New Jersey Stage

Friday, April 15, 2011

ROWAN CHOREOGRAPHERS EXPLORE BALANCE IN EQUILIBRIUM

(Glassboro, NJ)  -– In Equilibrium, 11 student choreographers from Rowan University take a journey to create original work and together convey a desire for balance in a complex and evolving world. Equilibrium runs April 28 – 30 at 8 pm and May 1 at 3 pm in Tohill Theatre on the university's Glassboro campus.

The dances explore a range of subjects, from the tasks of everyday life to cultural, social and psychological diversity. Each choreographer uses movement to portray a story of self-searching, internal battle and final resolution.

The works have been created by Heather Arroyo (Perth Amboy, NJ), Maya Carr (Camden, NJ), Kaitlin Flinn (Hasbrouck Heights, NJ), Megan MacDonald (Iselin, NJ), Courtney Mackey (Riverdale, NJ), Rahlynn McMillan (Sicklerville, NJ), Denzel Maradza (Harare, Zimbabwe), Karyn Pereny (Pompton Lakes, NJ), Nicolette Walker (Pittsgrove, NJ), Katie Watkins (Deerfield Township, NJ) and Jimmy Cue (Avenel, NJ).

As Mackey and Pereny point out, “The Spring Dance Concert is an opportunity for Rowan dancers to show what they have learned and express themselves as artists on the Tohill stage. With one common thread tying our pieces together, we strive to achieve equilibrium.”

Arroyo's work is a journey through the world of mental disorders and the weight of judgment, insecurities and curiosity on your back.  Carr notes that her "Colors of the Rainbow" is a work that includes a balance of emotions and lifestyles through dance styles such as modern, African, house, ballet and hip hop, with the goal of highlighting the differences and the unity of the human experience. With "Working Title," Cue tells the story of a struggle between one of life's most basic forces. Flinn's piece is about control and the idea of an inescapable mind. MacDonald explores the internal struggle to balance business versus pleasure. In her work, Mackey suggests that material temptations can veer us off the spiritual path and make us appear different from one another when, in the end, we are the same but sometimes wind up taking a different route to realize it. McMillan strives to give the audience a chance to explore a variety of music which compliments several movements and aims to entertain the audience while having fun and enjoying art. Maradza calls his work a daring commitment to conflict and recognition of the elements of war. A family realizes that something in their lives is broken in Pereny's segment of the evening. Walker offers a fantasy of what we want but don't always get. Watkins has created an abstract piece dealing with the effects of mirror neurons.

Tohill Theatre is located in Bunce Hall on the Rowan University campus, Route 322 in Glassboro, NJ. Tickets are available at the door before each performance. Tickets are $10, general admission; $5 for seniors, non-Rowan students and Rowan staff & alumni. Rowan students are admitted free with valid ID. For advance tickets, call 856-256-4545 or visit www.rowan.edu/theatredance.

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