Winter Dance Collection set for next week at River Campus

The Dobbins Conservatory of Theatre and Dance will present Winter Dance Collection next week at the Southeast Missouri State University River Campus.

There will be four performances — 7:30 p.m. Thursday, Feb. 16, through Saturday, Feb. 18, and 2 p.m. Sunday, Feb. 19.

Hilary Peterson, conservatory associate professor and coordinator of dance, is the artistic director of the production and also choreographed one of the pieces. She said the show will include an eclectic combination of dance styles, such as jazz, contemporary and classical ballet.

"There's a lovely variety of dance work that is being presented," Peterson said. "It's nice mix of student dancers working with faculty and professional guest choreographers as well as student choreographers who are emerging and learning."

Peterson highlighted a student piece choreographed by SEMO junior Olivia Barnard and performed to the song "Big Shot" by Billy Joel. Peterson said the piece opens the show.

"It's a fun kind of jazzy piece that uses music audiences will recognize," she said.

Peterson said faculty instructor Alyssa Alger choreographed two short pieces, one a duet between two men.

"That's not something that our audiences see very often," Peterson said. "We have two really strong male dancers, and it has a lot of neat partnering to it that has kind of a contemporary ballet vibe."

Peterson said she choreographed a contemporary quintet, "Begin with the End in Mind", in two sections. She said it starts with a "thought on the ending of the piece, and then you see the dance grow and change, and then it reverts back to the ending of what we saw from the beginning."

Peterson said professional guest artists were brought in — Mike Esperanza of BARE Dance Company in New York City, who choreographed the piece "Undertow"; and Arianna Russ of Modern American Dance Co. (MADCO) in St. Louis, who created a piece called "When Lightning Strikes".

Peterson said Russ used a trio of female dancers who are seniors graduating in May. She said the piece uses spoken word excerpts from an Alan Watts lecture, "Myth of Myself". She said "When Lightning Strikes" was previously performed in a fall concert, but it will be a different experience for audiences since they will be using different dancers.

"The piece changes because they have different bodies and connection points to one another," Peterson said. "It's just a really nice showcase of those dancers."

For more information about tickets and performance times, call the River Campus box office at (573) 651-2265 or visit www.rivercampus.org.