Shift (UW Dance Department)

Thursday, April 23, 2015, Lathrop Hall’s Margaret H’Doubler Performance Space, 8 pm

The UW-Madison dance department has turned out prolific dancers, choreographers and directors for decades, so this is a chance to catch up-and-comers while they’re still on campus. The three-night series features eight student choreographers showing off contemporary dance pieces that explore patterns of movement, time and space. ALSO: Friday (8 pm) and Saturday (2:30 pm), April 24-25.

Dance Department presents annual H'Doubler student concert “SHIFT”

This year's annual H'Doubler student concert “SHIFT” will be performed at the Margaret H’Doubler Performance Space in Lathrop Hall, April 23 and 24 at 8:00 p.m. and April 25 at 2:30 p.m. The concert will feature the contemporary dance works of eight student choreographers including Grace Deane, Joyce Gaffney, Rebecca Johnson, Taylor Kiesow, Tiffany Merritt-Brown, Conley Pitzl, Sarah Schwab and Shauna Shrewsbury. The concert is an equal mix of solo and group works that explore patterns of movement, time and space, and investigate themes of identity, heritage, resilience, maturation, and chaos among others.

The group works include Merritt-Brown's "Influx," a piece for nine dancers, which has been reworked since its premiere. "The piece [originally titled 'SPILL'] was originally created for the 2015 Line Breaks Festival," said Merritt-Brown. "It has since evolved to hone in on time, space, and connection."

Senior Taylor Kiesow will also present a work for nine dancers. "'Maelstrom' was inspired by Chaos Theory," said Kiesow. She describes the work as "an unpredictable yet non-random exploration of time and space through contemporary dance." "Maelstrom" was selected to be presented at the 2015 Annual Undergraduate Symposium, April 16.  Joyce Gaffney and Shauna Shrewsbury round out the other two group works on the program. Gaffney's trio "Lapse" explores gravity, and Shrewsbury's sextet "One. Nine. Two. Two." was made to honor the life of her grandmother who was born in 1922.

This annual concert's namesake (and the namesake of the department's theatre) is dance pioneer Margaret H'Doubler, who established the first dance degree program at UW-Madison. Senior Grace Deane, who will present her solo "Nayeh" remarked that "the H’Doubler [Performance Space] is a magical space and I cannot wait to perform there for a final time." Audiences will also see solo works from Rebecca Johnson ("Gaze"), Conley Pitzl ("No"), and Sarah Schwab ("/detach").

Purchase tickets at the Campus Arts Box Office, 1st floor Memorial Union or online at www.uniontheater.wisc.edu, $15/general admission and $10/students and seniors.  There will be a post-performance reception on Friday, April 24 with the student choreographers and performers in the Virginia Harrison Parlor, Lathrop Hall immediately following the show. Refreshments will be served.