News & Announcements

CSU Department of Theatre and Dance Presents Spring Dance Concert 2015

Performances are March 26-28 in Outcalt Theatre at Playhouse Square

Cleveland State University’s Department of Theatre and Dance presents the CSU Spring Dance Concert 2015, set for March 26-28 at Playhouse Square’s Outcalt Theatre.

The repertory concert, in celebration of CSU’s 50th anniversary, will feature CSU Dance Company, alumni, faculty and guests, with choreography by Antonio Brown, Dianne McIntyre, Helanius Wilkins and Tammy Metz Starr, along with CSU dance faculty Lynn Deering, Lisa DeCato and Chris DiCello. New and restaged works will acknowledge dance as a common thread that interweaves several generations of artists into the fabric of CSU’s cultural life.

Here are the program highlights:

  • Brown, a member of the Bill T. Jones/Arnie Zane Company, created Knock Knock in 2013, inspired by the fierce words and rhythms of poet Daniel Beaty. Performed by CSU Dance Company member Shawn Lawrence, this solo issues a test of endurance, stamina, wisdom and the willpower to keep going, intertwined through dynamic movement, words, and music.
  • McIntyre, a special concert guest artist whose lifetime accomplishments have been recognized by CSU with an honorary doctorate of humane letters, choreographed her new solo Echoes in Shimmering Dust to the music of legendary folksinger Odetta.
  • Inspired by and performed to a music composition by Ravi Shankar and Philip Glass, Unraveling #2 by Colorado-based choreographer Wilkins is a large ensemble work that dynamically forms and reforms space. Originally choreographed in 2013, this work was restaged for CSU Dance Company members by DeCato.
  • Puk Ch’um, or “drum dances,” are said to have derived from Buddhist drum rituals, and today are presented as icons of Korean culture. Metz Starr directed the restaging of this traditional work performed by CSU dance faculty and alumnae.
  • The Land of 1000 Dances weaves movement, historical record, oral histories and chart-topping tunes from 1964 into the celebration of the University’s 50th anniversary. Collaboratively created by dance faculty members Deering, DeCato and DiCello and performed by the CSU Dance Company, this dance embraces themes of students in transit, transitioning, transforming and taking part in the tradition of matriculating -- along with trying to find a place to park.

Shows begin at 7:30 p.m. Tickets, $5, can be purchased at the State Theatre Ticket Office at 1519 Euclid Ave., Cleveland, by calling 216.241.6000 or at playhousesquare.org.