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Sean Curran Dance Opens 'An Evening Of Dance' at KSC (4/21/04 - 4/24/04)

KEENE, N. H. 4/7/04 - A dance created at Keene State College by nationally renowned New York choreographer Sean Curran will open the 28th annual “An Evening of Dance” Wednesday-Saturday, April 21-24, at 8 p.m. in the Main Theatre of the Redfern Arts Center on Brickyard Pond. Tickets are $7 for the general public and $5 for KSC students, senior citizens, and youth age 17 and under. Call the box office at 603-358-2168.

Curran created the dance (Another) Metal Garden during a 10-day residency in November at Keene State that was funded by a National College Choreography Initiative grant. He worked with six current students and two alumni dancers to create their version of one of the dances in his company’s repertory, which features music by Tigger Benford and Peter Jones.

Student dancers Jillian Davey, Danielle Dicento, Alison Rosenthal, Meredith Roy, Melanie Rosner and Leah Waitkun and two alumni dance majors, Yoshio Chandler and Aiyana Maye, will also perform (Another) Metal Garden at Studio 303 in Montreal on May 15. They will spend seven days in Montreal along with dance faculty member William Seigh as part of the New Hampshire/Quebec Dance Alliance’s cultural exchange program sponsored by the New Hampshire State Council on the Arts, the Redfern Arts Center, and the Quebec Ministry of Culture.

“We are honored to have Keene State College selected as the first leg of this exchange,” says Marcia Murdock, who directs the KSC dance program and “An Evening of Dance.”

In addition to Curran’s work, this year’s dance concert will showcase eight dances, five choreographed by students and three by faculty.

Murdock will present One Step to…GO!, which examines the seemingly simple process of “getting started.” Eight dancers will perform the dance to Bach’s Inventions played by violist Joseph Darby, assistant professor of music at Keene State, and cellist Sarah Cohen from Israel, who is attending KSC through the Playing for Peace Program sponsored by Apple Hill Center of Chamber Music in Nelson.

Seigh, associate professor of dance, choreographed Octet, which follows four female and four male dancers on a stormy journey through limitations and fears. The contemporary musical score by Eve Beglarian supports their passage from the confinement of their own rooms to a world of potential.

Candice Salyers, a dance instructor at KSC, created Shifting, Wait, which explores the velocity of love from wallowing to standing and eventually to jumping and flying. The seven dancers perform to country music.

“An Evening of Dance” will include works by two student choreographers that were performed at the American College Dance Festival Adjudication Concert at Smith College this February. Val Snowdon, a junior dance student, created Deep Peace of the Quiet Earth to You, a gracefully violent duet set to the gentle guitar music of Lou Harrison. Senior dance student Alison Rosenthal created Infinitely Uncrossing about the subtle moments that get lost in everyday life. The music of John Snowdon and Tom Zé set the pace for the work for four dancers.

Stacey Ann Brossia, a senior dance student, choreographed Accustomed to the Taste of Quicksand, a solo work that explores why people make choices. She will dance to an original guitar piece by sophomore Jeff Cloutier.

Junior dance student Stephanie Ritchie choreographed Breathe. Smoke., an exploration of the moment when fear and tension give way to release. The work for five dancers is set to an original score.

Leah Waitkun, a senior dance student, created BodyStory, inspired by Andrea Olsen’s book on experiential anatomy, BodyStories. The duet is set to the music of Yann Tiersen.

Céline Perron, professor of theatre and dance, is responsible for the set and lighting design. Costumes for the production are by Elisabeth Toby Roos, associate professor of theatre and dance. Craig Lindsay, theatre faculty member, is technical director for “An Evening of Dance.”

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Keene, New Hampshire 03435