FACULTY CHOREOGRAPHERS COLLABORATE WITH CAMPUS COLLEAGUES IN NOVEMBER SPLASH!

The "thinking dancer", a concept long-embraced by the Dance Program at the University of Wisconsin-Madison, takes on new meaning in the program's Fall Faculty Concert, SPLASH!, on Saturday, November 21, at 8:00 p.m. at the Wisconsin Union Theater, 800 Langdon Street.

In a collaborative venture that began last year, Dance Program faculty artists put their heads together with interdisciplinary campus colleagues from the School of Human Ecology, Art Department, School of Music, Department of Theater and Drama, Laboratory for Affective Neuroscience, the Geology Department, and UW Extension to create and present new, innovative works for this special event.

The result? A mind-expanding exploration of artistic, spatial, physical and conceptual relationships -- all on one stage, for ONE NIGHT ONLY!

Thoughtful, dynamic choreography and live music, along with visually rich lighting, costume and scenic designs and video are featured throughout the performance.

As part of the effort, the Dance Program also received a highly competitive National Endowment for the Arts: Master Dance award to host renowned, New York-based Susan Marshall and Company members in residence to re-stage Marshall's master work, "Name by Name". Its Madison premiere will be performed by 18 Dance Program students in the November showcase.

In addition to overseeing final rehearsals, Marshall, recently named as first Director of Dance at Princeton University, will share her perspective of dance in higher education and life as a choreographer on Wednesday, November 18, at 11:00 a.m. in Lathrop Hall, 1050 University Avenue. Her talk, "A Contemporary Dance Perspective", is free and open to the public.

Marshall, widely recognized as a creative innovator, was awarded a MacArthur Fellowship in 2000 as well as a Guggenheim Fellowship, an American Choreography Award and a Dance Magazine Award. She is also the recipient of three New York Dance and Performance Awards (BESSIES) for Outstanding Choreographic Achievement. In addition, Marshall is known for her collaborations at home and abroad with artists such as avant-garde musician Philip Glass along with numerous ballet and opera companies.

"This whole process has been a wonderful journey," says Jin-Wen Yu, Dance Program chair and concert coordinator. "We're fortunate to work with so many talented artists and intellects. By sharing our visions, by moving out of our comfort zones, we've created new realities and visions...which ultimately encouraged and challenged all of us to grow."

And when science and the arts share stage and screen, visual illumination may lead to mind-bending transformation.

Yu and Olga Trubetskoy (UW Extension Services in Pharmacy) have collaborated to create a physically dynamic and visually stunning group dance entitled "Metabolic Dance." Featuring an elaborate stage setting by Claude Heintz and live music composed and performed by John Doing (2009 Madison Area Music Award for Best Percussionist), this multi-media work metaphorically explores and represents the biotransformation of substances as they enter and then leave the body.

In a work titled "Transform 2", newly appointed assistant professor Peggy Choy examines notions of the mind and brain, and the meaning of transformation in our tumultuous times. Her initial inspiration for the piece was the seminal research by professor Richard Davidson, director of the Laboratory for Affective Neuroscience on campus. Davidson and his team have used magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) to investigate how the brain can be transformed through the practice of meditation. Some of those MRI images have been incorporated into video projection as part of Choy's dance piece. Her other collaborators include: professor and composer Stephen Dembski, School of Music; musician Aaron Sherraden, composer and former student of Dembski's; video artist Rosemary Bodolay, Art Department; and costume design by Maggie Barber, graduate of the School of Human Ecology, in consultation with assistant professor Carolyn Kallenborn, Design Studies, School of Human Ecology.

More than 25 yards of fabric will grace the stage and drape dancer Karen McShane-Hellenbrand in choreographer Marlene Skog's newest work. Skog's daring collaboration with textile designer Carolyn Kallenborn, School of Human Ecology, creates an organic force that drives the curiosity and confinement of the dancer against a taunting melody of Maurice Ravel, performed by musician Ina Selvelieva, School of Music.

Choreographer Li Chiao-Ping's latest dance for three women is a collaboration with visual artist/UW Art student Anthony Joseph Moore and Clifford Thurber, chair of the Geology Department, with music by Brian Eno/David Byrne and Joji Hirota. Tentatively titled "Shifting Ground", the fast-paced kinetic choreography shifts through time and space as if to say we are everywhere and nowhere. Kate Corby’s new work for first-year dance majors is a musical exploration of composer George Rochberg’s ‘Caprice Variations.’ Local violinist and UW alumna Kangwon Lee Kim will accompany the piece live. The work for nine dancers was developed in Corby’s first-year performance workshop course, which also included a performance in the UW Wind Ensemble’s ‘Collage Concert’ in April.

A new athletic and physically demanding work by Chris Walker entitled "Left at Right", features performances by six Dance Program majors and poetry from First Wave students. Associate professor Gail Brassard, Department of Theater and Drama, will design the costumes. Musical collaborators include Master Drummer from Guinea, West Africa Manju Camara and UW-Madison graduate and member of Spectrum Trio, John Doing. Music will be amplified with vocalization and added movement by students in Walker's African Performance class.

Tickets are $18 general public and $10 students and seniors. Tickets may be purchased in advance through Campus Arts Ticketing Box Office: www.uniontheater.wisc.edu ; by phone, (608) 265-ARTS (265-2787); or in person at the Wisconsin Union Theater Box Office, 800 Langdon Street or Vilas Hall Box Office, 821 University Avenue. Remaining tickets will be sold at the door. Reserved seating.

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For more information on this story, please contact Doreen Adamany, (608) 262-2353 .