Brazos Contemporary Dance Festival Brings Choreographers Around The State And Beyond To Present Their Work
The Sept. 19 concert is at 7 p.m., followed by 2:30 and 7 p.m. shows on Sept. 20 in the Black Box Theater at the Physical Education Activity Program Building.
Choreographers from around Texas and beyond will present their work at the Brazos Contemporary Dance Festival on Sept. 19 and 20, hosted by the Dance program in the College of Performance, Visualization and Fine Arts.
Students in the program will perform, and visiting choreographers will present their work alongside faculty members.
The Sept. 19 concert is at 7 p.m., followed by 2:30 and 7 p.m. shows on Sept. 20 in the Black Box Theater at the Physical Education Activity Program Building. Tickets are $13.50 for general admission and $8 for students and seniors, available at the MSC Box Office.
Carisa Armstrong, M.F.A., organizer and associate professor, said the festival was created in 2007 to bring professional dancers and choreographers to share their artistic works with the community. They are selected each year through a competitive process advertised to dance communities across the country, she said.
“These artists are from many places around Texas and beyond and spend the weekend in our community during the festival,” Armstrong said. “Our community will get to experience a wide range of contemporary dance from many choreographers. This is also beneficial to our students who are studying choreography and performance.”
Armstrong said the festival’s performances and master classes offer the community a chance to experience professional contemporary dance. Incoming artists include New York-based Skye Todaro; Round Rock-based Spaces of Fontana; Jai Alexander of Houston; and VERVE Contemporary Dance Company of Nacogdoches.
John Cartwright, M.F.A., lecturer, will present his choreographed work titled “RIGOR NOT US SHEEPLE.” The piece, performed by three students, originally debuted during the program’s “Perpetual Motion” concert in February. Cartwright said the piece is about challenging the ideas of what rigor might look or sound like.
“I hope the audience is able to take away an understanding that conformity isn’t the goal,” he said, “but that support and empathy will sustain creativity.”
Elijah Alhadji Gibson, M.F.A., assistant professor, will present work choreographed by his Houston-based dance company, Social Movement Contemporary Dance Theatre. Mark Aguilar, a Master of Fine Arts student, will also present choreographed work. Other invited artists include Riddles Three; Jennifer Salter and Jamie Williams; UTRGV Dance Ensemble; Full Circle Dance; Andrew Robert Smith; and Alexander Jones.
