By AUSTIN KOELLER
UNK Communications
KEARNEY – Dance students and Dance Director Dayna De Filippis will showcase their skills when the UNK Dance Program presents an evening of concert dance titled “It’s Essential: Tradition Re-Envisioned.”
The program includes performances at 7:30 p.m. Friday and Saturday (March 7-8) in the Miriam Drake Theatre.
Tickets are $10 for the public, $5 age 18 years and younger, and free for UNK students. Tickets may be purchased at the box office in the Fine Arts Building.
“The annual spring dance concert is a bit of a UNK tradition, especially with the Department of Music and Performing Arts,” De Filippis said.
De Filippis said UNK’s dance program is a minor program that has been in existence for over 20 years. The spring dance concert has been put on since the program’s start.
The concert includes 10 original works spanning the genres of ballet, modern, contemporary, jazz and theatrical dance. The concert features four new pieces choreographed by De Filippis including:
- “Where the Wildflowers Are” – a lighthearted contemporary ballet showcasing the playful side of life;
- “In the Wake of Opportunity” – a modern dance work exploring the ramifications of making the wrong decision;
- “What May Come” – an introspective modern dance investigating the journey from one stage in life to the next; and
- “Sassy. Raspy. Jazz” – a high energy, exciting piece honoring the history of concert jazz dance.
The concert also features six new pieces choreographed by dance students, including: Dillon Nelson, Burwell; Michelle Ostmann, Eagle; Makenzie Hinrichs, Hastings; Stephanie Holtman, Ames, Iowa; Codie Milford, Burlington, Colo.; and Minori Yamauchi, Yokohama, Japan
“I chose the program according to what pieces were the strongest compositionally, had a representative variety of styles, and had a various number of dancers within each piece,” De Filippis said.
De Filippis said there are solos, duets, and group numbers within the dance concert. She added that each piece includes eight to 12 dancers.
“We started rehearsing pieces in September and October,” De Filippis said. “My pieces started in September and most of the student work started in October.”
De Flippis is excited to be putting on her first spring dance concert as director.
“I’m always a little nervous before any performance regardless of whether I’m dancing, directing or choreographing,” De Flippis said. “But that’s a good kind of nervous because I know that if I wasn’t nervous that would be a bad sign.
“I think it’s a good introduction to myself and it’s a good introduction to the new face of UNK dance,” De Filippis said. “I’m looking for people in the audience to gain a new perspective on what concert dance can be.”
Others involved in the show include:
Costume Coordinator – Sara Ice, senior lecturer
Student designers – Brenna Leigh, Grand Island; R. Marie Epperson, Winnebago, Ill.
Dance film short – Nate Baldwin, Ogallala.
Dance Ensemble
Bellevue – Shelby Smith
Columbus – Audrey Grant, Holly Hartman
Crofton – Tommy Augustine
Elgin – Natalie Beckman
Fullerton – Natalie Lassek, Alyssa Wetovick
Kearney – Trevor Erbsen
Norfolk – Morgan Wipperling
Omaha – Cleo Rogers
Ord – Austin Edgehill
Burlington, Colo. – Codie Milford
Ansan, Korea – So Young Chung
Gifu, Japan – Akira Watanabe
Nagoya, Japan – Ruiko Saji
Osaka, Japan – Mutsumi Koyabashi
Yokohama, Japan – Minori Yamauchi
Source: Dayna De Filippis, 308.865.8642, defilippisda@unk.edu
Writer: Todd Gottula, 308.865.8454, gottulatm@unk.edu
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