Ohio Wesleyan University’s Orchesis Dance Company will present three performances of “Orchesis 23/24,” a contemporary dance concert that explores the theme of individuality.
The show will debut at 8 p.m. Nov. 10 with additional performances at 2 p.m. Nov. 11 and Nov. 12 on the Main Stage of OWU’s Chappelear Drama Center, 45 Rowland Ave., Delaware. Admission is free, but reservations are requested and may be made here.
“Orchesis 23/24” will feature choreography by Schroeder; guest artist Sarah Ramey, director of Perennial Movement Group of Columbus, Ohio; and six student-choreographers.
Ramey’s piece examines how we see others and how we are seen. In the process, the dancers explored questions such as “What do I risk if I let myself be fully seen by another?” “Can I see another person fully?” The piece features an original score and song created by Columbus musician Steven Ramey in collaboration with the dancers.
Orchesis 23/24 also will feature these choreographers and works:
· Senior Alyssa Head, a horror movie enthusiast from Houston, Texas, draws inspiration from “The Masque of the Red Death” by Edgar Allen Poe and evokes movement aesthetics from horror films to examine the dualities between life and death and the inevitable end.
· Senior Isabelle Tinti-Kane of Marblehead, Massachusetts, presents “The Rise and Fall,” a piece in four movements that explores trust, betrayal, and divinity through ballet technique and pedestrian movement.
· Senior Chloe Williams of Wilmington, Ohio, presents a solo contemporary piece that showcases her growth as a dancer, framed in the context of changing seasons.
· Junior Brielle Decarolis of Albrightsville, Pennsylvania, combines movements from improvisation and media with tools like a number generator and the flip of a coin to explore randomized choreographic processes.
· Junior Grace Frye of Newark, Ohio, encourages performers to explore their natural states of joyfulness, with a tinge of oddity, using the vocabulary of concert tap dance.
· Sophomore Kaylen Brandt of Chicago, Illinois, explores the dynamics of toxic friendships through choreography that demonstrates betrayal and the crumbling of hierarchy among friends.
· Orchesis director Schroeder, Ph.D., a part-time OWU dance instructor and percussive dance artist, offers “Patterns of Delight,” a movement study exploring joy, community, and composition.
Learn more about Orchesis and Ohio Wesleyan’s upcoming Performing Arts events at www.owu.edu/performingarts. For questions, call the box office at (740) 368-3855.