Kennedy Theatre Presents FALL FOOTHOLDS: INTERSECTIONS

The University of Hawai'i at M?noa's Department of Theatre and Dance and Kennedy Theatre present Fall Footholds: Intersections, a biannual dance concert series featuring student choreography and performance. The program features eight works showcasing the talents of PhD in Performance Studies candidates, Master of Fine Arts in Dance candidates, and undergraduate Dance student artists who explore how multiple aspects of life and society intersect. Performances are November 14, 15, 16, and 17 at 7:30 p.m., and November 18 at 2:00 p.m. in the Earle Ernst Lab Theatre. A free post-show rap will follow the Friday, November 16 performance. Tickets are $8-$18.

MFA Dance candidate, Angela Sebastian, choreographs "Fight for what?" In this dance, Sebastian, an award-winning choreographer and performer, questions the relationship of what women fight for and what fights against them, against each other. The dance explores the connection between three female bodies in space. Sebastian says, "These female bodies each tell a different story as the dancers incorporate their character and style in the movement." While emphasizing the uniqueness of expression between the individuals, their bodies are placed against one another to get attention. "I am fighting for a place. For a position. For my survival, dignity, and reputation," says Sebastian.

"Tamari'i No Tahiti" co-choreographed by Tavehi Tafiti and Catherine Teriipaia depicts four women who reconnect to their ancestors through the beating of a drum. These women discover a desire to share the knowledge of their Kupuna (ancestors) with the Tamari'i (children), encouraging them to always remember their past as they move forward to find their own passions. Tafiti, a double major in Dance and Hawaiian Studies, was recently awarded a performance of a Tahitian dance in the American College Dance Association's Western Regional Gala. She was one of six performers out of one hundred fifty applications to be selected by a panel of three professional dancers/choreographers for this honor.

Sophia Carter, an MFA candidate in Dance, creates "Dadamea" for the concert. Carter describes her inspiration for the piece as, "an underlying hum, a vibration in the soul, the felt longing we have for others and our reliance upon them as we live day to day." Carter says, "We need each other for joy, for sorrow, for healing, for life."

UHM Dance and English major, Marley Aiu, presents her work "Diastolic Recollections." Aiu's dance explores the physical systems of the body and how they interact with and are exposed by other external and internal systems that are societal, binary, genealogical, and geographical. A published poet and accomplished dancer, Aiu draws inspiration from Bach's "Cello Suite in C Minor: Prelude" by generating movement directly from the written score. She states, "The analysis of the music is parallel to the way in which the piece analyzes systems that interact with the body. The body and the sound are both exposed through the systems they engage and are revealed through movement. Eight bodies become one body on stage, exploring what it means to be a body connected to many systems." Aiu also presents a solo titled "A Mouth for Wearing" for the dance concert.

Fall Footholds: Intersections also showcases three more student-choreographed and performed works. Charessa Fryc choreographs "Deep Ecology" reflecting upon environmentalism and humankind's impact on the Earth. Scott Felluss makes his choreographic debut with a solo titled, "Position." In this dance-theatre piece, Felluss creates a "space of poetic encounter between India and the West" in examining the Classical Indian text, Bharatamuni's The N??ya ??stra. Isaac Johnson, a Dance major, also presents a piece for the dance concert.

Tickets to Fall Footholds: Intersections are on sale online at etickethawaii.com, by phone at (808) 944-2697, and at official outlets. Sales at the Kennedy Theatre Box Office begin on Monday, November 12. Ticket sales at the Box Office are available Monday through Friday from 10:00 a.m. to 1:00 p.m. with extended sales hours on show days.

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