Dance Concert in 2013. I am excited to restage it,” said Garfinkel. “This piece is fun, uses the style of dance known as Voguing, and Madonna’s track that is so famous. Harlem was the birthplace of ‘vogue.’ a highly stylized form of dance created by black and Latino LGBTQ communities. Between the 1960s and 80s New York drag competitions known as ‘balls’ transformed from elaborate pageantry to ‘vogue’ battles. This will be my first lighting design for dance, and I’m interested to see how it all comes out.”
