Panoramic Dance Project Concert

PRESS RELEASE

The Panoramic Dance Project –– an NC State academic dance company dedicated to exploring diverse dance styles –– will present its annual spring concert on March 23-24 at 8 p.m. in Stewart Theatre inside Talley Student Union. The themes of race, storm, water conservation, loneliness and addiction will be featured in choreographic works by guest artists, including Dr. Baba Chuck Davis and CONTRA-TIEMPO, and the NC State Dance Program Director Tara Z. Mullins.

This year the Panoramic Dance Project will present an excerpt from Agua Furiosa, an evening-length choreographic work performed by an activist-oriented Los Angeles-based dance company CONTRA-TIEMPO, that was taught to student performers during CONTRA-TIEMPO’s residency at NC State. Blending salsa, Afro-Cuban movement, hip-hop and other forms of contemporary dance, a visually stunning Urban-Latin choreography will challenge audiences to confront harsh realities of race, economic inequity, gun violence and other issues by presenting the forces of nature as a metaphor for social justice. Ana Maria Alvarez, an Afro-Cuban choreographer and the CONTRA-TIEMPO’s founder, was inspired to create Agua Furiosa as a counter-narrative to Shakespeare’s The Tempest, taking on many of the themes of the original play but from a clear female and contemporary perspective, and Oya, the Afro-Cuban god of wind and storm and the spirit of change, transition and chaos.

The concert will also present dance works choreographed by a renowned guest artist Dr. Baba Chuck Davis and esteemed local artists Willie Hinton and Emily Shoemaker Moorman. The company will perform a choreodrama Eli (an excerpt from Laura Nyro Suite) about loneliness and addiction set by one of the foremost African American dance choreographers in the United States Dr. Davis. The concert will also feature Hinton’s piece Current Situations that communicates the idea of mindfulness, being completely present and in the moment and the premiere of a tap piece Finding the Words set by Moorman to the soulful song Hallelujah.

In anticipation of The Nile Project, a cross-cultural musical group coming to NC State from March 15-21, the Panoramic Dance Project will perform Countless Tracks by Mullins, which premiered in 2016. Inspired by the short story ‘Nile River Woman’ by Jaiya John, Countless Tracks depicts four women on stage who represent different countries on the Nile River. The piece opens different interpretations of water, including water conservation and wastefulness, as well as different meanings of water in a woman’s life, in sensual and layered ways.

About the Panoramic Dance Project

The Panoramic Dance Project is an academic dance company of the NC State Dance Program, one of the six programs of Arts NC State. The company is unique in a way that its members, all non-arts majors, perform a variety of dance styles in a world context while bringing experiences from many disciplines ranging from biological and chemical engineering to design. Open by audition, the company presents choreographic works of the prominent guest choreographers and NC State Dance Program faculty. The annual performances include the Dance Program Fall Concert and the Panoramic Dance Project Concert at NC State as well as other performances in on and off campus venues.

Panoramic Dance Project Director: Tara Z. Mullins

Landing Page: go.ncsu.edu/dance-pdp

Contact: Tara Z. Mullins, danceprogram@ncsu.edu

Tickets: Online, by phone at 919.515.1100, in person at Thompson Hall, or at the door

$5: NC State students; $10: NC State faculty/staff, Seniors, and non-NC State students; $12: general public

High-Resolution Image: NC State Dance Program Flickr

Video: Panoramic Dance Project Concert Promo Video 2017

Dance Program on Social Media: Facebook, Instagram, Twitter /NCStateDance

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