The Department of Dance at Hope College will present Dance 44/ “A Gallery of Artists” on Friday and Saturday, March 2 and 3, and Thursday-Saturday, March 8-10, at 7:30 p.m. at the Knickerbocker Theatre in downtown Holland.
Dance 44 will feature choreography by guest artists William Crowley, Cory Goei and Sharon Wong, and faculty members Nicole Flinn, Crystal Frazier, Matthew Farmer and Julie Powell. A total of 56 students will perform in works ranging in style from contemporary and contemporary ballet to jazz to hip hop, with an additional 20-plus students working on technical and costume crews. Lighting and set designs have been created by Erik Alberg and costumes by Darlene K. Veenstra.
This year’s concert theme, “A Gallery of Artists,” represents a specific charge to the faculty and guest choreographers: research a visual artist, select a work or series of works and from them create a new dance piece. While some choreographers have chosen to bring an artist’s work/works to life through direct interpretation and visual representation, others have decided to use their artist’s work/works as inspiration, resulting in a more abstract movement response. Dance works on the program are inspired by artists Rene Magritte, Antonio Canova, Fernando Garrido, Roy Lichtenstein, M.H. Pachnowski and Baroness Elsa Von Freytag-Loringhoven.
Tickets for Dance 44/ “A Gallery of Artists” are $10 for regular admission; $7 for senior citizens; $5 for Hope faculty and staff and non-Hope students; and free for children 12 and under and Hope students. Tickets are available at the Events and Conferences Office located downtown in the Anderson-Werkman Financial Center (100 E. Eighth St.). The office is open weekdays from 9 a.m. to 5 p.m. and can be called at 616-395-7890. Patrons may purchase tickets in person, online at hope.edu/tickets, or by calling the ticket office.
The performance on Saturday, March 3, will be preceded by the annual “Friends of Dance” pre-concert event from 6 p.m. to 7 p.m. at the Holland Area Arts Council. Matthew Farmer, chair of the Department of Dance, calls the event “a chance to meet old friends, reconnect with faculty and alumni, hear about current dance happenings, and simply celebrate the spirit, joy, and community that is the Hope College Dance Department.” This year’s festivities will include celebration of dance faculty member Steven Iannacone’s upcoming retirement and his many years of teaching, creating and inspiring.
The annual “Friends of Dance” event began in 2016 with the unveiling of the “International Dance Fund” to ensure equal opportunity for all Hope dance students performing internationally. Since that time, this fund has sponsored students’ travel to Scotland, Paris and Mexico. Monies received this year will sponsor seven Hope dancers traveling to Adelaide, Australia, this July for the Dance and the Child International conference.
Admission is free to the “Friends in Dance” event, although those planning to attend are asked to please RSVP by Saturday, Feb. 24, to Stephanie Brumels at 616-395-7700 or brumelss@hope.edu.
The Holland Area Arts Council is located at 150 E. Eighth St., between College and Columbia Avenues. The Knickerbocker Theatre is located at 86 E. Eighth St., between College and Columbia avenues.