More than 50 Princeton students will perform works by guest and faculty choreographers in the annual Spring Dance Festival Friday through Sunday, Feb. 18-20, at the Berlind Theatre. Here, sophomores Mary Balzer and Grayden Holubar rehearse "Vault," a ballet on pointe by guest choreographer Graham Lustig.
Photo by Valerie Ford
Sophomores A.J. Brannum (front) and Courtney Crumpler rehearse with other students a portion of choreographer Zvi Gotheiner’s "Easy for You to Say."
Photo by Denise Applewhite
In the culmination of months of rehearsal -- highlighted by a unique opportunity to engage with an internationally celebrated choreographer -- more than 50 Princeton students from a range of academic departments will perform this month in the 2011 Spring Dance Festival presented by the University's Lewis Center for the Arts.
This year’s dance festival, which will be held Friday through Sunday, Feb. 18-20, marks the first time Princeton students will perform the work of acclaimed director and choreographer Bill T. Jones, a 2010 Kennedy Center Honors recipient. Jones on Jan. 18 directed Princeton students in a rehearsal of his dance work "Continuous Replay," which is one of the pieces to be performed in the festival.
Guest choreographer Bill T. Jones directs seniors Kadeem Gill and Sarah Fingerhood in a rehearsal of "Continuous Replay," a seminal postmodern work by Arnie Zane, which was restaged in 1982 with additional materials by Jones. (Photo by Bentley Drezner)
The students also will perform in new student work and four world premieres by guest choreographers Graham Lustig, Deganit Shemy and Jill Johnson, and by Princeton's Rebecca Lazier, senior lecturer in dance in the Lewis Center. Lazier will premiere her recent collaboration with students that features a set design by Princeton 2007 graduate Jeremy Olson. In addition, live music will be performed by Princeton students under the direction of Michael Pratt, conductor of the Princeton University Orchestra.
Princeton's Senior Lecturer in Dance Rebecca Lazier will premiere "Water That Burns," her recent collaboration with students, featuring a set design by 2007 graduate Jeremy Olson. On a recent afternoon, sophomore Katy Dammers (center front) and freshman Sarah Rose rehearsed the piece with freshman Sebastian Gold (left) in rehearsal space for the dance program at 185 Nassau St. (Photo by Denise Applewhite)
"The Spring Dance Festival showcases our students' accomplishments of the past semester and presents student choreography alongside dances created by our celebrated faculty and the work of some of the most recognized and current choreographers working today," said Susan Marshall, director of the Program in Dance at Princeton. "This opportunity, to perform on the beautiful Berlind stage after months of intense rehearsals, is one of the most highly anticipated and transformative experiences of the year for our students."
Junior Robert Hansen and senior Patty Chen share a moment in choreographer Zvi Gotheiner’s "Easy for You to Say." (Photo by Denise Applewhite)
Dance festival performances will be held at 8 p.m. Feb. 18, at 2 p.m. and 8 p.m. Feb. 19, and at 1 p.m. Feb. 20 at the Roger S. Berlind Theatre at McCarter Theatre. Tickets are $10 for students and seniors and $15 for general admission. For advance tickets call University Ticketing at (609) 258-9220 or the Berlind Box Office at (609) 258-2787. More information about the choreographers and performances in the 2011 Spring Dance Festival is available on the Lewis Center's website.
Fine tuning Lazier’s "Water That Burns" are, (from left to right) junior Stephanie Siller, Gold, freshman Caitlin Lansing, Dammers and freshman Sarah Rose. (Photo by Denise Applewhite)
Students express themselves through movement in rehearsal for "Easy for You to Say." (Photo by Denise Applewhite)
