Mather Dance Center assembles fall collection of dance pieces to be collectively performed as Returning

There is a difference between simply dancing for pleasure and being a dancer. Becoming a dancer not only involves love of the art, but discipline, much physical exertion, and passion. In time, however, all the hard work and sweat collect to emerge as visual stories and expressions of emotion. After all, one of the tenets of the medium claims that one certainly doesn't need to speak to convey what he or she feels.Throughout history, dance has crossed time and cultural barriers and today, there are numerous forms of dance. This fall, Case's Mather Dance Center has prepared an eclectic program for their fall performance. Undergraduates will be featured as dancers in addition to the graduate students and faculty who, along with guest artists, contributed to the event's choreography.

There are five featured pieces for this year's fall concert. The first is a piece by Sabatino Verlezza called Songs for the Jaguar, representing Verlezza's vision of Mayan and Aztec culture. Since the original performance, additional choreography has been added to enhance the performance.

SUNY Brockport associate professor James Hanson also choreographed a piece for the show called Presently Gone, set to music by Leon Minkus called La Bayadere. Hanson channels postmodernism in this piece conveying intense attachments to human relationships.

The next performance of the night, simply entitled Journey, is choreographed and performed by alumni, featuring music by French chanson master Jacques Brel. Alumna Linda Kahn choreographed a duet for Heather Koniz and Kelli Sanford, who dance as two women on a journey together and apart.

The next piece, Wien is performed by a group of six undergraduates, graduates, and alumni. Originally created by Pascal Rioult and set to La Valse by Ravel, the Mather Dance Center performs its own adaptation of this societal piece.

One of the evening's most elaborate pieces, complete with a set and costumes, is Tribute Rag, a performance created by Dance Program associate professors and directors Karen Potter and Gary Galbraith. Featuring eleven graduate students and dance majors, the piece is set to ragtime music composed by Ross Petot, the son of Chuck Petot, to whom the piece is dedicated to.

The Mather Dance Center is one of Ohio's oldest dance institutions, involving not only CWRU dancers and students, but also the community and beyond. The CWRU dance program welcomes all students and continues to actively reach out to dance forms of other cultures and time periods by bringing in guest performers and teachers.

Though fall concert performances began yesterday, there will be two more evening performances tonight and Saturday night at 8 p.m., as well as a Sunday matinee at 2:30 p.m. Advance tickets for the production are available at Eldred Theater on the Case Quad and tickets will also be sold prior to the performances at the Mather Dance Center. If you're interested in seeing raw talent and skill, and also learning more about the CWRU dance program, the fall recital looks to be an event you do not want to miss.