Four World Premieres take stage in UDT's Dance Revolutions, Dec. 4-7

Four world premieres will take center stage in University Dance Theatre's Dance Revolutions at the Rarig Center December 4 through 7. This dazzling collection of innovative work by guest choreographers Greg Dolbashian, Justin Jones, Maurya Kerr, and Scott Rink, all Cowles Visiting Artists, will be performed by the university's dance program students. Dance Revolutions is directed by Toni Pierce-Sands, co-founder of St. Paul's award-winning TU Dance and adjunct professor at the university's Theatre Arts & Dance Department. Dance Revolutions plays December 4, 5, 6 at 7:30pm and December 7 at 2:00pm. Tickets are available by visiting dance.umn.edu or by calling (612) 624-2345.

The program of premieres begins with LOOP, LOOP with choreography and sound design by Justin Jones. The piece looks at the ways in which a simple rule sets can generate complexity: three dancers independently learn a floor pattern in a small space, then three dancers learn how to walk the same floor pattern while holding hands without disconnecting while the piece evolves further. "The simple becomes complex and the process of learning the material becomes relational," says Jones. His work has been presented in New York City at The Thalia, LaMama Etc., Sarah Lawrence, EMPAC and in Minneapolis at Bryant Lake Bowl, Red Eye, The Southern Theater and the Walker Art Center. Mr. Jones is the recipient of the 2007 McKnight Fellowship for Choreography and was awarded a 2003 NYFA Fellowship for Performance Art and Multidisciplinary Work.

Maurya Kerr's new work FLANK, she describes as a punk/folk piece exploring war, and its subtext of rage. " I am interested in freeing young people, young women in particular, from the bondage of prettiness and conformity, and giving them, in the words of one of my dancers, the 'agency to be loud'," noted Kerr. FLANK completes the first segment of the program. Kerr is the director and choreographer of tinypistol, a San Francisco and project-based dance company she founded in 2010 after a twelve-year career with Alonzo King LINES Ballet. Her dance company has been honored by a Hubbard Street National Choreographic Competition award. Her work has been commissioned and presented by Ballet Nouveau Colorado (now Wonderbound), the Aspen Fringe Festival,WestWave Dance Festival, and REVERBdance Festival/APAP.

INSIST by Greg Dobashian opens the second half of the program. According to the choreographer, "the work offers a view into the leadership identity of an individual and was built through a very collaborative process." INSIST displays "the will within a person to affect their surroundings and to influence the outcomes of their own ambitions and pursuits." Dobashian has created his first international work for Springboard Montreal and is winner of several international choreographic competitions. He has received commissions from Atlanta Ballet, TU Dance in Minnesota, and CityDance Ensemble in D.C. Five years ago he founded his own company, The DASH Ensemble which has presented works at the Skirball Center, DTW, The Gershwin Hotel, Riverside Theater, Summer Stage, and The JOYCE Theater. Dolbashian was honored at NYC's DanceNOW challenge for his company's work. Recently his company premiered a film at New York's Tribeca Cinemas in collaboration with fashion film director Charlie Wan.

PAST (PRESENT) TENSE with choreography by Scott Rink completes the quartet of premieres. "In a world where oppression exists in differing societal forms with regard to sexual identity, race and gender," observes Rink, "we as human beings have two potentialities: the magical, where the individual is celebrated in all their unique glory and power and the pedestrian, where the individual is erased and becomes part of a faceless group. Do we see each other as divine creatures or do our judgments diminish the other? When we become bystanders are we complicit through our inaction?" Mr. Rink's choreographic work has been commissioned by recognized companies such as Ailey II, American Ballet Theatre II, Minnesota Dance Theatre, Oakland Ballet, RDT and others. Rink choreographed for and directed his own company danceRINK based in New York City for 15 years, and has choreographed award winning Off-Broadway new musicals and revivals as the resident choreographer for NYC- based Transport Group. Additionally, he has worked as choreographer on other independent film projects, regional musical theatre and commercial Sage Cowles Land Grant Chair

For the academic year 2014/2015 Cowles Visiting Artists and Scholars are Gregory Dolbashian, Justin Jones, Maurya Kerr, Susan Kikuchi, Since 1987, through the generosity of Sage and John Cowles, the University of Minnesota Dance Program has annually hosted four to six dance professionals of international renown in residencies ranging from one to ten weeks. The guests teach, choreograph new dance work, rehearse repertory, and lecture in the Department of Theatre Arts & Dance, and the Twin Cities' community at large. The Cowles Land Grant Chair connects nationally and internationally recognized artists and scholars with dance students, exposing them to contemporary artistry,masterwork and new thinking in dance studies.

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Two NEW Freshman Seminars set for Spring '15 now enrolling; BFA Studio Series performs New Plays

With spring registration deadlines quickly approaching, plenty of new and exciting opportunities for freshmen are presented across the university. Consider registering for one of these seminars offered through the Theatre Arts & Dance department. Each fulfills essential requirements.

Live Theatre: Creating and Expressing Community
This seminar seeks to utilize the immensely rich culture and resources in the Twin Cities such as Penumbra, Mixed Blood, and Ten Thousand Things supplemented with in class discussions and conversations with professionals to "develop a critical language with which to look at, think, discuss, and write about live performance - particularly its relationship to who we are to ourselves and each other." Many classes will occur at the theaters mentioned above!
Taught by Professor Sonja Kuftinec Thursdays 6:30-9:30pm
Fulfills Intensive Writing requirement

Backstage Pass to London: From the Guthrie to the Globe
London, theatre capital of of the English-speaking world, once prohibited public plays within its city gates. Why? How did a rained-out Hamlet performance at castle Elsinore become "game-changer" for 20th century stage design that actually effected Minneapolis and Rarig Center? What does A Midsummer Night's Dream share with Romeo and Juliet? See the shows and explore for with us! No photo of 1598 original exists, so how accurate is that reconstruction of the Globe Theatre anyway? You'll check out evidence, and decide. Meet today's Cardboard Citizen Theatre that empowers the homeless in London through performance.

Raise the curtain on London's world famous theatre scene and get a backstage view of what makes a great performance. Research performance practices, take actor-led tours on the Globe Theatre and the National Theatre. You'll visit Hampton Court Palace, where Shakespeare performed for his queen. Plans include experiencing plays, the famous Old Vic, and the West End. You will be debating and writing about them.

Taught by Dennis Behl, PhD Thursdays from 6:30 - 9:30pm. Class will study in London over spring break, March 13-22,
Fulfills Globe Perspectives liberal education requirement

NOTE Register before Dec 5. A few spaces are still available.
For more information visit: UMabroad.umn.edu/programs/fsa or contact Lindsey
at lahr 0039@umn.edu or 612 625-8827. Financial aid and $1000 FSA scholarships are available.

Coming Soon in November BFA STUDIO SERIES: NEW PLAYS

The BFA Class of '15 performs two new plays from opposite ends of the genre spectrum: an intense crime thriller and a thought-provoking and entertaining mythical mash-up.

BACK BAY by Christina Ham directed by Hayley Finn is set in the 1950s. In the grips of the Cold War the violent unsolved murder of a young African-American woman in Boston's affluent Back Bay neighborhood has the community on edge. When a fresh-off-the-farm Violet comes to stay in the illustrious mansion belonging to her older brother, Lowell, and his socialite wife, Elsie, she meets their best friend Alton who enlists her help to collaborate on a true crime novel investigating the unsolved homicide. As Violet closes in on the killer by following the trail of lies, the truth that she uncovers may destroy the lives of those around her. Inspired by such Post-War female crime fiction luminaries as Patricia Highsmith, Mary Roberts Rinehart, and Zenith Brown, this psychological thriller is a riveting and revealing portrait of how the other half lives.

WORLD WITHOUT END by Dominic Orlando is directed by Joseph W. Stodola. In The Beginning There Was . . what, exactly? An Old Dude in The Sky with a beard? Adam and Eve? Adam and Steve? Talking Snakes and glowing Angels? All God and no Goddess? WORLD WITHOUT END asks more questions than it answers, in a freewheeling mash-up of cultural myths where only one thing is certain: In The Beginning . . . There Was a Story.

See both of these plays, performed in the Kilburn Theater on the Liu stage, November 20 - 22. Admission is free.

Alumni Spotlight: BFA Grad cast in Disenchanted!

Stephanie Bertumen,(BFA '14) stars as Mulan, Pocahontas, and Jasmine in DISENCHANTED! at Minneapolis' Illusion Theater. These original fairytale princesses team up with others to "storm the castle" as they stand up against the exploitation they've suffered in today's modern portrayals of their stories.. See Bertumen in Disenchanted! at the Illusion Theater, running now through November 23.
Visit http://www.illusiontheater.org for more information.

Faculty/Staff Professional Activities

University of Minnesota Theatre Arts & Dance chair Marcus Dilliard provides lighting design for the Guthrie play RELICS. The year is 2314 and archaeologists have discovered remains from a 300-year-old colony in what was North America. As an audience member, you are invited to the opening night gala exhibition of the artifacts they uncovered. The Guthrie promises a "mind-bending interactive theatrical event [that] allows you to see today through the cracked lens of tomorrow." Among the cast is BA Theatre Program Head Luverne Seifert. Experience this theatrical museum event at the Guthrie Theater November 13 through November 23. For more information, visit http://www.guthrietheater.org

"To Embrace Failure? A Multi-Disciplinary Re-Thinking," moderated by Associate Professor Lisa Channer, explores the "productive" failure of single authorship and of representation in Bertolt Brecht's theatre, which ultimately led to new forms of collectivity. Featuring MA/PhD Associate Professor Margaret Werry, the panel will ask: what constitutes failure? What does failure mean for our academic work? Can failure be disentangled from success? This discussion will takes place on November 13 at 4 pm at the Crosby Seminar Room - 240 Northrop. Visit http://www.northrop.umn.edu for more

Associate professor Michael Sommers directs and designs THE JUNIPFER TREE at the Open Eye Figure Theatre playing now through Dec. 6. Recommended for ages 8 and up. Visit OpenEyeThreatre.org for details and ticket information.

Associate professor Carl Flink, presently on sabbatical leave, conducts an artist-in-residency program and stages his Lost Lullabies at Orem's Utah Valley University running November 17 - 22.

Working - Musical now on stage 'til Nov.9 / Cracks in the Wall: 25 Years after Berlin Symposium

UMTAD's current production of Working, now on stage through Nov. 9 at Rarig Center, has been dubbed as a Pick of the Week by Minn Post, enjoyed positive press reactions by Workday, Minnesota and Minnesota Daily. Working's dramaturg Rye Gentleman shares his observations about Studs Terkel (1912-2008) American author, historian, actor, broadcaster whose celebrated book served as the foundation for this musical stage adaptation:

In his introduction to Working: People Talk About what They Do All Day and How They Feel About It, Terkel wrote: "This book, being about work, is, by its very nature, about violence- to the spirit as well as to the body...It is, above all (or beneath all) about daily humiliations. To survive the day is triumph enough for the walking wounded among the great many of us. The scars, psychic as well as physical, brought home to the supper table and the TV set, may have touched, malignantly, the soul of our society."

Terkel's 1974 book, the basis for this production, is a compilation of his hundreds of interviews with working persons: a waitress, a fire fighter, a hedge fund manager. Despite wildly divergent occupations, socioeconomic statuses, racial identities, and geographic regions, the subjects of Terkel's book joined to form an unlikely chorus, again and again drawing our attention to the quiet desperation and indignity suffered by workers in the United States.

The steel worker who believes he is merely a beast of burden. The mechanized welder. The caged bank teller. The monkey in the office cubicle.

Forty years later, the roles have altered but the rules haven't. The fundamental dehumanization of the American worker remains and, in some respects, reaches its inevitable crescendo.
When was the last time you went to work and were treated like a human being?

During his career, Terkel interviewed Bob Dylan, Marlon Brando, and Dorothy Parker, and wrote several oral histories, including Race: What Blacks and Whites Think and Feel About the American Obsession (1992). He graduated from University of Chicago's law school in 1934; immediately shunning the legal profession, he took a job in radio broadcasting through the WPA's Federal Writers Project. He was a victim of McCarthyism and a National Humanities Medal winner. He held well over a dozen jobs over the course of his life. On his first date with his wife, Ida, he borrowed twenty bucks from her that he never repaid.

For tickets and information about Working visit theatre.umn.edu or call 612 624-2345.
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Cracks in the Wall: 25 Years after Berlin Symposium
Twenty-five years after the fall of the Berlin Wall, this symposium asks how performance can animate representational ruptures in three walled (or previously walled) sites: Berlin, Israel/Palestine, and along the US/Mexico border. Organized by Sonja Kuftinec, participants will include members of the IAS Collaborative on Brecht, the Department of Theater Arts, and Combatants for Peace. Admission is free. November 6 at 4:00 PM, Crosby Seminar Room, Northrop
Further information: Theater Arts Professor Sonja Kuftinec kufti001@umn.edu

Alumni Spotlight: SAGE Award-winning Dancers, BFA Grad cast in Utah Shakespeare Festival
UM's Dance Program was well represented at this month's Sage Awards at the Cowles Center. The season's Outstanding Ensemble Award recognized members of Black Label Movement's Wreck. Cheng Xiong, Ashley Akpaka, Jessica Ehlert, Lauren Baker, Jose Bueno, Miriam Castro, Natalie (Braun) Carr and Margaret Johnson -- 8 of the 13 artists in the ensemble are graduates of the department's program.
Dance Program Alumus Duncan Shultz received one of the two Outstanding Dance Performance Awards.
Dance Program Alumna Rosy Simas piece "We Wait In the Darkness" received one of the two Outstanding Design Awards.
Visit http://www.startribune.com/entertainment/stageandarts/279218162.html

Fresh from crossing Northrop's stage for his diploma in May,Eric Weiman('14 BFA ), walked right into his first professional role at the Utah Shakespeare Festival. Weiman, recently interviewed for the Festival's website was asked what or who inspired him to pursue his dream of acting. Eric answered, "My parents, first and foremost, are the biggest supporters and inspirations for following acting..., they have always been supportive and accepting of the path I wish to follow. I also cannot think of where I would be today without Jon Ferguson and Ken Washington, two teachers and mentors of mine in Minneapolis (at the University of Minnesota/Guthrie Theater Actor Training program) who took chances on me early in my life as an actor and taught me that acting is a craft, an art, and not just a hobby."
For the full interview visit http://utahshakespearefestival.blogspot.com/2014/10/utah-shakespeare-guet-blog-eric-weiman.html

Faculty/Staff Professional Activities
Theatre Arts professor Michael Sommers directs and designs The Juniper Tree at the Open Eye Figure Theatre slated to open Nov. 6 and play through Dec. 6. In this production with original music composed by Michael Koerner, Sommers brings to the stage this classic Brothers Grimm tale brimming with singing birds, dancing bones, and barking trunks. A live band blasts the brutish stepmother and soothes the sobbing sister. Sommers predicts a not -to -be- missed whirl of fairytale fun "where everyone (who's supposed to) lives happily ever after." Recommended for ages 8 and up. Visit OpenEyeThreatre.org for details and ticket information.

Dance professor Carl Flink, presently on sabbatical leave, conducts an artist-in-residency program and stages his Lost Lullabies at Orem's Utah Valley University. Dance program's Linda Talcott Lee performs in the Ordway Center's A Christmas Story opening November 29.

UMTAD department chair Marcus Dilliard designs lighting for a string of productions in the coming weeks : Pittsburgh Opera's Otello opening Nov 8; Guthrie Theater's Relics, Nov. 14, Moving Company at The Lab: Love's Labour's Lost, Nov. 21, and finally for Cantus/ Latte Da Theatre at Pantages, All is Calm, Dec. 18.