{"id":17234,"date":"2023-09-05T13:42:12","date_gmt":"2023-09-05T18:42:12","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/pvfa.tamu.edu\/?p=17234"},"modified":"2023-09-05T14:09:12","modified_gmt":"2023-09-05T19:09:12","slug":"visiting-artists-bring-intricate-works-to-brazos-contemporary-dance-festival","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/pvfa.tamu.edu\/news\/2023\/09\/05\/visiting-artists-bring-intricate-works-to-brazos-contemporary-dance-festival\/","title":{"rendered":"Visiting Artists Bring Intricate Works To Brazos Contemporary Dance Festival"},"content":{"rendered":"\n

Themes of heritage, body image, art and the human condition will be explored at the Brazos Contemporary Dance Festival<\/a> on Sept. 8 and 9, hosted by the School of Performance, Visualization and Fine Arts\u2019 Dance Science program<\/a>.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Visiting artists presenting work include Melanie Diaz from Denton, Heather Samuelson from Nacogdoches, Andrew Smith from Huntsville, Sarah Tran from Dallas and Richard Oaxaca from Cleveland, Ohio. Texas A&M dance students will perform a piece choreographed by Carisa Armstrong, dance program director and associate professor, and Diane Bedford, clinical associate professor and section chair of dance, music and theatre performance.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Armstrong and Christine Bergeron, associate dean for academic affairs and clinical professor, created the festival in 2007 with the goal of bringing contemporary dance to the community.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Performances will be at 7:30 p.m. in the Dance Black Box Theater at the Physical Education Activity Program Building (PEAP 207). Tickets are $12 for general admission and $7 for students and seniors, available at the MSC Box Office<\/a>.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Armstrong and Bedford\u2019s piece is titled \u201cIntertwined,\u201d described as two students expressing a synergistic relationship as they move through the space. The piece will begin with the dancers close together and seemingly entangled. As it progresses, they will explore their space, moving further apart while still maintaining their connectedness.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Tran and five dancers from her TranScend Motion<\/a> dance company will perform a piece called \u201cRoots.\u201d Tran choreographed the contemporary piece that originally premiered in 2021.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cI am a Vietnamese-American and this work was created to portray my heritage and represent where I come from, and how a Vietnamese woman is being portrayed in our society,\u201d Tran said.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The dancers perform with silk fabrics that represent delicacy and softness, but also resiliency as silk does not break easily, Tran said.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

In addition to her live performance, Tran will present a dance film she choreographed and directed titled \u201cNo Rescue Needed.\u201d Created in 2020, the film features a female lead. The film is set in two contrasting locations: a proscenium stage and a construction site.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cThe stage, for me, portrays society,\u201d Tran said. \u201cThere are places and people in society, but there is this one solo dancer that is going through everything. She is standing out and is doing her own thing.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n\n

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