Carol Dilley – News

At age 50, �ֲ��ý dance is still ‘the same awesome experience’

Eleanor Vance '21 — Thu, 02 May 2019 19:45:19 +0000

A �ֲ��ý tradition — springtime reunions among the college’s dance alumni — saw a new chapter this year.

Like so many expressions of dance at �ֲ��ý, the reunion tradition was begun by the late Marcy Plavin, the larger-than-life founder of the �ֲ��ý Modern Dance Company and co-founder of the �ֲ��ý Dance Festival.

Plavin died in 2016, at age 84, and this year’s gathering was the first since her passing.

Held April 26 to 28, the 2019 edition drew 70-plus alumni, from classes of the ’70s on up, who returned to mark the 50th anniversary of the dance company’s first performance under Plavin’s leadership, celebrate dance in their lives today, and look to the promising future of dance at �ֲ��ý.

Prior to one of the workshops on Saturday morning, Kathryn Ryan Brigham ’02 (left) greets Lynda Plavin Fitzgerald ’79, daughter of the late Marcy and Leonard Plavin. (Phyllis Graber Jensen/�ֲ��ý College)

The weekend, produced by Professor of Dance Carol Dilley with skilled help from Hannah Miller ’14, a veteran of prior dance reunions, featured workshops, performances, and discussions, both casual and guided.

Over lunch on Saturday, alumni broke into groups to talk about how dance has infused their lives and work. “We’ve never done this before,” said Dilley, who succeeded Plavin in 2003 and led the effort to transform the dance program into an academic major in 2011.

As noon approached, alumni milled around upstairs in Commons, talking quietly while grabbing brunch at the buffet spread. No doubt hungry following the morning’s alumni-taught dance workshops, the dancers filled their plates and headed into three meeting rooms for discussion sessions sponsored by the Center for Purposeful Work.

Each session had a theme — dance and activism, bodies at work, and dance as a mindset — and was moderated by students, who asked the alumni about their work and their lives at �ֲ��ý, gleaning advice from their combined years of experiences. Though formal-sounding, the setup created spaces for easy conversation between the current and former students.

On Saturday morning, Michael Foley ’89 led a workshop on dance for the over-40 set in the Marcy Plavin Dance Studios. “One of the big �ֲ��ýisms is the intersectionality between all of your interests,” he said. (Phyllis Graber Jensen/�ֲ��ý College)

In one session, moderators Helen Carr ’21 of Tarrytown, N.Y., and Ellie Friends ’21 of Deerfield, Mass., asked Ya-Ya Fairley ’12, who had just taught a morning workshop on Afro house dance, and Talia Mason ’15 how they’ve been able to use their art as activism.

A double major in dance and anthropology, Fairley, who uses the pronouns “they” and “them,” described setbacks while they earned a master’s degree in performance from the University of Utah.

“Whatever I did was hyper-politicized because of the space I was in. Just the act of putting my ideas out there is inherently activist — and putting my black, trans, queer body in those spaces really embodied the act of activism.”

From left, Julie Yeterian ‘06, Yasmin “Ya-Ya” Fairley ‘12, Meredith Sallee ‘07, and Talia Mason ‘15 break into laughter during Fairley’s workshop on Afro house dance, held in Chase Hall. (Phyllis Graber Jensen/�ֲ��ý College)

Though facing flak from faculty who disapproved of their student’s innovative and radical choreography, Fairley said the experience provided “a healthy push” for their personal artistry.

Mason, a Phi Beta Kappa double major in dance and French at �ֲ��ý, has a post-baccalaureate degree from the Headlong Performance Institute in Philadelphia, teaches dance at a Montessori school, and is a solo performance artist.

Her activism is also intrinsically linked to her study of dance and performance. She is interested in depictions of Judaism in dance and asks questions about how art can confront anti-Semitism in America.

Artemis Preeshl ’84 contributed a dance workshop session on issues related to consent and safe rehearsal and performance spaces. (Samuel Mironko ’21 for �ֲ��ý College)

“Making work with an activist lens is more daunting in the real world than in college,” acknowledged Mason, who is soon to begin a master of fine arts program in dance at the University of California, Riverside.

In the “Bodies at Work” session, choreographers, teachers, therapists, and producers told moderators Kellie Allen ’21 of Pleasantville, N.Y., and Esme Goldfinger ’21 of Portland, Maine, how �ֲ��ý prepared them for their careers.

“There is no absolutely no way I would be the writer or researcher I am today if I hadn’t been at �ֲ��ý,” said Artemis Preeshl ’84, a visiting professor at Elon University who has taught acting, movement, and voice on five continents. Preeshl contributed a workshop session on “Making a Safe Rehearsal / Performance Space.”

“�ֲ��ý gave me a ‘fight tooth and nail’ attitude,” said Jonathan Schwolsky ’15, an independent filmmaker, theater director, and photographer. (Samuel Mironko ’21 for �ֲ��ý College)

A double major in theater and rhetoric, Jonathan Schwolsky ’15 completed his theater thesis in the relatively obscure field of experimental comedy. “There were enough people here to support me to do that,” he said.

“One of the big �ֲ��ýisms is the intersectionality between all of your interests,” said Michael Foley ’89, a professor of dance at the University of South Florida and director of the USF Dance in Paris program.

“I think much of the world is very monolithic,” he said, reflecting on his experiences as a teacher and choreographer (including a whimsically named morning workshop, “Modern Dance for the ‘Over 40s’!!”). “There’s something about the intersectionality of �ֲ��ý that I’m constantly reflecting on. I’m trying to incorporate this idea of egalitarianism about how people get a voice into my work.”

During Saturday afternoon’s alumni and student performances, from left, Flannery Black-Ingersoll ’19, Shae Gwydir ’20, and Becca Howard ’19 perform “contact, just go,” a piece they choreographed in their advanced composition class. (Samuel Mironko ’21 for �ֲ��ý College)

As the noon sessions wrapped up, some alumni and students headed to another round of workshops; others mingled at the interactive dance archives exhibit in Gannett Theater that featured vintage costumes and performance programs from decades of �ֲ��ý dance.

With support from the Muskie Archives and Special Collections Library, the exhibit was curated by two seniors, Sara Hollenberg, a double major in dance and mathematics from Stamford, Conn., and Rebecca Howard of Aspen, Colo., a double major in art and visual culture and religious studies with a minor in dance.

In Gannett Theater, Sara Hollenberg ’19 of Stamford, Conn., and Rebecca Howard ’19 of Aspen, Colo., pose among items that they curated for an interactive dance archives exhibition. (Phyllis Graber Jensen/�ֲ��ý College)

The project left Howard impressed by “both the depth and the breadth of what the �ֲ��ý dance program has been.” It was also another way to honor Plavin: “a way to weave her memory in, in a permanent sense. And reminding people of that.”

“Then you add to that with all these other alums who have shared the same awesome experience.”

For Hollenberg, the exhibit spoke to the many and surprising ways that alumni find ways to connect across the years. She pointed to a pair of costume pants. “They’re so popular — somebody wears them every year in a concert. Alumni come in here and bond and are like, ‘I wore the pants!’

“You have a community that is your class and the classes around you. Then you add to that with all these other alums who have shared the same awesome experience.”

One Saturday afternoon performance was Passing, a piece choreographed as a tribute to Marcy Plavin’s life and legacy. (Samuel Mironko ’21 for �ֲ��ý College)

Later, they came together to watch each other perform in Schaeffer Theatre. Bonding over cups of chai, the dancers took their seats to watch new work choreographed by students and alumni alike.

Shae Gwydir ’20, Howard, and Flannery Black-Ingersoll ’19 performed “Contact Disco,” a piece they created for their advanced composition class. Using three stools as props, the dancers combined intricate modern technique with theatrical facial expressions to make movement that was both succinct and sporadically comedic.

Presenting an improvisatory piece during Saturday afternoon’s performances, Ya-Ya Fairley ’12 used a ghostlight as a prop in the center of the stage, dancing in the small spot of light it cast. (Samuel Mironko ’21 for �ֲ��ý College)

The alumni pieces included improvisatory choreography by Mason and Fairley. The latter used a ghostlight as a prop in the center of the stage, dancing in the small spot of light it cast. Mason, prompted by Marie Kondo’s idea of “sparking joy,” strategically placed old childhood belongings that gave her joy on the stage, dancing around and with them.

“We continue to make beautiful pieces on this stage.”

The performances concluded on a poignant note with Passing, a piece choreographed as a tribute to Plavin’s life and legacy by Dilley and former �ֲ��ý faculty member Rachel Boggia. Seventeen �ֲ��ý dancers moved to music composed by Plavin’s longtime friend and partner in work, Bill Matthews, Alice Swanson Esty Professor of Music.

Passing celebrated the continuum of �ֲ��ý dance. “We continue to make beautiful pieces on this stage,” said Dilley. “That’s the standard that Marcy set.”

A longtime composer for �ֲ��ý dance, Alice Swanson Esty Professor of Music Bill Matthews (left) is shown with Carol Dilley prior to the April 27 performance of Passing, presented in memory of Marcy Plavin.
(Samuel Mironko ’21 for �ֲ��ý College)

�ֲ��ý at Night: Sweat and study at the Marcy Plavin Dance Studio

Theophil Syslo — Wed, 20 Sep 2017 18:13:38 +0000

On a Tuesday night in the Marcy Plavin Dance Studio, students sweat as they study.

In anticipation of its , the �ֲ��ý Dance Company has stepped up its rehearsals to perform a piece titled Passing. It’s a work in progress by Rachel Boggia and Carol Dilley to celebrate the life and works of Marcy Plavin.

Esme Goldfinger '21 of Lexington, Mass., reacts to an embrace from Associate Professor of Dance Rachel Boggia during an evening rehearsal in the Marcy Plavin Dance Studios. (Theophil Syslo/�ֲ��ý College)

Boggia scrutinizes her students' work as they learn a piece titled "Passing."(Theophil Syslo/�ֲ��ý College)

Sofia Elbadawi '18 of Fayetteville, N.Y., and Goldfinger grip hands. (Theophil Syslo/�ֲ��ý College)

Ellie Madwed '20 of Seattle, Emma Zulch '18 of Sherrill, N.Y., and Goldfinger react to directions. (Theophil Syslo/�ֲ��ý College)

A digital approach to learning dance. (Theophil Syslo/�ֲ��ý College)

“Back to �ֲ��ý is a real celebration of what �ֲ��ý embodies,” says Rachel Boggia, associate professor of dance. “It’s one of the few performances during the year that the whole dance community comes together and is in the same space at the same time.”

“It’s been a lot of time, effort, and focus for all the dancers and choreographers to cram into one two-week session,” says Danielle Ward ’20 of Atlantic Highlands, N.J. “I think it takes cooperation from the whole group to be able to pull it off so quickly. So, it’s a lot of hard work but it pays off.”

“Some of my best friends I’ve found right here in the dance department,” says Sofia Elbadawi ’18 of Fayetteville, N.Y. “When I danced all through high school, middle school, and elementary school it was more about competition, and being better than the group. �ֲ��ý has really had an emphasis on creating community.”

“We have dinner together after class every day,” says Esme Goldfinger ’21 of Lexington, Mass. “I’m slowly getting to know everyone and kind of becoming part of this community, which is great because not a lot of classes have that.”

“I started my first year with two dance classes and I fell in love with it,” says Christopher “Tofur” Castaneda ’20 of Los Angeles. “I just found that the dance program allows me to kind of step back from all the hectic-ness of my STEM career here and really try to go after something that is a whole lot less stressful to me and a lot more about pushing yourself.”

Graduate profile: Khi Kim ’16, ‘sophisticated, evocative, and clever’ poster-maker nonpareil

Jay Burns — Wed, 25 May 2016 15:43:24 +0000

�ֲ��ý dance poster for 2014 Parents & Family Weekend Dance Concert 2014.

A great theater poster, says �ֲ��ý theater director Kati Vecsey, “makes me want to rip it off the wall, frame it, and hang it in my house — but it should also make me want to see the show.” From that perspective, posters created by Khi Kim ’16 of Goyang, South Korea, have fueled larcenous passions while helping to fill �ֲ��ý venues over the last four years. In 2012, Kim arrived at �ֲ��ý to study biochemistry. He also had a graphic design background, and soon got a campus job designing posters for �ֲ��ý theater and dance productions. In the four years since then, Kim has created some of the best and best-liked posters that the campus has ever seen. “His work is sophisticated, evocative, and clever,” says Tammy Caron, senior designer and Kim’s supervisor in the Communications Office.

A Creative Case Study: The poster for Wasteland

Here are two versions of a theater poster for Susan Felder’s play Wasteland. At left is one done by a Chicago-based theater company. At right is Khi Kim’s version for the �ֲ��ý production in fall 2014.

Khi Kim’s poster for Wasteland does what a poster should, says Katalin Vecsey, senior lecturer in the theater program who directed the fall 2014 production of the Susan Felder play. “It catches your attention, gives you information that keeps your attention, but does not give the play or the artistic concept totally away.” As with her other poster project with Kim, Vecsey first asked him to read the play. Then, he reviewed the set design with Vecsey while they talked about her directorial and artistic concept. She also showed him a Wasteland poster, on left above, that she did not care for. Vecsey says that she specifically asked for a poster that would not “reveal that there are really two people in the show, and that they communicate with each other over a wall. I wanted to keep it as a surprise for the audience.” The result, Vecsey says, was one of his best �ֲ��ý posters ever. “By the way, Susan Felder also loved it,” she adds.

Vecsey, a senior lecturer in theater, has gotten used to Kim’s posters “disappearing from campus even before a show opens — students take them for their rooms.” And if Kim knows what students like, it’s because he works at it; he’s always in conversation with his campus and his fellow students. He calls it getting “inspiration from real life.” All day, he says, “I have conversations” with people around him, all the while thinking about design concepts. “When I talk with someone, I think to myself, ‘What will this person want to see in the show and in this poster?’”But also, Kim is paying attention to what the poster should say about the show. Emotionally, the two should align, Kim says. “We want people to arrive as emotionally ready as possible.”

�ֲ��ý theater poster for Israel Horovitz's Stage Directions by Khi Kim '16.

�ֲ��ý theater poster for Murder in Manhattan, a murder-mystery game staged by The Robinson Players, by Khi Kim '16.

�ֲ��ý theater poster for Norman Corwin's They Fly Through the Air With the Greatest of Ease by Khi Kim '16.

�ֲ��ý theater poster for Castle of Perseverance by Khi Kim '16.

�ֲ��ý theater poster for Apollinaire's The Breasts of Tiresias by Khi Kim '16.

Born in Korea, Kim was educated in China before coming to �ֲ��ý. Upon arrival, he decided to trim his dual interests in science and art down to just one. “I thought, ‘OK, now’s the time.’” Yet, four years later, “I’m still doing both,” he says, and it’s been a win-win. For example, his senior thesis on RNA has drawn him into bioinformatics, a field that develops methods and tools to understand biological data. Bioinformatics puts a premium on visualizing information, and that’s exactly what Kim has been training to do while designing posters. He says that his thinking has become “more visual, and that skill transfers well into science when I try to analyze a graph, imagine a structure in 3D, or use geometric shapes and patterns.”

He does it with an “intuitive understanding of the concept-to-execution process,” says Caron.

Kim, known for his indefatigable charm, might hear from several �ֲ��ý artists involved in publicizing a performance. It’s a rigorous process; Professor of Dance Carol Dilley loves Kim’s work but admits that her team “might reject one out of every three” of his initial concepts for a dance concert poster. Each time, Dilley says, Kim comes back with either a revision that accurately reflects the client’s feedback or with a completely new concept, whichever was requested.

Kim thought he’d have to trim his dual interests, in science and art, down to just one at �ֲ��ý. Yet he found that he could pursue both. (Phyllis Graber Jensen/�ֲ��ý Colleg)

He does it with an “intuitive understanding of the concept-to-execution process,” says Caron. With deftness beyond his years, Kim “keeps the client’s needs in mind while offering his own creative interpretation of their ideas.” It helps that Kim has command of a robust set of skills, from manipulating images, layers, and type to using line, composition, and scale play. He plays with various design elements to create both complex designs — such as the poster for They Fly Through the Air With the Greatest of Ease — and, says Caron, “incredibly powerful, yet simple statements,” such as the Boxing 2000 poster. Early on, Kim says, he took rejection personally. (Really, who wouldn’t, or doesn’t?) “I had a hard time processing it, thinking, ‘Oh my god. What did I do wrong?’ I felt embarrassed.” His strategy now is to look at rejection as a difference of understanding, or perhaps just a failure to communicate. “People think differently,” he says. “There can be errors in communicating. Sometimes people just want different things. Rather than taking it personally, I see it as just differences.” Indeed, Dilley says, “Khi has figured out, very young and very well, how to invest in the work but not invest in his attachment to the work.” Today, Kim doesn’t see the need to choose art over science, or vice versa. Adds Caron, “I don’t think he’ll ever need to.” He plans to work in Korea for a few years, then perhaps return to the U.S. for graduate work in informatics, “where science and data visualization and arts all come together.” We’ll keep you posted. This story appeared in the the of �ֲ��ý Magazine.

Video: �ֲ��ý professors say what they’re excited to teach (2015)

Jay Burns — Fri, 18 Sep 2015 13:42:33 +0000

As we’ve done in recent years, we asked a few �ֲ��ý professors, as they gathered for the academic procession for Convocation on Sept. 8, to share what they’re excited to teach this fall.

Featured are Kirk Read (French and francophone studies), Jason Castro (neuroscience), Carol Dilley (dance), Ke Ren (history), Jamil Drake (religious studies), Margaret Imber (classical and medieval studies), Jim Parakilas (music), and Joe Hall (history).

�ֲ��ý announces seven faculty promotions, including four tenure decisions

Kent Fischer — Thu, 27 Aug 2015 19:24:45 +0000

In faculty promotions recently announced at �ֲ��ý College, four professors have earned tenure and three others have been named full professor.

These professional milestones recognize the significant contributions each professor has made to their field of study and to the growth and education of their students, said Matthew Auer, vice president for academic affairs and dean of the faculty.

“All seven faculty members are outstanding teachers and scholars,” Auer said. “They exemplify what it means to be fully invested members of our liberal arts community and leaders in the academy.”

The promotions, awarded to professors in the fields of philosophy, politics, mathematics, physics, dance, biology, and chemistry, were recommended by the faculty Committee on Personnel and approved by the college’s Board of Trustees during the 2014-15 academic year. They took effect Aug. 1.

Promotions to associate professor with tenure

Lauren Ashwell

Department: Philosophy

Field of study: Metaphysics, philosophy of mind, epistemology, and feminist philosophy

Came to �ֲ��ý in: 2009

Why I teach: “Philosophy classes help develop the skills of thinking carefully, considering opposing views charitably, and giving arguments supported by good reasons rather than mere opinions.

“Not only are these incredibly useful general skills, it’s also super fun to engage in these mental calisthenics together in discussion. I love it when I can help students think about a question in a new way, and also when they can do the same for me!”

Stephen Engel

Department: Politics

Field of study: American political development, constitutional law, and social movements, particularly LGBTQ sociopolitical and legal mobilization

Came to �ֲ��ý in: 2011

Why I teach: “One of the reasons I enjoy teaching at a liberal arts college, and at �ֲ��ý in particular, is the substantial openness here to challenging and breaking through disciplinary boundaries. When designing my classes in constitutional law and LGBTQ+ politics, I have been able to reach beyond traditional political science and law to incorporate history, sociology, music, film, television, and advertising.

“Doing so not only is an exciting creative challenge and keeps things interesting for me, but I hope it provides access points for students who might not initially be drawn to the study of U.S. politics, who may not be politics majors. Because, in the end, I teach to inspire a student not to be a political scientist or a lawyer per se, but instead to think a bit more critically about power, identity, and participation, and to take responsibility and accountability for our collective role in shaping the world as it is and as we hope it can be.”

Nathan Lundblad

Department: Physics and Astronomy

Field of study: Ultralow-temperature physics, Bose-Einstein condensation, and atomic physics in microgravity

Came to �ֲ��ý in: 2009

Why I teach: “Physics is the study of how our universe operates at a fundamental level. To see students work with this material, and grow and change over their four years at �ֲ��ý, is an immense privilege and pleasure. Seeing where they go after �ֲ��ý is a great pleasure as well; it’s a strong motivation for me every day to know that the interactions I have with students have the potential to affect their lives years down the line

“On top of that, �ֲ��ý makes it possible for me to be an active scholar in my field, which gives students a unique opportunity to be a part of cutting-edge physics research while getting all the advantages of the small-college experience.”

Adriana Salerno

Department: Mathematics

Field of study: Number theory and arithmetic geometry, with an interest in communicating mathematics to the general public

Came to �ֲ��ý in: 2009

Why I teach: “I believe quantitative literacy, just like verbal literacy, is fundamental to ensuring that our students go on to be successful and involved citizens when they graduate.

“I love helping students navigate math problems at all levels, from the intro courses to the upper-level math major courses and capstones, particularly if I can help them see more of the power and beauty in mathematical thinking. It is a great joy to see my students grow as people and as learners. I like to think of my classes as a community of equals, and I love how much I also learn from my students.”

Promotions to full professor

Ryan Bavis

Department: Biology

Field of study: Animal physiology, particularly respiratory physiology

Came to �ֲ��ý in: 2003

Why I teach: “As a product of a small liberal arts college myself, I know how rewarding it is for undergraduates to get into the lab and actually do science. I am so fortunate to be able to offer these opportunities to the students here at �ֲ��ý through inquiry-based labs, summer research fellowships, and senior capstone experiences.”

Carol Dilley

Department: Theater and Dance

Field of study: Dance

Came to �ֲ��ý in: 2003

Why I teach: “As an artist whose dance practice informs my experience of the world, I like to think I make a difference through my work. As an artist who teaches, I influence the next generation to consider the world with the sensibilities of an artist as well.

“Teaching in the arts is my most effective means to generate positive momentum towards growth in the immediacy of the dance studio and in the world beyond.”

Paula Schlax

Department: Chemistry

Field of study: The role of RNA structure in controlling gene expression in diverse prokaryotes

Came to �ֲ��ý in: 1998

Why I teach: “I love to help students learn how to develop a research question, design and execute experiments to answer their question, analyze and interpret their own experimental data, and, perhaps most importantly, recognize that these are useful skills for lifelong learning in most disciplines.”

Faculty to perform Headlong Dance Theater piece in Portland

�ֲ��ý News — Thu, 23 May 2013 18:46:38 +0000

The performers in Headlong Dance Theater’s “Avalanche,” from left: Carol Dilley and Michael Reidy, of �ֲ��ý College; Todd Coulter, Colby College; Rachel Boggia, �ֲ��ý; and Annie Kloppenberg, Colby. Photograph by Andrew Simonet/Headlong Dance Theater.

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Faculty from �ֲ��ý and Colby colleges perform the Maine premiere of a piece by Philadelphia’s Headlong Dance Theater at 7:30 p.m. Tuesday and Wednesday, May 28-29, at Space Gallery, 538 Congress St., Portland.

Tickets cost $10, and are available at the door and at the . For more information, please call 207-828-5600.

Titled “Avalanche,” the performance piece explores the performer’s body over a lifetime of performing, and the idea of an ordinary life. “Avalanche” was developed by Headlong lead director David Brick, co-director Amy Smith and company dramaturg Mark Lord, in collaboration with the five performers — Todd Coulter and Annie Kloppenberg of Colby, and Rachel Boggia, Carol Dilley and Michael Reidy of �ֲ��ý.

The piece has been developed with support from a CBB Mellon Faculty Enhancement grant and from the �ֲ��ý Faculty Development Fund. It will be performed in New York at Danspace June 6-8.

If you keep performing, “Avalanche” proposes, you find something new — something bigger and wilder, and more ordinary. You find your actual body.

“There’s something about being middle-aged now where I feel my body more, in all ways, including its lumpy, tender messiness,” says Brick. “Somehow it seems important to put that awareness together with the sensation of space itself — the ubiquitous substance that is not our bodies, but that presses against us wherever we are.”

Coulter and Kloppenberg are assistant professors of dance and theater at Colby. Boggia is assistant professor of dance at �ֲ��ý, Dilley is associate professor and director of the �ֲ��ý dance program, and Reidy is senior lecturer in and managing director of theater and dance.

The CBB Mellon grant made possible an extended residency at the colleges from 2011 to 2013. The faculty were interested in , which engages artists with fundamentally different training and backgrounds in a process where differences are resources for thinking, but not endpoints of style.

Research is at the center of this hybrid performance that not only combines dance, theater and storytelling, but also represents scholarship and builds on the professional experiences of the cast.

As Dilley says, “This piece is a logical continuation of 35 years of performance research.”

The stories in “Avalanche” twist to become at once hilarious and heartbreaking. Ultimately, the piece celebrates and laments the body in ways haunting, visceral and exquisitely formal.

“Bury them in an avalanche of love,” says a dancer in “Avalanche” as she recalls her younger self — “the love you have and the love you want.

“Look across the wings at your friends, say a little prayer to lose 40 pounds instantly and enter.”

Twenty years later, she tells herself, “Your fingers love texture. Everything in your being loves deep pressure, like being squished by a hat or a partner. When taking a bath you will be tempted to bring the laptop into the bathroom to watch ’30 Rock’ on Netflix.

“Don’t.”

Headlong Dance Theater

Brick and Smith founded Headlong Dance Theater with Andrew Simonet in 1993. Over the years, Headlong has created more than 40 dances, which often actively involve the audience and are known for their witty views of contemporary culture.

Recent projects include “This Town is a Mystery,” a series of potlucks hosted by ordinary Philadelphians performing in their own homes; “Explanatorium,” an audience-participation meditation on the inexplicable, performed in an abandoned Christian Science church; and “CELL,” a performance journey for one audience member at a time guided by a cell phone.

Informed by a deep commitment to collaboration, humor and formal experimentation, Headlong has won many fans and much acclaim including a Bessie Award and a Pew Fellowship.

Hailed as “fiendishly inventive” (The New Yorker) and “bright and brash” (The New York Times), Headlong’s work has been presented at the Philadelphia Live Arts Festival and the Philadelphia Museum of Art; New York’s Dance Theater Workshop, P.S. 122 and Central Park Summerstage; the Jade Festival and the Kyoto Arts Center in Japan; the Massachusetts Museum of Contemporary Art and the Portland (Ore.) Institute for Contemporary Art.

Dance concert celebrates choreography by students, faculty

�ֲ��ý News — Thu, 22 Mar 2012 18:56:23 +0000

�ֲ��ý Modern Dance Company. Photograph by Audrey Ouellette.

Choreography by the director of the �ֲ��ý College dance program and by three of the program’s first graduating dance majors is featured in the 2012 Winter Dance Concert.

Performances take place at 7:30 p.m. Friday, March 30, and 2 p.m. Sunday, April 1 (Program A); and 5 p.m. Saturday, March 31, and 7:30 p.m. Monday, April 2 (Program B).

Performances are held in Schaeffer Theatre, 305 College St. A ticket to either Program A or B is also good for admission to the other program.

Admission is $6 for the general public and $3 for students and seniors. Tickets are available at batestickets.com.

For more information, please contact 207-786-6161 or 207-786-8294.

Program A comprises senior thesis works by dance majors Victoria Lowe and Lauren Christianson; four student pieces made for an advanced composition seminar; a trio made by Sonja Favaloro, a sophomore from Princeton, N.J.; and two works by �ֲ��ý dance director Carol Dilley set to music performed live by acclaimed cellist Madeleine Shapiro.

Program B consists of choreography by 10 students in a dance composition course — students in all four class years whose majors range from physics to dance. All told, the two programs and four performances will feature more than 50 �ֲ��ý students.

“The choreographers in Carol’s composition class and my advanced composition class work on their dances for much of the semester,” says Visiting Assistant Professor of Dance Rachel Boggia. “The pieces go through many drafts and are very strong by the time they are performed.

“It’s wonderful to see the choreographers’ visions come to life with the help of their peers, as well as our design faculty and staff.”

Dance majors Lowe and Christianson have taken the challenges of the creative process to a new level in their thesis works. “My piece explores us/them dichotomies, the problems with colorblind ideology and the beauty of difference within the context of monster theory,” said Christianson, a double major in dance and rhetoric from Madison, Wis.

“This process has been much different from anything I’ve done before because I’m using improvisational scores more than set choreographed phrases. I’ve learned to let go a bit and allow collaboration with my talented dancers to make my piece much richer than if I had choreographed every single movement.”

“To sketch out an idea in one’s mind and then try to translate it to one’s body, clearly enough that a whole bunch of people with very different bodies can paint the picture you sketched out, can be daunting,” says Lowe, of New York City, a double major in dance and American cultural studies. “Sometimes ideas get lost in translation. This was where my process lay and where I found my piece.”

“Dance is the point defined by the meeting of the intellectual mind and the intellectual body,” she adds. “It embodies the culturally and socially lived experience both literally and figuratively, allowing us to challenge core ideas rooted in our society such as race, gender and sexuality.”

Carol Dilley and Rachel Boggia, both of the �ֲ��ý dance faculty, perform "Phantom Ice" during the first performance of the New York �ֲ��ý Alumni Dance Concert, on Feb. 24, 2012. Photograph copyright © 2012 by Ebbe Sweet '11.

Dilley’s works grew from her long interest in collaborating with Shapiro, an innovative cellist who teaches, performs solo recitals and works with ensembles concentrating on contemporary music.

“My efforts to get on stage with Madeline have culminated in two semester-long choreographic endeavors for this concert,” says Dilley, associate professor of dance.

She and Boggia will perform “Phantom Ice,” for which Dilley commissioned faculty composer Bill Matthews, Alice Esty Swanson Professor of Music, to write the score that Shapiro will play. “Phantom Ice” was premiered at a �ֲ��ý dance alumni concert in New York City in February. Dilley’s choreography for 13 students, called “Wetlands,” is set to a piece from Shapiro’s repertory.

�ֲ��ý established a major in dance, the first at a Maine college devoted solely to dance, in 2011. The Friday and Sunday programs include work by three of the inaugural class of four �ֲ��ý dance majors who will graduate in May. The third, in addition to Lowe and Christianson, is Yasin Fairley, of Newark, N.J. The fourth major, Kristen Gavin of Lewiston, performed her senior thesis composition last fall, as did Fairley, who offers a new work this time around.

Boston company joins �ֲ��ý dancers for informal program

�ֲ��ý News — Mon, 22 Feb 2010 16:39:27 +0000

Choreographer Jody Weber and her company Weber Dance join the �ֲ��ý College Modern Dance Company and Maine dancers Carol Dilley and Trish Harms in an informal program of current works and works in progress at 5 p.m. Saturday, Feb. 27, in the Plavin Dance Studios in Merrill Gymnasium, 141 Russell St.

Admission for the performance, titled “Home & Away III,” is free. For more information, contact this cdilley@bates.edu. Additionally, there will be an open modern dance class in Plavin Studios at noon with Jody Weber.

This is the third exchange between Jody Weber of Bridgewater State College and Dilley, director of �ֲ��ý’ dance program. The pair began in 2007 with an exchange of student companies, each sharing a class and a combined performance in the home studio of the other. The second exchange was professional works by the non-student companies of the faculty members.

Through these exchanges, Dilley and Weber have developed a supportive network of performance and feedback opportunities between colleagues. Students have the opportunity to perform in the professional working environment of their dance faculty and the faculty choreographers have the opportunity to meet new audiences and interact with peers.

Weber received a BFA from SUNY Purchase in 1988, influenced by teachers Sarah Stackhouse, Kevin Wynn and Mel Wong. In 1992, she received a master’s from American University focusing on dance history. At American University, she received a full teaching fellowship. Over the past 18 years, she has performed in New York City, Washington, D.C., and Boston.

Dilley, who is organizing the event, joined the �ֲ��ý dance program in fall 2003. She has been an international choreographer, performer and teacher for nearly 20 years. Based first in New York, then Barcelona, Seattle, Sydney and now Maine, she has worked with many companies and independent choreographers as well as her own companies, Radio Suec and Carol Dilley & Co. She has performed her work in the U.S. and Europe both as a solo artist and as director and choreographer.

Gamelan Orchestra performance includes student composition

�ֲ��ý News — Mon, 07 Dec 2009 20:36:35 +0000

An original composition by a �ֲ��ý senior from West Virginia is featured in a concert by the �ֲ��ý College Gamelan Orchestra at 8 p.m. Friday, Dec. 11, in Chase Hall Lounge, 56 Campus Ave.

“Gamelan” refers to a broad genre of traditional Indonesian music played primarily on percussion instruments. Barbara Byers, an interdisciplinary major in music and dance from Elkins, W.Va., composed and will dance a piece titled “Monkey” that’s included on the program. Byers studied various traditional performance disciplines, including gamelan, while in Indonesia last summer on a Phillips Fellowship from �ֲ��ý.

The concert is open to the public at no cost. For more information, please contact 207-786-6135 or olinarts@bates.edu.

The program comprises a variety of instrumental and vocal music, including a contemporary arrangement of a traditional lullaby. Also included is a solo masked dance that originates in Cirebon, a city on the north coast of West Java, and portrays a character from the Hindu epic “Ramayana.”

Assistant Professor of Music Gina Fatone directs the �ֲ��ý College Gamelan Orchestra. The ensemble is composed of students and faculty members Carol Dilley, associate professor of dance, and Jennifer Woodruff, visiting assistant professor of music. The concert will also feature the vocals of a �ֲ��ý alumna, Lisa McClellan ’09.

�ֲ��ý College has gamelan instruments from Central Java and West Java, Indonesia. The instrument set named Gamelan Mawar Mekar (“Blossom of Inspiration”), acquired by the College in 2001, is composed of iron and brass pieces and was made in Central Java in 1997.

A smaller bronze chamber ensemble from West Java, of a type called gamelan degung, was donated to the college in 2007. The concert will feature both sets.

In addition to its public performances, the orchestra makes a distinctive contribution to ceremonial events at �ֲ��ý and is increasingly integrated into the arts and cultural curriculum.

Modern Dance Company offers two performances

�ֲ��ý News — Wed, 30 Sep 2009 16:20:01 +0000

The �ֲ��ý College Modern Dance Company offers public performances at noon Saturday and Sunday, Oct. 3 and 4, in Schaeffer Theatre, 305 College St.

Readers, please note: The schedule of performances has been changed since the concerts were first publicized. A show Friday, Oct. 2, has been canceled and the Sunday show added.

These Parents & Family Weekend events are open to the public at no charge.

On the program: students in the course “Studio Dance: Advanced Jazz Repertory” with several new works; a modernist piece choreographed by dance program director Carol Dilley; and work in a variety of styles choreographed and performed by �ֲ��ý students.

For more information, please call 207-786-8294.

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