New Dances 2012

Fridays and Saturdays, 8 p.m., UAA Mainstage Theatre
Sundays, 6 p.m., UAA Mainstage Theatre
Tickets: $10/UAA students, $12/General Admission

"New Dances 2012" bursts onto UAA Mainstage Theatre. This annual event is bigger and better than ever with 50 performers in 11 dance premieres. Tickets are available through the UAA Theatre Box Office by calling (907) 786-4TIX.

About the Show
Celebrated choreographer Teena Marie Custer has created "Braggin' Rites" for seven members of UAA Dance Ensemble. "Braggin' Rites" explores the dual identity commonly represented amongst rappers and dancers in hip hop culture, as well the tradition of boasting and bragging in literary work. Teena Marie Custer is a b-girl and hip hop dance theatre artist. She performs and competes internationally with her crew, Venus Fly Trap, and was a featured dancer and assistant choreographer for the feature-length film "Leading Ladies." Teena was also seen on MTV's MADE, and her solo work has been performed at the Breakin' Convention in London, England. She has been on faculty at Slippery Rock University, Ohio State University, Antioch College, as well as the American Dance Festival. Her work has been commissioned by companies across the US.

UAA Dance Program faculty Leslie Kimiko Ward offers "Bro-down." A lighthearted romp through iconic masculine archetypes that draws inspiration from boy bands, Google imagery, all male dance revues, reality television and the transgender community, "Bro-down" is a tongue-in-cheek exploration of masculinity in the American mainstream.

UAA faculty Brian Jeffery spins his new work "You Don't Know Me" on the members of UAA Dance Ensemble, punctuated by dynamic partnering interactions and sketches of movement pushing through the performance space to the sounds of Apparat and Amon Tobin.
UAA Department of Theatre and Dance will present "Braggin' Rites," "Bro-down" and "You Don't Know Me" by these three veteran choreographers along with eight other premiers by UAA student and local choreographers in New Dances 2012. Fifty performers go bounding forth into spring as they showcase diversity in both choreographic styles and ideas in these 11 dance premiers.

Several UAA Dance Ensemble alumni are among this year's featured choreographers. Tyche Privett and Scott Heverling have collaborated on the hauntingly mesmerizing "Henry" with seven performers exposed and vulnerable in this work scored to music by The Paper Chase and Venetian Snares. Ryan Nixon investigates contrasting dynamics in movement and emotions as part of "Asynchronous" with playful popping beats and guitar riffs by Calvin Harris plus piano and bass by Nobuo Uematsu. Christopher Branche has created "9x-7i>3(3x-7u)" featuring four technically savvy ladies leaping with love throughout this joyful and uplifting dance.

Timothy Eby's "Duet for a Dozen" is a peek into the unspoken world of subtext and body language. This engrossing work is told through the fusion of Karate and Tango plus the mathematical patterning of tessellations. Joshua Washington and Richard Beltzer have collaborated on "Classic Ish," a smooth hip-hop take on the boy meets girl scenario with playful keys by Soulchild, Musiq, Michael Jackson and John Legend.

Three couples lay bare the long lasting struggle of love and equality in "Gra'," meaning love in Gaelic, choreographed by Rae Posey. Debra Johnson Blouin is inspired by the intersection between dance and language in "Lost and Found: In Translation" driven by the music of John Powell and Bela Fleck. Karlyn Grotts has created "Surrender in Grace," a contemporary jazz dance that reflects on love and loss for 12 striking performers.