About the Dances
Set to music by DJ Shadow, Kate Bush, and Paul Simon, Libretto of a Hero Child (or the Chirping of Crickets Telling Temperature) is a premiere work for eight dancers by guest lecturer and alumni Ashley Clos. The dance is an abstract and deeply personal autobiography exploring perfectionism, imposter syndrome, and a changing relationship.

A new quintet by Assistant Professor Francisco Graciano entitled La Folia and set to Vivaldi’s delightful “Variations on La Folia” is a high energy expressive work that highlights the dancers' technical and musical prowess. The work explores how frenzy and whimsy delightfully influence each other.

Dance faculty Colette Kerwick’s newest work promises to be a visually dramatic spectacle which takes the audiences on a journey to unravel the complexities of truth and deception. With a cast of three male dancers, and a supporting crowd of thirty, The Truth in the Lie, Lies in the Truth is a captivating exploration of who's lying, what's real, who holds the truth, and what is the truth within the lies we tell. Projection design elements enhance this work.

To liven up the program, Kyle Craig-Bogard faculty member from the Department of Theatre and Musical Theater collaborates with dance graduate student Natasha Wakim on a tap number that presents a modern version of the famous Hoofers' Club in Harlem from the 1920's to the 1940's where dancers of all levels came to show off their talents and trade tap steps. The creative process involved the fusion of storytelling with rhythm tap and the individual, creative skills of all its participants. Jam Session is an ode to tap dancers everywhere.

A new ensemble work choreographed by and to an original score by dance faculty Travis Lake, Fang celebrates the athleticism and technical prowess of the dancers at SHSU. What appears to be a piece about vampires and darkness is a metaphor for the blood, sweat, and tears the dancers endure throughout their lifelong physical practice.

Associate Dance Professor Dionne Sparkman Noble will premiere Revoke, an expressive work for a cast of 15 women created in a post-Roe era. After more than a century of progress for women in America, how does the stripping away of personal privacy for women leave us? How will this affect future generations and the rights for women in general worldwide? These questions permeated the creative process for Sparkman Noble and the dancers.

The team of Professor Andy Noble, light designer Neal Petz, and graduate student Joshua Martinez join forces to create The Floating Door, a new dance work that features set design, projection design, and light installation to create a haunting and surreal world. The dance draws inspiration from iconic dream imagery in an attempt to make sense of that which lingers with us. 

This semester SHSU hosted the American College Dance Association South-Central Conference and Tower by Andy Noble (in collaboration with Laura Harrell) was presented at the conference to represent SHSU Dance. This work that features 33 dancers and uses raw athleticism to create the energy of a storm was chosen by a panel for the Gala concert and then selected to go on to The National Dance Festival in Long Beach, California in May. The work will be shown in Dance Spectrum to celebrate this honor. This group of dancers will also perform a new ditty by Noble to Electric Light Orchestra’s Mr. Blue Sky – that which appears after the storm!

Don't miss Senior Showcase on May 6, 2023 at 2:00 PM where the graduating class of BFA in Dance majors will perform their senior solos. This event is followed by an awards ceremony and reception!

Event: Dance Spectrum in Concert
When: May 4-6, 2023 @ 8 PM nightly
Where: James and Nancy Gaertner Performing Arts Center Dance Theater
Tickets: $12 advance general admission, $15 at the door, student RUSH available week
of the show (one free ticket) for current SHSU students with valid SHSU student ID. 

Purchase online at http://www.shsutickets.com or call 936-294-2339

Photo by Francisco Graciano, from Graciano's La Folia

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Krysta Quiambao

Play. What does play mean to you? Do you remember the last time you played? What about the last time you felt the grainy plastic texture of a kickball that you used to play with as a kid? Quiambao presents, Balls Aboard, an evening length work that explores the identity of seven individuals and their personal paths used to explore creative expression and community through play. Join us for a night of playful experiences as dance, lighting design, and musical composition come together to create a nostalgic night of play.

Sarah E Vickery

When you make the ominous switch from predator to prey, can you tell? Do the hairs on the back of your neck stand up? Do goosebumps speckle your icy skin? Or does your life remain the same? A monotonous drudge through the thing you call life. What is your “prey”? Vickery presents, The Hunt, an evening length multimedia performance and choreographic exploration in generating new movement patterns through the study of the three modes of animal locomotion: aerial, aquatic, and terrestrial. Vickery hunts down her own prey to gain a better understanding of life, dance, and the elusive connection between the two. Join us for a night of exciting entertainment as dance, projection, set design, acting, live music, script and musical composition come together to create the ultimate hunt.

Details

Balls Aboard by Krysta Quiambao and The Hunt by Sarah Vickery
February 3 & 4, 2023 @ 8 PM
James and Nancy Gaertner Performing Arts Center, Dance Theater
815 17^th Street, Huntsville, TX
Admission is free, and seating is first come, first serve

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Lilly Thurman

Thoughts, emotions, ideas, and responses all embodied through movement in a collaboration of live dance on the stage and film seen in Lilly Thurman's The Voyage. The Voyage is an inside look at what it means to be human that takes the audience on an all-too-familiar ride. The viewer will be transported to a world inside the voyager's head in this close-up look at the main character's overwhelming thoughts and dizzying emotions. Will she be able to calm the storm that is her thoughts, or will they consume her on the voyage?

Joshua "Jam" Martinez

Kinesthetic Gathering is a dance film produced by Joshua “Jam” Martinez that takes the audience on a journey through the challenges and triumphs of building a community. In his film, Martinez puts the audience in a dream-like reality with changing sets, costumes, and movement styles as the dancers attempt to find the community they belong to. This film features metaphoricsymbolism and notions of hypnotic consciousness. The final production aims to inspire people to look for their tribe, surround themselves with inspiring people, and make room at your table for the people that matter most in life. Joshua “Jam” Martinez has dedicated this film to his late friend, Ryan Crossman.

Details

Event: The Voyage and Kinesthetic Gathering
Who: Joshua “Jam” Martinez and Lilly Thurman
When: February 17^th and 18^th | 8:00PM
Where: Gaertner Performing Arts Center Dance Theater
Admission: FREE

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