"Spring Dances: We Rise and Fall Together", Cedar Crest College Dance Programs spring dance showcase, premieres virtually on Saturday, April 17 at 7:00 p.m.
The showcase, featuring five different genres of dance, will livestream on YouTube and be available until April 30 for viewing. To secure the free link to the presentation, visit cedarcrest.edu/stage.
This year Spring Dances will feature works that reference social justice themes. Artistic Director Sarah Carlson said, "We Rise and Fall Together was selected as a subtitle to underscore the interconnected nature of society and to promote awareness that working against the oppression of any one group will ultimately benefit the whole."
Dance students from Cedar Crest are joined by students from Lehigh Carbon Community College, as part of a partnership between the two schools. The selections were choreographed by members of Cedar Crests dance faculty and one guest choreographer.
The program includes:
"To Be a Woman," choreographed by Erin Puskar, is a jazz piece inspired by the memoir Monique and the Mango Rains, as well as by the music of Malian actress, singer-songwriter and guitarist Fatoumata Diawara. The piece brings to light the various societal struggles Malian women face and celebrates these womens resilience despite their challenging life circumstances.
"The Skin Youre In," a modern dance choreographed by Carlson, investigates racism by examining the arbitrary nature of using skin color as a means of distinguishing societal worth and identity. Dancers were invited to delve into their own experience of how the skin theyre in defines them, linking to both privilege and oppression. The piece integrates the work of local Black poet Deirdre Van Walters.
"NATION," choreographed by Samuel Reyes, is a hip-hop piece celebrating African-American Dance influences. It celebrates the NOLA Second Line “ traditionally, the people who follow behind the main (or first line) band - the HBCU drum line, and the revolutionary vocabulary of breakin. The piece concludes with a celebration of the New Jack Swing Dance Era along with the lyrics of Janet Jacksons iconic "Rhythm Nation," teaching that "its time to give a hand “ lets work together!"
Jill Fitzgerald presents "Waiting," a tap piece that draws inspiration from issues of food insecurity and climate change. It features passages of dancers being stuck and feeling overwhelmed, but then emerging to help each other. It features music by country singer Lindsay Ell.
Guest choreographer Firuzi Desai presents "Dance with Abandon," a Bollywood piece that showcases the power of three vibrant women, moving through three different powerful visual/musical landscapes.
"Rhapsody", a ballet piece by Sarah Parker, explores the essence of contrast, opposition and diversity as well as the fusion and melding of these component parts, in homage to the origin of the word rhapstein: to stitch, sew, to weave together. Using music as the metaphor, dancers connect the soft and willowy ebbs and flows of Gershwin's Rhapsody in Blue to the sharp-hued anthem rock of Queen's Bohemian Rhapsody.
On Saturday, April 24, the Performing Arts Department will premiere its original work, "Factor", also on YouTube at 7:00 p.m. This mixed-media livestream, combining spoken word, dance and visual imagery, continues the exploration of race, inclusion and equity. Details available at cedarcrest.edu/stage.