Welcome to the UADC 2015 Spring Dance Concert
A message on collaboration and artistic excellence
By Cydney Spohn, UADC Director
The University of Akron Dance Company (UADC) is fashioned after the professional concert dance model. Choreographers produce original work on dance students who then perform the work for live audiences in various venues. Not only do dance students develop technical, artistic and performance skills by participating in UADC, but they also experience diverse creative processes of choreographers and learn how to put their own imagination and creativity to use in order to successfully develop their roles and interpret the choreographer’s vision. In many instances, dancers may be asked to improvise movement in rehearsals and performances, contribute choreography to a dance work, and even sing or perform spoken word. As you can see, dance education entails much more than just dancing!
I am particularly excited about the Spring UADC concert this year, as we have two special guests contributing to the performance: Philip Thomson, internationally acclaimed concert pianist and UA music professor, and French guest artist and choreographer, Alexandre Munz. Philip will be playing Felix Blumenfeld’s Dix Moments lyriques for piano op. 27 in Dancing with Felix, a contemporary ballet for seven dancers. As a soloist, Philip rarely shares the stage with others, so it is a privilege and honor for the UA dance students to perform to the nuances of such an accomplished musician. The educational exchange flows both ways, though, as Philip is learning that the slightest change in tempo for dancers can be disastrous, particularly when very fast gets even faster! Alex’s choreographic work, Youth with Caution, offers our dance students a dramatic departure from the creative processes and movement impulses that have been explored in past UADC pieces. By exchanging concerns for outward appearances and allowing the focal point to be on mental imagery,Youth with Caution has driven the dancers to explore movement and their bodies in ways that they have never experienced. It has also produced a diverse group of sensitive, genuine, and confident movers. I can’t thank Alex enough for this gift.
Join us for a special Award Ceremony
Please join us in the lobby of the theatre after the Friday evening concert for an awards ceremony to honor distinctive students and acknowledge and applaud our graduating seniors. The contributions and accomplishments of these dancers will be celebrated with cake and punch and a grand round of applause. Bravo!
Dance and Music - LIVE and Together!
Pianist Philip Thomas plays live to choreography by Cydney Spohn
About UA music faculty, Philip Thomas
Philip Thomson has been on the piano faculty of the School of Music at The University of Akron since 1994. He came to international attention in 1991, when he made the world premiere recording of Liszt’s De Profundis, a 40-minute tour-de-force whose manuscript had been kept in the Goethe-Schiller archives in Weimar, and which, astoundingly, had escaped the serious attention of musicologists for over a century and a half. Mr. Thomson was subsequently invited by Naxos records to record three CDs of the solo music of Liszt. These recordings, released in 1995 and 1996 and containing among many other works the complete set of Harmonies Poetiques et Religieuses, also received international critical praise.
In 1998, Mr. Thomson began to research the music of Felix Blumenfeld. In his time (1863-1931), Blumenfeld was one of the most influential musical figures in Russia, well-known as a pianist, composer, conductor, and teacher. For unknown reasons, the music of this pianistic genius, the teacher of Vladimir Horowitz and Simon Barere among other titans of the era, disappeared from concert halls after his death, and his works are no longer in print. Mr. Thomson was, however, able to discover and gather much of his music from several archival sources.
The Ivory Classics label invited Mr. Thomson to record a CD of Felix Blumenfeld’s piano music, and the result was the release, in 2000, of the complete preludes and impromptus of this important and surprisingly neglected composer. This CD contains 34 works, none of which had ever been recorded before. As with Mr. Thomson’s Liszt CDs, it has garnered wide critical acclaim. Besides coast-to-coast concertizing in his native Canada, Mr. Thomson has performed in the United States, England, Ireland, Belgium, France, the Netherlands, Austria, Hungary, Italy, South Korea, and China.
The Arts Start Here!
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International Guest Artist
Alex Munz, UA Guest Choreographer and Resident Artist
Choreography and Dance Training that "Breaks the [conservative] Mold!"
By Jeremy Lewis
In 2003, when Alexandre “Alex” Munz began the creation of his dance pedagogy, S.A.F.E.® (Spine Advanced Functional Empowerment), he did not set out to be original or change the landscape of ballet training – although that is exactly what his work is doing today. His core inspiration was actually rooted in freeing his body from pain and trauma experienced over 17 years of conservative French ballet training and professional dance work.
“The concept of S.A.F.E.® is a major step forward in the creation of physical performance,” shared Alex. When looking into the proverbial mirror, dance students working with Alex shared that they experience not only an increase in their body’s mobility and strength, but also a new confidence in their self-image. S.A.F.E.® takes dancers beyond the horizontal and vertical dimensions of the barre and into a three-dimensional training and creation experience. This work allows the dancer’s training to be preserved while engaging the creative mind and physical body in over 120 spine-liberating exercises, and in part, become co-creators in choreographic elements through Graphysiology® (tools using mental imagery to create new dance works).
Residency and Rehearsal
While in residency here at The University of Akron, Alex engaged students in the studio through classwork and in rehearsals. Between March 12 and 20, UA students trained with Alex, exploring S.A.F.E. Barre® and S.AF.E. Floor® in the morning.
Resident Artist Alex Munz's S.A.F.E. Floor®
Workshop with UA dance student
Then in the evening, Alex used his Graphysiology® tools to choreograph a new dance work entitled “Youth with Caution.” The 12-minute piece, featuring UA dance students, plugs the audience into the (non)alienation effect of Web 2.0 on today's youth through themes of international connectedness and social networks.
Professional Credits
Alex’s professional highlights include: Berlin Opera Ballet principle soloist, French Ministry of Culture grant recipient to research and develop S.A.F.E®., UNESCO membership awarded by France’s President Alkis Raftis, and CORPS de Ballet International, Inc. honorary member.
For more information on Alex’s work and partnerships or learn more about his pedagogy, visit his website.
Visit Alex's Website