Celebrating 30 Years of the NCSU Dance Company

PRESS RELEASE

The award-winning NCSU Dance Company will celebrate the company’s 30-year anniversary at its annual spring concert on April 6-7 at 8 p.m. in Stewart Theatre. Recognized by the American College Dance Association for its content-driven and research-based dance works, the company will present a distinguished collection of modern dance in choreography by the NC State Dance Program Director Tara Z. Mullins, guest artists Justin Tornow and danah bella, and a dance film by Autumn Mist Belk, a Teaching Assistant Professor in the NC State Department of Health and Exercise Studies.

Mullins will present two choreographic works, a multi-section dance theatre piece The Storm (premiere) and an intimate duet Flutter. Referring to the scientific cycles of a storm, The Storm will lead the audience through an engaging journey of a young woman facing the storm. The five-section piece will picture on stage a divine figure foreshadowing a storm, intermediaries swirling to usher it in and dancers personifying the wind and rain pulling a young woman into its path. The piece also serves as a metaphor for psychological storms offering the audience to explore connections between the literal and figurative meanings of a storm. Flutter, presented for the first time at NC State during the fall concert in 2016, will picture a duet inspired by Mullins’ dear friend who loved butterflies and who lost a battle with cancer.

The NCSU Dance Company will also premiere de-mentia choreographed during danah bella’s residency at NC State in fall 2016. Based on witnessing of the onset of dementia, this dance work explores the loneliness and disappointment caused by the process of losing a memory, regaining a memory and forgetting it once again.

The concert will feature No. 21/2 Structures, the simple and task-based choreographic work set by a Durham-based artist Justin Tornow, whose purpose is to experiment with the formality of modern and contemporary dance. Premiered on the NC State campus at the Dance Program Fall Concert 2016, the movement vocabulary for No. 21/2 Structures, as well as some of the partnering work, was primarily invented by the NCSU Dance Company members.

In addition to the NCSU Dance Company choreographic works, the concert will premiere Belk’s dance film ‘Duel’ that was shot on the Centennial Campus of NC State, featuring the NCSU Dance Company students. Inspired by the music of Ellis Dyson & The Shambles, a local band from Chapel Hill combining southern folk with Dixieland jazz, Belk decided to create a trilogy of outdoor performances: ‘W.B. Elephant’, ‘Duel’, and a solo dance film in progress.

About the NCSU Dance Company

Founded in 1987, the NCSU Dance Company is an academic dance company of NC State that presents a distinguished collection of modern dance under the direction of the NC State Dance Program, one of the six programs of Arts NC State. Open by audition, the student company members perform annually at the Dance Program Fall Concert and the NCSU Dance Company Concert at Stewart Theatre as well as in other on and off campus venues.

The NCSU Dance Company has received frequent recognition from the American College Dance Association (ACDA). Although NC State does not offer a dance major, this prestigious association has recognized the NCSU Dance Company for several coveted achievements over the years: 19 pieces selected for Regional Galas, seven pieces selected for Nationals, two pieces selected as Alternates to National, received one ACDF/Dance Magazine Award for Best Student Choreographer in the nation, and received one award for Best Student Choreographer in the Mid-Atlantic Region.

NCSU Dance Company Director: Tara Z. Mullins

Landing Page: ncsu.edu/dance-ncsu

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

Tickets: Online, by phone at 919.515.1100 (M-F, 1-6), in person at Thompson Hall, or at the door

$5: NC State students; $12: NC State faculty/staff, Seniors, and non-NC State students; $14: general public

High-Resolution Image: NC State Dance Program Flickr

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

Facebook Event: NCSU Dance Company Concert 2017