Arts & Entertainment

DanceWorks At RVCC To Feature Somerset County Dancers

Nine pieces will be shown from students in Plainfield, Warren, Bridgewater, Linden, Branchburg, Philipsburg, East Brunswick and Bound Brook.

Alison Stone (Bound Brook) and Cedric Thomas (Branchburg) rehearse for DanceWorks.
Alison Stone (Bound Brook) and Cedric Thomas (Branchburg) rehearse for DanceWorks. (Halted Moments By Mia)

BRANCHBURG, NJ — Raritan Valley Community College’s (RVCC) Arts & Design department will present DanceWorks, an evening of student and faculty dance, on Thursday and Friday, December 7 and 8, at 7 p.m.

The event will be held in the Edward Nash Theatre at the College’s Branchburg campus.

The concert is being produced by Professor Loretta Fois, Director of RVCC’s dance program.

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Nine student pieces were chosen for the concert and include choreography by Yailene Caicedo (Plainfield), Jia Chen (Branchburg), Dree Dray (Linden), Elanna Etemad (Warren), Harrison Fox (Phillipsburg), Arianna McLean (East Brunswick), Nina Pardo (Bridgewater), Alison Stone (Bound Brook), and Cedric Thomas (Branchburg).

Dance genres in the concert range from Chinese dance to modern, from ballet to jazz. The student choreography is the culmination of a semester of classwork, as the students create and rehearse the new works to be performed.

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In addition to the student work, the concert will feature two faculty pieces. “Divergence” is a collaborative piece created by the dancers under the guidance of adjunct faculty Marissa Aucoin. Kathleen Amalfitano will present a ballet duet titled “Verses,” inspired by influential choreographers such as Jerome Robbins and George Balanchine.

Many dancers in the performance are also members of the Raritan Valley Dance Ensemble (RVDE). Under the direction of Loretta Fois, RVDE performs at local schools, senior centers, and community groups each semester, as well as at campus events.

For information about scheduling a lecture/performance for a school, senior center, or community group, contact Fois at lfois@raritanval.edu.

General admission tickets to DanceWorks cost $12 each, $8 for students and seniors, and $5 for RVCC alumni. For tickets, call 908-725-3420. For additional information, call 908-218-8876.

RVCC is located at 118 Lamington Road in Branchburg, NJ. For further information, visit www.raritanval.edu.

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