Merrins Chamber Concert will tell stories through dance
The Fredonia Dance Program presents the Merrins Chamber Concert on Nov. 2 and 3 at 7:30 p.m. and Nov. 4 at 2 and 7:30 p.m. at SUNY Fredonia.
Stories will be told through the art of dance when the Dance Program at SUNY Fredonia presents the annual Merrins Chamber Concert in November.
Director Angela McDonough DiFiore, a member of the Department of Theatre and Dance faculty, said that whether it’s through the facial expressions or the movements of the dancers themselves or the music they are performing to, it all connects to tell a story to the audience.
The Merrins Chamber Concert is slated for Thursday, Nov. 2 and Friday, Nov. 3 at 7:30 p.m., and Saturday, Nov. 4 at 2 and 7:30 p.m., in the James and Marcia Merrins Dance Theatre on the second floor (Room 258) of Rockefeller Arts Center Studio Complex.
Tickets for the Merrins Chamber Concert are available through the Fredonia Ticket Office in the Williams Center or by phone at (716) 673-3501 on Monday, Wednesday and Friday from 9 a.m. to 3 p.m., and online 24/7.
The concert will include four pieces and run about an hour with no intermission. The pieces will feature contemporary and hip-hop styles of dance.
The first piece will be hip-hop work choreographed by guest artist James Levy Jr., a dancer, teacher, and performer from Buffalo, NY. It is titled “Universal Mind Control.”
The second piece, “Cyclical,” is choreographed by McDonough DiFiore, while the third work “Crossed Lines,” is choreographed by guest artist Rose Pasquarello Beauchamp, an associate professor at the University of Rochester in the program of Dance and Movement.
Beauchamp’s choreography for this production was done as part of a residency made possible by the Carnahan Jackson Fund for the Humanities. This fund was established by David H. Carnahan and the Carnahan Jackson Foundation of Jamestown and the Fredonia College Foundation in 1993. The purpose of the fund is to support events that enrich the cultural life of the university and include some opportunity for community involvement.
Beauchamp explained “Crossed Lines” focuses on “dance as activism.” The piece itself will harness the power of spoken word, music and familiar gestures to engage audiences and ask them to consider “what is important enough to stand up for?”
The dance concert closes with “Returning,” a piece choreographed by Sam Kenney, a Theatre and Dance faculty member and the Dance Area Coordinator.
There are 28 people involved in the Merrins production. In addition to Dance majors and minors, it also includes students who just have a passion for dance. McDonough DiFiore explained this is important to the Fredonia Dance Program, because it was never open to students outside the Dance major or minor before.
“For the first time in the concert's history, it is featuring dancers from across campus in the interest of fostering a greater sense of community and inclusion,” McDonough DiFiore said.
In the same spirit, the Fredonia Dance Ensemble Concert (March 22 and 23) is open to all Fredonia students. Auditions take place at 5 p.m. Nov. 10 in the Merrins Dance Theatre in Rockefeller Arts Center. Students may contact Sam Kenney via email for more information.
The Merrins Chamber Concert is presented as part of 2023-24 Lake Shore Savings Season at Rockefeller Arts Center.
