The University of Hartford’s Hartt School Dance Division proudly presents its annual spring concert in April, featuring an exciting program ranging from classical to contemporary dance.
Performances will take place in Lincoln Theater on April 16–18 at 7:30 p.m., with an additional matinee on Saturday, April 18 at 2 p.m.
The program will feature five works, all performed by the talented students from The Hartt School Dance Division. The program’s highlights include: premieres of two works by guest choreographers, Anna Hughlett and Keerati Jinakunwiphat; a collaboration with The Hartt Orchestra featuring excerpts from the iconic Petipa/Tchaikowsky collaboration, Swan Lake; José Limón’s masterpiece, There is a Time; a new work from division director Stephen Pier inspired by the music of Christopher Cerrone, Ode to Joy, played by The Hartt Graduate Percussion Ensemble.
Guest choreographer Anna Hughlett has choreographed for Boston Ballet, Grand Rapids Ballet, Boston Ballet School and Prix de Lausanne and for companies throughout the US. She has created an original work of contemporary ballet for Hartt Dance to the music of John Adams and an original score by Kelley Gant. The second guest choreographer, Keerati Jinakunwiphat, is generating interest in her work, recently receiving commissions form New York City Ballet, A.I.M by Kyle Abraham, Houston Contemporary Dance Company, and Bang on a Can. She has choreographed a new work, Zima, for Hartt Dance, inspired by the cycles of nature and the ways of water.
Many of the works are collaborations of many kinds. Guest choreographer Anna Hughlett collaborated with composer Kelly Gant in the premier of the piece, Through the Trees. One of José Limón’s most well-known masterpieces, There is a Time, is based on the resonant verses of Ecclesiastes beginning with “To everything there is a season…”. It was originally created in collaboration with the composer, Norman Delo Joio whose score won a Pulitzer Prize and is being restaged by Nina Watt. Excerpts from Swan Lake, directed by Hilda Morales, presents the iconic collaboration of Marius Petipa’s renowned ballet and Pyotr Ilyich Tchaikowsky’s famous score which will be played live by The Hartt Orchestra under the baton of Maestro Régulo Stabilito. The music and dance collaboration will be presented by members of The Hartt Graduate Percussion Ensemble performing Christopher Cerrone’s Ode to Joy with dancers performing a new work by Stephen Pier.
Tickets are $10 and can be purchased online at University of Hartford box office. Tickets must be purchased in advance — they will not be available at the door. University of Hartford students, faculty, and staff are eligible for one free ticket with a valid University ID.