Student Choreographers Adapt Final Performances

dance choreographers charlene baker

Charlene Baker, above, is among 11 students presenting their work at the Emerging Choreographer Showcase. Also pictured are Jenna Tomkins, Anna Carosi, Jillian Umali and Rileigh Mason

Galloway, N.J. 鈥 番茄社区app鈥檚 dance program will present a live broadcast of its annual Emerging Choreographers Showcase on the dance homepage at 7:30 p.m. April 23-25.

dance-2020 jennaEleven students will present their original works. This juried showcase for dance makers at the start of their composing careers is a laboratory for choreographic experimentation and innovation.  Students were even more creative this year in adapting them to social distancing.

鈥淭he showcase is filled with moments of striking physicality, unusual grace, and the unexpected,鈥 said Assistant Professor of Dance Beau Hancock. 鈥淭he novel online format allows audiences a personal experience with this forward-looking choreography, and provides these 11 developing dance makers a chance to cultivate their artistic voices. Witness the variety and vibrancy of the Stockton community鈥檚 finest emerging choreographers.鈥

dance anna carosiStudent Charlene Baker鈥檚 dance 鈥淩hythmic Parallels鈥 is about the parallel and imbalance between African and Modern dance.

鈥淚n the beginning I use slow and sustained movement to embody a form of Modern technique,鈥 Baker said. 鈥淢y movement then becomes percussive to embody African technique. In all I would like to portray these two different styles on a technical level and show how they complement each other within their beats and rhythms.鈥

In 鈥淥ut of the Unknown,鈥 Jenna Tomkins, a dual major in Dance and Health Science-Pre Communication Disorders, addresses exploration.

dance jillian umali"Life is about exploring the world outside of your comfort zone,鈥 Tomkins said. 鈥淏eginning with clear and concise gesture phrases, 鈥淥ut of the Unknown鈥 will progress to explore my own unknown. With surprising scene changes, this work will represent the unknown that lives outside all of our comfort zones.鈥

Anna Carosi will graduate in May with a dual degree in Health Sciences Pre-Physical Therapy, and Dance Pre-Physical Therapy and a minor in Holistic Health. Her piece, 鈥淔ollowing the Movement鈥 is an exploration of aesthetic kinetics that, she says, takes the viewer on a journey through what is seen, yet unseen.

鈥淭hrough the environmental implications, one鈥檚 eye will catch the feelings of calming confusion as the point of view is refocused,鈥 Carosi said.

Health Science major and Dance minor Jillian Umali said her work, 鈥淒iverge鈥 exhibits the duality of uncertainty as both consuming and liberating.

鈥淣ow more than ever, uncertainty is rooted in all of us,鈥 she said.

Junior Rileigh Mason's solo "{In}st{an}t鈥&苍产蝉辫;is about domestic violence and finding the way through survival.

"In an instant everything can change," she said. " I am sharing my story in hopes to help others to leave their stories to make a happier and healthier one. One minute you're free the next you're trapped."

Other dance works and participating student choreographers are:  鈥淭ransverse Trek by Madison Derbyshire; 鈥淪urmountby Andrea Tammaro; 鈥淎shtangaby Niki Chiaravalloti, 鈥淚ntus鈥 by Anodja Peck; 鈥淚DK (I Don't Know)鈥 by Brielle Kimley; and 鈥淥ptical Replayby Cece Mitchell.

More information about Stockton鈥檚 dance program is at stockton.edu/dance.

rileigh mason

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