Published:
Reposted from the New Britain Herald, April 18, 2022
By Ciara Hooks
Excitement and anticipation is brewing as Central Connecticut State University’s Dance Education Program and Dancentral gear up for its spring showcase, Huescape, on Sunday, April 24.
This is the second live dance performance for the programs since the pandemic put a hold on campus life.
“The name ‘Huescape’ was picked to indicate the landscape of humanities within our campus community,” said Pascal Rekoert, director of the CCSU Dance Education program. “The performance honors CCSU faculty and organizations that tirelessly promote equity, justice and inclusion with the goal of a just society. Examples are the Center for Africana Studies and the LGBT Center. All choreographic works are connected through their theme color, creating a panorama of dances that aims to move the hearts of its audience and bring people together.”
The show will take place at the Welte Auditorium at 3 p.m. and will also be livestreamed at ccsu.edu/dance.
The packed program will feature six world premieres choreographed by department faculty, three featured student works, two commissioned guest works, and five restaged masterpieces.
Faculty member Lillian Cook has created two pieces on students from her Hip Hop and Intermediate Jazz courses. Professor Stephen Hankey created a sensual jazz piece and re-staged a modern piece. Ingrid Howe-Green has created a contemporary piece celebrating unique individual expression juxtaposed against society’s pressure to conform. Faculty member and Dancentral Director Erica Nelson has choreographed a contemporary ballet piece exploring of full-bodied movement and a contemporary piece, made in collaboration with her dancers.
Commissioned works include Grey, choreographed by guest artist Alexandra Mitchell, and Goodbye Yellow Brick Road, choreographed by guest artist Emily Bufferd.
“Our students are taking full advantage of this opportunity to show off their wide range of talent and superb training. They get to dive into cutting edge creations by two guest choreographers who are leaders in Contemporary Dance, immerse themselves in classical modern and jazz works, show off their hard-hitting hip-hop skills, tap into subtle acting skills in amusing contemporary works, and exercise all of their hard-earned technical prowess in a ballet work,” Rekoert said. “It is a program that is designed to deliver challenges and joys to both the dancers and the audience.”
Rekoert said they started practicing for the show at the end of January.
“Many of the dancers meet for a long rehearsal day on Sunday, often starting as early as 7:30 a.m. and working through to 10 p.m. Additionally, many have additional rehearsals during the week for smaller group dances,” he said. “The dance faculty has spent hours rehearsing, music-editing and hunting for the perfect costume. I am honored to be working with such talented and passionate people.”
Not only is Rekoert the director but he also has four pieces in the program including his piece, Greener Grasses, a re-staged duet that showcases the journey and development of a deeply loving relationship. And the show will close with his piece, Abschied, a playful and humorous investigation into the representation of the female form with the fine arts.
“It was fun putting the show together and creating these pieces,” Rekoert said. “In the past, I have created dances as a choreographer for dance professionals across the globe and have produced international dance festivals. Doing both as part of my work at CCSU was the perfect amalgam of the joy I find in dance making and producing. It was a lot of work, but when you do what you love, work is not as laborsome as it may seem.”
Admission is free for the Huescape showcase, but donations are accepted to support dance program scholars.
“This performance ultimately was made to celebrate you, our audience. We hope to see you in person at Welte Auditorium or virtually,” Rekoert said.