CFPA's 'Dance in Concert' series continues Nov. 21
Dance in Concert 2020 will be held as a virtual season of performances, with online auditions and live stream, Zoom, site-specific with socially distant performers, or pre-recorded screen dance broadcast on the web for audiences. There will be three different performances between October and December.
The first livestreaming performance was Oct. 25 and featured the choreography of Noelle Price. Over 150 people watched the performance online.
The second performance, featuring the work of Cameron McKinney, will livestream Nov. 21 at 7:30 p.m. and Nov. 22 at 2 p.m. McKinney's DREAMS OF A SLEEPING WORLD is a hyperphysical interpolation of visual artist Oscar Oiwa’s installation of the same name that encompasses onlookers in overwhelming black and white swirls of marker and acrylic. The work uses contemporary floorwork-oriented movements to juxtapose the lively ensemble moments against a series of solos and will feature visual art by WWU faculty and/or students.
The final performance of the fall features work by Quilan "Cue" Arnold. The performance date is TBD. Arnold’s piece asks “What does the English language look like on the body?” This process will culminate in an online performance with WWU Dance students. The audience may gain a fresh perspective on a language many take for granted.
The streams are free and open to the public.
The season will focus on promoting art for social justice as we invite guest choreographers who are working with a broad focus of dance and physical theater, incorporating written and spoken text and visual arts. We are actively recruiting black dance scholars working to revise the canon of “white” dance history in their choreography to bring this important message to the campus community. The Zoom format will allow for a much larger number of students to be involved as they will be working virtually, and all skill levels are welcome to participate and learn the solos. We will maximize the campus wide impact for each guest residency with a virtual open rehearsal and dialogue for students to hear the philosophy behind each piece and learn about the art making process before the performance.
We hope to use the virtual format to recruit guests that we would not usually be able to host due to travel and time constraints. The focus on making art for social justice will help our students and campus community see how the arts can be used to promote a vision for a better world. Our proposed season of virtual and site-specific pieces will ensure that WWU students see that artists do not stop making art due to the limitations presented by the pandemic, but rather find creative ways to pursue their craft and promote social justice through art.
For connection information and more details, go to https://cfpa.wwu.edu/event/dance-concert.
Photos courtesy of the artists.
