Spotlight on... The Middlebury Dance Program

Author: Chi Zhang

The Middlebury Dance Program was recently honored with an invitation to perform at the St. Mark's church in New York, as part of a series called "Academy Dances" sponsored by the Danspace Project. Danspace is one of the prime venues on the downtown dance scene and has been an instrumental agent in showcasing the emerging vitality of college dances. This week, Penny Campbell from the Dance Department talks to The Campus about the experience and the Dance Program in Middlebury.



The Middlebury Campus: Can you give an overview of the dances performed at Danspace.

Penny Campbell: We took five pieces - Becca Marcus' '08 new group work, "Excavation," Tatiana Virviescas Mendoza's '07 new solo, "Translation: Restricted Flavors," Louisa Irving's '07 "five in the backseat," "Partners," an excerpt from the Dance Company of Middlebury's hour-long, touring concert piece "Tribute," and finally, the 10-minute Middlebury Improvisation Ensemble piece. Our alumna, Ellen Smith '05, now resident in Brooklyn, N.Y., brought one piece that she is working on with Kate Elias '05 and Abe Streep '04. It's called "Tiny Story" and is a duet for Kate and Ellen with music composed and performed by Abe (violinist). Philip Hamilton '82 performed the music for "Partners" live, and, wow, did performing that in a church space make it an incredible sound! He's a wonderful singer, but just imagine the sound rising high up into the lofty space and swirling back down.

TC: Will students be able to see these dances at some point?

PC: The next concert is May 4 and 5. Becca's group piece will be presented then, plus new dances by members of the Intermediate/Advanced dance course: Caroline Rucker '09, Martha Ann Underhill '08, Adriane Medina '08, Becca Marcus '08, Sharyn Korey '07 and Yina Ng '09. The 161/162 Beginner/Intermediate Dance course crew is presenting on Wednesday, May 9.

TC: How representative of the Middlebury Program are these dances?

PC: I'd say they are very representative of current student interests although these are really the more senior (meaning advanced) student works. The next "generation" of choreographers coming up is even more diverse. Ng has a very distinct dance "voice" as do Philippe Bronchtein '10, Sophia Levine '10, Underhill, Korey and Rucker. I believe that both the "Dancing with Light" and the "Taking Flight" performances will give insight into the artistic issues that students are digging into now and what is to come.

TC: Is there a marked difference between the dance culture observed at Danspace/New York and that associated with the Middlebury program?

PC: Good question. Actually, I think we felt very at home at Danspace. The performing area is a large, light colored wood floor in a church. It sort of references the ancient source of dance (and art of all kinds) in religious rituals. The altar and accoutrements are stored in a back room and brought out for services. Cleared, the space is a version of our own dance theatre. Danspace is also a place that fosters experimental dance/theatre work, so our emphasis on original and inventive dance works fits right in. Students loved the space. We arrived at noon, oriented ourselves to the space, did some rudimentary tech and performed at 3:00 p.m. Students handled themselves as if they'd been on tour forever! Very professional.

TC: How does Middlebury's Dance program compare to other academic dance programs? Any distinctive feature/flavor/approach?

PC: Middlebury's work has always compared very favorably to other academic programs in the US, especially in our New England region. Works by our students are almost always selected for performance in the Gala concerts hosted by the New England region American College Dance Festival Association and have been presented at the bi-annual, national ACDFA concerts four times over the last 20 years. There is a vitality about our students that seems to shine out from the stage. I think it is because they are performing their own work. There is a way in which putting "technique in command," as many schools do, can restrict both performance and creativity/exploration. Students are more concerned with technical details and the performance can seem preoccupied with technical proficiency rather than the full embodiment of movement and form. Many schools are more focused on preparing students for places in existing professional companies when they emerge from their undergraduate education. While our students do go that route, they are also ready to continue making and presenting their own work. I think our emphasis on experiential anatomy, improvisation, and creative work mark our students' choreography and performance as special.

TC: With the Dance Company tour and the invitation to perform at Danspace, do you see an expansion of the Dance Program here?

PC: The invitation to Danspace was a huge honor and recognition of our program and students. With the coming increase in the faculty advocated in the strategic plan, I think that, yes, an expansion of the dance program will be an issue. Through Andrea Olsen we are present in the Environmental Studies program. I am working to develop courses that reach out to students interested in International Studies and Dance. Leyya Tawil, an artist of Syrian and Palestinian lineage who works in the postmodern movement tradition, will be part of the program next year. We are also working to bring Christal Brown back to campus to teach a winter term course that fuses African diasporic material with modern/postmodern dance technique. Different cultures cherish or encode (consciously and unconsciously) different and similar values about posture, weight, movement palette, appropriateness, etc. In the dance program, while we are grounded in a US/European artistic lineage, we embrace and celebrate the diversity of cultural dance forms. Our vision for the future absolutely includes proposals to expand our course offerings and faculty to offer greater diversity on a regular basis.