BARNARD DANCES AT MILLER to Feature Four Premieres, 4/27-28

Barnard College will present "Barnard Dances at Miller," April 27 and 28. Selected by Barnard Dance Department Chair Mary Cochran, the 2012 line-up includes premieres by Larry Keigwin, Ana Isabel Keilson, Emery LeCrone and Karla Wolfangle.  The performers featured from the Barnard Dance Department.*

Former Paul Taylor principal Karla Wolfangle created "Static in the Attic" with tongue firmly in cheek. In what the choreographer describes as  "neo-noir, "  "Static in the Attic," a witty homage to the borderline melodrama of film noir, explores the haunting aspects of memory.  It is danced to Leroy Jenkins' jazz score, "Static in the Attic," a collage of movie bites and music.   

Songs by Patsy Cline, Roy Orbison, Tammy Wynette, Dusty Springfield, and Ray Charles are among the inspirations for Emery LeCrone's premiere (title to come), a celebration of the women's movement of the sixties. In the dance, the 24 year old choreographer also looks at how women have expressed their female identity in the past and present.

Rainer's of all genders and generations-the choreographer, the filmmaker, and the poet- are folded into Ana Isabel Keilson's "Rainer," set to an original score by Sky White Tiger bandleader Louis Schwadron.  Keilson appropriates material from Yvonne Rainer's 1960's movement scores, the work of the poet Rainer Maria Rilke, and the filmmaker Rainer Werner Fassbinder to create this highly structured, deeply romantic, and musical work.

Celebratory in spirit, Larry Keigwin's "Ritual" expresses the power of ritual to create social bonds as well as the pleasure inherent in the performance of a ritual. Collaboratively created with the students, the choreography uses repetition and? patterns based on the dance vocabulary that evolved through the creative process.  The music is by Ravi Shankar and Philip Glass.

Barnard College has long been a force in the dance world, the four-year home to fire brand graduates such as Twyla Tharp, Sara Rudner, as well as much younger dancers including Jamie Scott and Emma Desjardins, both of whom were recent members of the Merce Cunningham Dance Company; Michael Novak, who currently dances with the Paul Taylor Dance Company; Rebecca Warner, who performs with Sarah Michelson; Anna Schon of Reggie Wilson's Fist and Heel; Renuka Hines, who performs with David Dorfman Dance; plus June Omura and Marjorie Folkman, both former members of The Mark Morris Dance Group.  And that's only the tip of the iceberg.   

The evening curtains for the April 27 and 28 performances of "Barnard Dances at Miller" are at 7pm.  There is a 2pm matinee performance on April 28. Tickets, which are $20 apiece and $12 with a Columbia University ID, can be purchased by calling 212-854-7799. The Miller Theater is located at 2960 Broadway (at 116th Street).

*While the dancers are comprised of Columbia University and Barnard College students, their dance training is under the auspices of the Barnard College Dance Department.