When it comes to the performing arts, Eastern Michigan University has a wide variety of talented individuals.
There are constantly theater shows, music recitals and art galleries for people to go and visit their peers and see what wonders they bring.
Tomorrow is the opening of the 58th Annual Faculty and Guest Artist Concert presented by EMU’s dance program. This year’s performance is entitled “Contraposition.”
Dance is a versatile way of expressing what is going on in an individual’s life and showing how to overcome it.
This year’s show will continue this thought as students, faculty and guests try to convey multiple messages.
“These pieces will deal with everything from the effects of stress to the body/mind connectivity of compassion and how the process actually manifests itself through nerve conduction,” said dance and theater choreographer professor Phil Simmons.
“Our dancers love this concert and audiences love it because there are so many different styles,” he said. “And if you’re an audience member there is a huge range of variety so there is a bit of something for everyone.”
This performance will include a wide range of dance styles, such as contemporary, modern, jazz and traditional.
“You definitely have to be on your toes — well, you know what I mean — on your game, in other words,” said senior dance major Ida Lowback. “This is a welcome challenge, and there’s something for everyone in our 2010 concert.”
This year, there will be five guest artists who will be contributing to the show with different aspects of dance. Guest choreographer Matt Farmer will be bringing a contemporary modern style with “In the Garden of Ghosts.” Farmer’s piece was influenced by an anonymous poem transcribed on a headstone. The piece is set in a graveyard and will be performed by “ghosts.”
“My piece is meant to touch at the very heart of what intimidates us and what fears we have underneath,” Farmer said.
“My condo is also across the street from a graveyard, and I have many times ventured in it (both in daylight and at night) to marvel at the beauty of the statues, the intrigue of the quotes on headstones and the fear one gets when wandering such a place at night.”
Others guest include Shawna Steele, Christopher Huggins, Amy Cova and Holly Hobbs.
“My work ‘Survival of the Kindest’ explores compassion, inspired by Dacher Keltner’s book ‘Born to Be Good,’” said Hobbs. “The work focuses on the human capacity for caretaking and elaborates on Keltner’s assertion that we are hard wired for good.”
“I am thrilled to have the opportunity to present work among so many talented choreographers. The students have done an excellent job adapting to the diverse styles featured in the concert, they are rising to the challenge.”
During the performance The Dance Forum, a non-profit student organization, will be there to raise funds to send EMU’s dance students to the American College Dance Festival.
The performances will be held at 8 p.m. tomorrow and Saturday, and at 2 p.m. Sunday at Quirk Theatre. Admission is $10 for adults and $8 for students.
