The Duke University Dance Program will honor departing Trinity College Dean Laurie Patton during its spring dance concert, ChoreoLab 2015, at 8 p.m. March 27-28 in Reynolds Industries Theater.
Tickets may be purchased at the door or from the Duke Box Office (tickets.duke.edu or 919-684-4444).
This year’s ChoreoLab will honor Patton, who is stepping down as the dean to accept the position of president at Middlebury College.
Patton, an eminent Sanskrit scholar, came to Duke in 2011 and has promoted the proposed MFA degree in Live Arts and Embodied Performance for the Dance Program. “The Dance Program is pleased to pay tribute to her contributions at Duke,” said Director Purnima Shah.
The opening piece of the concert, Oh, Shakti!, is a performance of verses three and nine from the 8th century Sanskrit text, Ananda-Lahari. It is conceptualized by Shah and sung and danced by Bharatanatyam dance artist and classical vocalist Ramya Sundaresan Kapadia.
ChoreoLab 2015 will also feature the return of alumna Audrey Fenske (T '09) the first dance major to graduate from Duke. She will perform, with her partner Devin Sweet, the "Duet from Image d'un Reve” choreographed by Keith Lee, former ballet master for Alvin Ailey and former American Ballet Theatre soloist.
Julie Janus Walters, assistant professor of the practice of dance, has choreographed a modern ballet, “Signed Release,” a work she said is inspired by how people grant the use of personal information in the current era.
Associate Professor Andrea E. Woods Valdés and her repertory of modern dancers have created a new work titled “The Humanity Museum” inspired by poems and quotes of Maya Angelou.
Completing the program will be an African dance piece from Associate Professor Ava LaVonne Vinesett, a dance theater work by Thomas F. DeFrantz, professor of African and African American studies and dance, and dance performances by student choreographers Rebecca Holmes, Jennifer Margono, Alexandra Sansosti and A.J. Laudenslager.
Prices for tickets are $17 general, $12 seniors, and $7 for students. To purchase tickets, click here.