W&L DANCERS CREATE...

W&L DANCERS CREATE...
Jenefer Davies, Artistic Director

Thursday, November 30 and Friday, December 1, 2023 at 7:30 p.m. and Saturday, December 2, 2023 at 2 p.m.

Keller Theatre/Lenfest Hall/Lenfest Center

Tickets are required.
Adult $18
Senior $16
W&L Faculty & Staff $14
W&L Student/Student $8
Taxes and processing fees included in ticket pricing.

On creating this performance Artistic Director Davies, said, "Bringing together professional guest artists, faculty and students creates a beautiful synergy. A palpable force of teaching and learning is created as people unite in a shared collaborative experience. Together they take risks, learn, and grow through in the artistic process."

Dancers Create..., under the Artistic Direction of Professor Jenefer Davies, will be comprised of work choreographed by guest artists and students that include a broad range of thematic concepts. The eclectic nature of the performance offers a spectrum of ideas, designs and movement styles.

During the semester, two guest artists visited the campus, taught master classes and taught new choreographic works to the students. These intensive, experiential opportunities gave the students a rare opportunity to work with professional artists in the field of dance.

Choreographed by dancer/performer/educator, Vivian Kim, Sit. Stay. Down. was created in response to personal experiences and her research of philosophies and the lexicon of ancient Chinese philosopher Confucius's Analects (or prescriptions) for Women. These age-old philosophies have been a staple for East Asian/Asian-American women's lifestyle, behavior and self-worth. Born into a traditional South Korean family that subconsciously values the Confucius Analects for Women, while being raised in the United States, this piece explores Kim's personal experience of juxtaposing lifestyles and life-expectations of East Asian/Asian-American women.

Our Thin Veils is choreographed by Irish and Native American choreographer and artistic director Shaleigh Comerford-ShaLeigh Dance Work. This work explores the desire of breaking hive mentality while navigating the desire to retreat into belonging. Each person is seen as completely unique, bumping up against the cultural, societal and familial conditioning that limits us and simultaneously grows us while we navigate it. Through the work, the dancers are carving their way towards their own vulnerability and gaining the courage to share their humanness.

Seniors, Lily Petsinger and Angela Tu created Duality, which juxtaposes the light and dark, the humility and pride, the feebleness and grit of women and highlights the power in combining femininity and ferocity. Sustained, by Charlotte Peete, is a contemporary ballet work inspired by variations within the classic ballet, Sleeping Beauty and set to the same music.

Aerial dance is presented through, Cherished, a work for lyra by Misha Lin, who intertwines the desire for intimacy and tenderness with moments of empathy and vulnerability and articulates the balance through grounded and aerial movement. Olive Trees, a bungee duet created by Irina Koleva explores healing parts of ourselves that have been damaged.

The concert is rounded out by newcomer, Elise McPherson, who created Geometry Lesson, a contemporary piece that explores the boxes women are placed within and the struggle to escape.

DANCE AUDITIONS

First Year: Wednesday, September 6th, 2023 3-4:30pm
Upperclass: Tuesday, September 12, 2023 5-6:30 pm

Jefferson Dance Studio
S. Jefferson Street, Lexington, VA.