Myers' choreography is final in "Brown Bag" series

Helen Myers, dance professor

Fredonia, N.Y. (April 30, 2008) — Helen Myers, an associate professor within SUNY Fredonia’s department of theatre and dance, will conclude the College of Arts and Humanities’ 2007-08 “Brown Bag Lecture Series” with a talk titled, “Choreography and the Specific Image: Apollo vs. Dionysus.”

This free lecture, open to all campus and community members, will be held at noon on Wed., May 7, in Room S104 of the Williams Center on the SUNY Fredonia campus.

Professor Myers’ talk examines the gulf between dance as abstraction or form vs. dance as emotional or dramatic expression. The Greek gods Apollo and Dionysus, Myers’ suggests, personify this split. Her lecture will explore how dancers and choreographers throughout time have emphasized the benefits of one form over the other.

Her talk will highlight some famous examples of dancers and choreographers throughout western dance history whose styles were in sharp contrast and even rivalry with each other. She will also show specific examples of her own choreography which highlight these contrasting philosophies.

Professor Myers has been a member of the SUNY Fredonia faculty since 2005. Her choreographic credits include the DancenowNYC Festival at the Joyce Soho in New York City, the Modern American Dance Company of St. Louis, the International Fringe Festival of Independent Dance Artists of Toronto, The Universidad Autonoma of Ciudad Juarez, Mexico, and the Chashama OASIS Festival in New York City.

She still regularly choreographs and performs throughout the U.S. and internationally. In addition to SUNY Fredonia, she has also been an instructor at SUNY Geneseo, Ohio State University, Kent State University, and New Mexico State University.

The Brown Bag Lecture series, sponsored by the College of Arts and Humanities, is a series of informal talks which feature new creative and scholarly work by members of the SUNY Fredonia faculty. Each 30-minute talk and/or presentation, taking place on the first Wednesday of each month, is followed by a brief discussion. Refreshments will be served.

For more information on the lecture series, please contact the department of English’s Dr. David Kinkela, at David.Kinkela@fredonia.edu, or Dr. Natalie Gerber at Natalie.Gerber@fredonia.edu (series directors), or call: 716-673-3876.