Release date: Oct. 23, 2003
Contact: Sally Corbett, Director of Public Relations, Arts,
at 404-727-6678 or sacorbe@emory.edu

Emory Dance Company Presents "Six Senses" Fall Concert

WHO: Emory Dance Company

WHAT: "Six Senses" fall concert

WHEN: 8 p.m. Nov. 20-22 and 3 p.m. Nov. 22

WHERE: Donna and Marvin Schwartz Center for Performing Arts, Dance Studio, 1700 N. Decatur Rd., Emory.

COST: $8 general admission, $6 for students, faculty, artists and other discount groups. For tickets and information, call 404-727-5050 or go online to www.emory.edu/ARTS.

The Emory Dance Company fall concert, "Six Senses," features choreography by three guest artists and Emory dance program faculty members George Staib II, Gregory Catellier and Sheri Latham. The performances will be in the Donna and Marvin Schwartz Center for Performing Arts Dance Studio Nov. 20-22 at 8 p.m. and Nov. 22 at 3 p.m. The Nov. 21 evening performance will benefit the Emory Friends of Dance Summer Scholarship Fund. Tickets are $8 for the general public and $6 for students, faculty, artists and other discount groups. The number for tickets and information is 404-727-5050.

Jeanne Travers, a member of the dance faculty at the University of South Florida in Tampa, spent an intensive week of rehearsals staging her piece, "Rencontres," for six members of the Emory Dance Company. Set to an original score by composer Sebastian Birch, this work suggests brief encounters between individuals, a theme supported by the focus on partnering work, subtle gestures, fast movement phrases, and entrances and exits. "Rencontres" previously was presented in La Paz, Bolivia, during the 2000 Forum International Dance Festival and also was selected for the 2001 Gala Concert of the American College Dance Festival in Gainesville, Fla. Travers' interests lie in interdisciplinary collaborations, including work with weavers, sculptors, videographers, musicians and opera singers.

Guest artists Elizabeth McCune Dishman and Amanda Exley Lower both are Atlantans and artistic directors of local dance companies. Dishman, a 1995 graduate of the Emory dance program and founding director of Coriolos Dance Project, presents "I Spy," a humorous section of a larger work titled "Reflex Meditations." Dishman's "I Spy" offers a parody of audiences through depiction of crowd dynamics. "Different kinds of crowds are reflected, such as arts audiences, sports fans, political ralliers and stage mothers. The dancers turn the tables to poke fun at their patronizing viewers," says Dishman.

Lower, director of Duende Dance, presents "Tango," which premiered as a duet in January 2003 in Atlanta. Lower has expanded the piece to a quartet with new choreography created with and for the Emory cast. The piece explores characters who, she says, are "inextricably linked, circling one another in an ambivalent and yet desperate dualism."

Emory faculty member George Staib II presents a piece for 16 dancers set to "The Upside Down Violin" by Michael Nyman. Inspiration for this work, like many of his others, comes from music. After selecting the music, "I then assign myself a task with strict parameters and begin working with the music and the established barriers. What I hope is created is a dance with purpose, meaning and visual intrigue," says Staib.

Emory ballet instructor Sheri Latham continues to investigate the ballet genre with a contemporary spin. In her new work for 16 dancers she strives for an urban feel as she works solos, duets and group sections to a mix of music by Triptease and Ten Piece.

Emory faculty member Gregory Catellier's work is often obliquely narrative and explores the intersection of gesture and dance. In his new work, "Catch Me," he focuses on several ideas: "The citizenry of our culture leading rushed, insular lives; personal inner dialogue; and the need to trust in each other and act on that trust," says Catellier. The piece is set to selections by Mark Mothersbaught, a former member of the group Devo.

Emory University is a highly selective, comprehensive research university known for its academically demanding undergraduate college, highly ranked professional schools and world-class research facilities. For more than a decade, Emory has been named one of the country's top 25 national universities by U.S. News & World Report. In addition to its nine schools, the university encompasses The Carter Center, Yerkes National Primate Research Center and Emory Healthcare, a comprehensive metropolitan health care system.

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