The Department of Dance at SUNY Brockport presents performances of DANCE/Strasser on Thursday, March 30, through Saturday, April 1, in the Rose L. Strasser Studio at Hartwell Hall on the Brockport campus. All performances begin at 7:30 p.m. Ticket prices for all performances are $17/general, $12/seniors, SUNY Brockport alumni, faculty, and staff, and $9/students and will be available online at https://fineartstix.brockport.edu, by phone at 585-395-2787 or at the Tower Fine Arts Center Box Office, 180 Holley Street, Brockport.
Artistic director Mariah Maloney is spearheading the adjudication process that the approximately two dozen entries are subjected to before the final selections are chosen. Having already seen bits and pieces of several pieces that are hoping to be included, Maloney feels that there are “some wonderful works.”
The choreographers showing work include Rachel Greene, Ayla Haik, Eve Higginson, Kalli Jhané, Georgia Merritt, Becca Pickering, Cassiedy Davis Quintero, Iyana Voltaire, Lily Wegerski, and Anna White.
Quintero’s piece, “Dey Neva Told Us” is a reflection of her Black pride. Now that she has matured into a young woman of color, she has realized that “Black is beautiful,” but when she was growing up, “as a little Black girl aspiring to become a powerful Black woman… ‘Black is beautiful’ was something we rarely heard from society.” Greene’s solo work “to trick God” highlights an internal struggle to have a spiritual epiphany, and the fear that comes with not believing in a higher power.” As she ruminates, “Perhaps simply pretending will be enough.”
The dance vocabulary that Brockport’s choreographers utilize helps them express their inspiration and imagination. Whether it is a piece of music, a social cause, something viewed in nature, or even something much more mundane, their inspiration becomes the creative force as they make a dance. Tailoring a work for the Strasser Studio is also an intriguing mission, as the audience will surround the dancers on three sides in the University’s alternative dance venue.
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