Macalester College Presents Dance Concert “Resist This”

St. Paul, Minn. –Choreographed and performed exclusively by students, the Macalester Spring Dance Concert showcases 10 new dance works. Performances are in the Janet Wallace Fine Arts Center, Main Stage Theatre, 1600 Grand Ave., St. Paul at 7:30 p.m. on Friday, April 29, and 2 p.m. and 7:30 p.m. on Saturday, April 30.  For ticket information, call 651-696-6359.

In a variety of dance vocabularies, from hip hop to ballroom to modern, these choreographers have built worlds designed to tap into the complexities and contradictions of the body and emotions, taking the audience on an exhilarating ride. Kwame Gayle ’11 explores interracial relationships in the South African context through a moving duet. Digging into the human psyche, Kate Keleher ’13 depicts interactions among the varied identities of one individual in a lyrical modern piece set to Nina Simone’s “Sinnerman.” Morgen Chang ’11 sees the mind as a vault of fears and phantoms, where thoughts (and dancers) exist only as shadows until called forth by consciousness, while Alison Hoyer ‘11 works in collaboration with Jens Tamang and Ben Holt to explore the status of the body within two separate atmospheres.

Other works combine energy, musicality, and stylized movement to form new combinations and interpretations. Senior Alexandra Barnard’s contemporary jazz piece takes the elegance of Billie Holiday’s music and updates it with quirky movement, while Rachel Diamond ’11 and Jonathan Chen ’11 set their Latin Ballroom duet to pop dance music. Finally, BODACIOUS, Macalester’s hip hop dance group, will be performing an energetic, fast moving piece with movement inspired by critters of all sorts. The concert also shows works by seniors Rachel Wisthuff, Anniki Witter, and Faith Kwon.

Macalester College, founded in 1874, is a national liberal arts college with a full-time enrollment of 1,958 students. Macalester is nationally recognized for its long-standing commitment to academic excellence, internationalism, multiculturalism and civic engagement.  Learn more at macalester.edu