New World School of the Arts College BFA Dance Concert

Feb 11 and 12, 2011.

altAs one of the most anticipated performances of the college year, the College BFA Dance Concert marks the most comprehensive and final project delivered by NWSA’s dance aspiring graduates. Daniel Lewis, Dean of the Dance division and instructor of this intense course announced last week, that the BFA concert-showcase which this year will feature a total of twenty-two students, will be presented at 7:30 p.m. on Friday and Saturday, February 11 and 12 at New World Dance Theater in downtown, Miami.

“This is a very strong class influenced by today’s societal turmoil. Accordingly, these students have set out to explore and share with the audience their deepest emotions, through their movements and choreographies. After four years at NWSA, they have developed a very meaningful bond for each other and their peer admiration and support is evident throughout the program,” stated Lewis. “They are ready to embark in a professional dance career and we’re confident many of them will soon be recruited by some of the top dance companies in the nation to joint their fellow alums. Today, our alums make up a notable percentage of the dancers in world-renowned dance companies such as the Martha Graham Dance Company, Alvin Ailey, Parsons and Wayne McGregor Random Dance.”

This year’s concert consists of sixteen pieces choreographed and performed by the 2011 graduating class. The show was influenced by and produced on a theme of transformation. Works range from pedestrian creations exploring how individuals warp their sense of being to fit in, to human beings transformed into bouncing balls. Living, learning, and growing are all about change whether it is a dramatic physical change, a change in perception, or simply quitting a habit where the results can be just as varied. “Sometimes change brings us together in celebration, and sometimes it can tear relationships apart, we can work together to affect it, or we can ignore that it is needed” stated dance BFA candidate Matthew Bailey. “Change and transformation is a fact of life, whether we like it or not and once you enter the space and world of the 2011 BFA Concert you too will agree that it is inevitable.”

Quilvio Rodriguez, one of the choreographers participating in the concert explains, “It is important to find oneself as an individual, a human being, and as part of the collective. When all parts of the collective unite into one being, the earth shifts. It is about merging and emerging.”

This year’s show is unique in the sense that not all 22 BFA candidates chose to choreograph. Courtney Horton will be featuring a labyrinth and video installation as part of the pre-show audience interaction. “Each year the BFA candidates embark on an incredible journey to create this concert, and I felt that by using the metaphor of the labyrinth I could depict that journey and the way we sometimes get lost trying to make choices along the way. Sometimes taking shortcuts keeps us from learning from the journey we have taken.”

New World School of the Arts
25 NE 2nd Street
Miami, FL 33132
305.237.3582
www.mdc.edu/nwsa

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