The Cal Poly Theatre and Dance Department will present “Retrograde,” the Orchesis Dance Company’s 54th annual concert, “Retrograde,” on Friday and Saturday, Jan. 19 and 20 and Thursday through Saturday, Jan. 25-27, in the Spanos Theatre. Performances will begin at 7:30 p.m. on all days, with a matinee scheduled at 2 p.m. Saturday, Jan. 20.
“Retrograde” is the theme of this year’s concerts, inspired by the namesake dance compositional tool that employs manipulating movement phrases in their pure reverse, like watching recorded video backward. Reversing movement phrases creates new ways of looking at prior material and all choreographers were tasked with incorporating a moment or more of retrograde within their dances. Performances will include choreography by faculty, guest and student choreographers in multiple genres.
The concert features original dances created during the fall and is directed by Professor Diana Stanton assisted by Assistant Professor of Dance Leann Alduenda and Michelle Walter, dance lecturer. Cal Poly Performing Arts Center Production Manager Clint Bryson serves as lighting designer and technical director.
Guest artist Angela Rosenkrans, dance program director at Scottsdale Community College in Arizona, created “Paper Pushing 101,” a playful reflection of the hustle and bustle of the corporate office environment. The piece highlights the dramatic skills of the Orchesis dancers and the witty movement invention that characterizes Rosenkrans’ work.
“Oblivion,” created by New York City-based choreographer Mike Esperanza, a Cal Poly favorite, includes all 33 Orchesis dancers in an epic finale. His highly collaborative process includes the ideas and movements of all dancers. Esperanza said his choreography highlights “individuals coming together to share strength, support and resilience, collectively forging a brighter path through the shadows.”
The Theatre and Dance Department introduces Alduenda to the collection of Cal Poly faculty choreographers. Her dance, “Erased,” features a fresh contemporary jazz dance movement vocabulary. The narrative focuses on an ever-changing dynamic between a scholar and a difficult equation they are attempting to solve. Faculty members Stanton, Walter and dance lecturers Horacio Heredia and Kathleen Ford also created diverse choreographic work for the concert.
Five talented student choreographers will present works they created in the Orchesis class. Embracing Learn by Doing, they explore the performance theme with a unique sense of style and movement invention. Dana Craighead, a construction management major from Bainbridge Island, Washington, was inspired by the planets in the solar system and the astrology of retrogrades. Business administration senior Lisette Abundez, whose concentration is quantitative analysis, focuses on social interactions in her dance that includes a unique movement vocabulary fusing modern dance, contemporary jazz and pedestrian movement. She is from Dixon, California.
Tickets for are $20 for the public and $12 for students, seniors and children. They can be purchased at the Performing Arts Center Ticket Office from noon to 6 p.m., Monday through Saturday. To order by phone, call 805-SLO-4TIX (805-756-4849). Tickets can also be purchased online at https://www.pacslo.org. An additional handling fee of $1 for students and $2 for public will be assessed at purchase.
The performance is sponsored by the Theatre and Dance Department, the College of Liberal Arts and Cal Poly’s Instructionally Related Activities program.