Dance Performances

Photo by Matthew Gregory Hollis, featuring Striding Lion Performance Group artists Michaela Federspiel and Monica Thomas.

The Jenkins Farm Project
Presented by the Northwestern University Dance Program and Striding Lion Performance Group (www.stridinglion.org )
8 p.m. Fri., May 4 and Sat., May 5
Ballroom Theatre in the Marjorie Ward Marshall Dance Center at Northwestern University
10 Arts Circle Drive, Evanston
Tickets are $12 for students and $15 general admission and available at www.brownpapertickets.com/event/230303 and at the door. Doors will open 30 minutes prior to the show.

The Jenkins Farm Project, conceived and choreographed by Annie Beserra (granddaughter of Annie Lee Jenkins, whose family is explored in this project), transforms the real stories of a North Carolina farming family into a multi-media dance theater performance that questions the meaning of home, family, memory, and mental illness against the crumbling backdrop of a depression era homestead. Developed in collaboration with two composers, a scenic and projection artist, and a cast of six dancer/actors, the movement, text, video, and score capture the longing and conflict that are irrevocably bound to the history of the Jenkins home and the secrets that are buried there.

"Graduating senior Dance Majors and "The Golden Year" choreographers: Christy Stallknecht, Britt Banaszynski, Danielle Kipnis, Alyson Quigley and Margaret Morrissey" Photo credit: Jeffery Hancock

Senior Dance Concert: The Golden Year
8 p.m. Thurs., May 17 - Sat., May 19, 2012
Ballroom Theatre in the Marjorie Ward Marshall Dance Center at Northwestern University
10 Arts Circle Drive, Evanston
Tickets are $5 for students and $10 for general admission and available through the Theatre and Interpretation Center Box Office by calling 847-491-7282

The five graduating senior Dance Majors will culminate their time and learning within the dance program at Northwestern University with the Senior Dance Concert – a final performance of original work. The Golden Year celebrates themes of self, transition and coming of age. Join the seniors as they look back on their Northwestern career as well as speculate on the possibilities in their future. The seniors will dance together in an original work choreographed by Stephanie Martinez.

Dance Minor Concert
Friday, June 1
Ballroom Theatre

Dance Exhibit

Step by Step
The History of Dance at Northwestern
March 26 – May 11, 2012

As early as 1866, the Northwestern Female College offered calisthenics to its students “for a small extra charge." As the University grew, dance and movement evolved with it, and in 1979, Professor Susan Lee created a Program in Dance in the Department of Theatre that would honor dance as a distinct discipline and support the artistic nature of the field, while encouraging emerging scholarly activity. Step by Step illuminates the way dance came of age, with a fascinating selection of archival materials as well as unique figurines from Lee’s private collection. www.library.northwestern.edu