The Hope College Department of Dance will present its biannual Student Dance Showcase on Friday-Saturday, Nov. 20-21, at the Knickerbocker Theatre, and Monday-Tuesday, Nov. 23-24, at the Dow Center.
All shows begin at 7:30 p.m.
The public is invited. Admission is free.
The showcase of student choreography, presented during the latter part of each fall and spring semester, is designed to highlight student dance artists at Hope. The concerts are student-choreographed, student-performed, and student-run.
The showcase features two distinct concert line-ups with a wide variety of styles, including hip hop, jazz, modern/contemporary, ballet, tap and traditional Mexican folk dancing. The program for each of the concert venues will be different, with the pieces matched to the setting that best suits them. Works selected for the Dow “white box” space will have the benefit of a more open, intimate and personal environment with a white floor and backdrop, while the pieces for the Knickerbocker will have the benefit of a traditional “black box” theater with additional technical capacities.
The two concerts are comprised of works produced in Professor Steven Iannacone’s Composition I and Composition II classes, as well as works produced by students of their own accord. The showcase will include performances by two active clubs on campus, Hip Hop Anonymous and Hope’s Ballet Folklorico.
Every year, student choreographers who contribute works participate in a mentoring and adjudication process. Faculty co-producers Steven Iannacone and Matthew Farmer meet with each student choreographer several times to give feedback through the student’s creative process. The final aspect of the presenting process consists of the Department of Dance inviting a professional choreographer to Hope’s campus to adjudicate the students’ works, teach several master classes, as well as hold auditions for his/her dance company.
This year’s guest adjudicator is Nic Lincoln of Minneapolis, Minnesota. Student choreographers had the opportunity to present their work and then engage in an informal dialogue with Lincoln, receiving his feedback to guide them with further development. While in residence, Lincoln taught two master classes in contemporary technique.
Lincoln spent nine years with the James Sewell Ballet, and has danced with Dayton Ballet, Cleveland San Jose Ballet and Grand Rapids Ballet, and performed as a guest artist for Corbin Dances, National Choreographer’s Initiative, and Shapiro & Smith, among others. He is a recipient of a McKnight Artist Fellowship for Dance and has been named “Best Dancer” by the City Pages as well as one of three “Artists Who We Love” by MN Monthly magazine. He was nominated for a Sage award in 2013 for his performances of Larry Keigwin’s “Glitter Garden” as well as the entire solo show titled “Yes!” Lincoln was recently named one of 25 to Watch by Dance Magazine.
The Dow Center dance studio is on the second floor of the Dow Center, located at 168 E. 13th St., on the corner of 13th Street and Columbia Avenue. The Knickerbocker Theater is located in downtown Holland at 86 E. Eighth St.