OHIO’s Dance Division presents new choreography in fall senior dance concert

Photographer: Sarah CriminskiOhio University Dance Division presents the 2018 Fall Senior Dance Concert, four shows over two nights, Friday and Saturday, November 16-17 in the Shirley Wimmer Dance Theater, Putnam Hall, Athens. Photo organized by designer Taylor Evans and photographer

Ohio University’s Dance Division in the School of Dance, Film, and Theater presents the annual “Fall Senior Dance Concert,” on Friday, Nov. 16 and Saturday, Nov. 17 at 7 and 9 p.m. in the Shirley Wimmer Dance Theatre in Putnam Hall at Ohio University. General admission is $9 per ticket, and students are free with a valid OHIO student ID through support from Arts for OHIO.

The culminating project for five senior bachelor of fine arts dance majors employs their unique perspectives in newly created choreographic works performed by individuals or groups in the following dances:

• "Eternal," a group dance piece choreographed by Kelsee Booker in collaboration with the cast, explores the notion of long-lasting human relationships between heaven and earth. Gestures of unity and empathy gather and sweep 10 dancers, while Sunday morning sounds fill an ethereal and calming space.
• "Just Another Day…," a group dance piece choreographed by Chloe Carpenter in collaboration with the cast, exploits emergent frustration and internal dissatisfaction of conventional and stale routines through fractured verbal expression, spatial patterning and emotionally charged movement. Eight dancers move through a state of metamorphosis, from conjoined cohesion to angered chaos.
• In her solo dance work, “To Yearn the Gone,” choreographer Rachel Larkin delves into the assortment of intense emotions one experiences during moments of nostalgia, triggered by euphoric personal associations. A sense of longing can be provoked by any of the five senses, sparking a pensive fondness for a period or place of immense happiness that can no longer be returned to. Using various improvisational scores, inspired by felt sense experience, and paired with an original sound score by musician Nick Rioch, Larkin’s “To Yearn the Gone” conveys an expression of intangible affection and sentimental longing for the past. 
• The work “toe dip,” choreographed and performed by Becca McNay, reflects on the way life happens, shifts in space and time, and then continues. Based in improvised movement paired with sound by percussionist Adam Jones, "toe dip" explores the connection of life moments captured in memory that exist fully in feeling and sensation.
• “Two guys walk into…”, by Emily Vizina in collaboration with her dancers, digs inside the nuance of interaction between a collection of women through gesture and full-bodied movements, through shared space and with one another. Crowd sounds accompany the dancers as they interact and influence one another inside their nondescript setting.

Tickets can be purchased prior to the performance at the Templeton-Blackburn Memorial Auditorium from noon to 5 p.m. Monday through Friday or by calling the ticket office at 740-593-1780.