Purchase Dance Company Announces Spring Dance Festival

From April 19 through April 29, the Conservatory of Dance at Purchase College, SUNY, will present a highly anticipated, two-week dance festival featuring an exciting range of powerful new works by successful alumni and respected faculty members performed by the professional caliber students of the Purchase Dance Company.

Members of the Purchase Dance Company are selected from the college's highly competitive Conservatory of Dance BFA program, which, according to the New York Times is “one of the country’s most highly regarded dance conservatories.”

The Company has the advantage of working closely with many of today’s most exciting choreographers. The Spring Dance Festival features cutting-edge premieres and fresh re-stagings by alumni Hannah Garner (’15), Keerati Jinakunwiphat (‘16), Nora Petroliunas (‘06), Maiya Redding (’13), and Sarah Oppenheim (’05), and distinguished faculty members Dylan Crossman, Melanie Gambino, Rosalind Newman, and Michelle Thompson Ulerich.

“Our students’ training and exposure to contemporary choreography uniquely prepares them for successful careers with a wide-range of companies,” said Nelly van Bommel, Director of the Conservatory of Dance at Purchase College. “These opportunities introduce dancers to many of the most sought after choreographers working today. We look forward to creating new connections during the spring dance festival.”

Performances will take place at the Dance Theatre Lab on Thursday, April 19, at 8 p.m., Friday, April 20 at 8:00pm, Saturday, April 21 at 2 p.m. and 8 p.m., Sunday, April 22 at 2 p.m., and on Thursday, April 26 at 8 p.m., Friday, April 27 at 8 p.m., Saturday, April 28 at 2 p.m. and 8 p.m., and Sunday, April 29 at 2 p.m.

Special pre-concert talks with the artists will be held on Fri, April 20 and Fri, April 27 at 7:15pm. These will be moderated by Darrah Carr, Visiting Assistant Professor in the Conservatory of Dance.

Week 1: April 19-21

Works by Dylan Crossman, Keerati Jinakunwiphat, Nora Petroliunas, Maiya Redding, and

Michelle Thompson Ulerich presented on a proscenium stage.

Week 2: April 26-29

Works by Melanie Gambino, Hannah Garner, Rosalind Newman, and Sarah Beth Oppenheim presented as theater in the round.

Tickets are $15. Discounted tickets are available for seniors and the campus community. For advance ticket orders please visit Purchase.edu/dance or call the dance office at 914.251.6803 to obtain the ticket order form. Pending availability tickets will also be available at the door.

About the Works

Week 1: April 19 – 21

Dylan Crossman: ... as if you didn't know me (2017)

... as if you didn't know me is a re-imagining of Dylan Crossman's last piece, Here We Are, which was presented at Abrons Arts Center in June 2017. Using Milan Kundera's Unbearable Lightness of Being as background noise, ... as if you didn't know me, follows thirteen women as they share their stories while Jesse Stiles's haunting score filters into the theatre.

Dylan Crossman grew up in France and received his BA from the Trinity/Laban College of Music and Dance in London. Since his move to New York in 2006, he has danced for various choreographers including Brian Brooks, Christopher Williams, and Sean Cúrran. Dylan joined the Merce Cunningham Dance Company in 2009 and was a part of the company’s final tour. Now freelance, he works with Kimberly Bartosik, Sally Silvers, Ryan McNamara, Megan Williams, and Pam Tanowitz. He is on faculty at the Cunningham Trust, Purchase College, and Burklyn Ballet Theatre. Dylan is a two-time Bessie recipient. His own company, Crossman Dans(c)e, looks at identity issues within the frame of formalism. His work had been presented at a number of venues around the city. www.dylancrossman.org

Keerati Jinakunwiphat: 18 plus (2018)

18 plus is a coming of age piece in which individuals show their awkward stages or insecurities as they develop different relationships, grow up, and grow together.

Keerati Jinakunwiphat, from Chicago, IL, received her BFA from the Conservatory of Dance at Purchase College where she was a recipient of the Adopt-A- Dancer Scholarship. She has also studied at the Western Australian Academy of Performing Arts, San Francisco Conservatory of Dance, and Springboard Danse Montreal. She has worked with artists such as Nicole von Arx, Jasmine Ellis, Shannon Gillen, Kevin Wynn, and Doug Varone. Keerati is currently an apprentice with Abraham.In.Motion. In addition, she has presented her own choreographic works at the American Dance Guild Festival, Triskelion Arts, Dixon Place, Dance Gallery Festival, and has created work for the Evanston Dance Ensemble.

Nora Petroliunas: Mina (2018)

This piece was conceived after the words "Our generation will not stand for this" hit the headlines. It is a subtle encouragement to create a shift in the compassion and thinking of this next generation of movers and young people. The piece opens with a song by Mina, an Italian pop star who has been active since the 1950s despite being chastised by the Catholic Church and the media. It ends with a song by Perfume Genius, an artist who struggled through high school as the only openly gay student.

Nora Petroliunas is a 2006 graduate of the Conservatory of Dance at Purchase College. She is the artistic director of the Pharmacy Project, which creates narrative dance performance pieces for atypical spaces with the help of the Brooklyn Arts Council, and a series of collaborators and producers. Settings have ranged from Veterans Post 8903 to the rooftop garden of the Chelsea Hotel. Her work has been presented by Gowanus Art and Production, Triskelion Arts, Little Theatre, Brooklyn Arts Exchange, Dixon Place, Links Hall, The Bushwick Starr, LIGO Project, Certamen Internacional de Coreografia in Burgos, Spain, as well as the Cape Dance Festival in Provincetown, Massachusetts. www.thepharmacyproject.com

Maiya Redding: Thou Art Loosed (2016)

Inspired by the poem “Caged Bird” by Maya Angelou, and the meaning of what freedom is, this work expresses the struggle for freedom, not only physically, but also mentally. The piece utilizes evocative music by John Adams, Philip Glass, and Vivaldi’s Four Seasons, as reimagined by Max Richter.

Born and raised in Chicago, Illinois, Maiya Redding's dance training began at The Chicago Multicultural Dance Center under Homer Hans Bryant. She then attended the Chicago Academy for the Arts where she majored in Dance. Following high school, she graduated Cum Laude from Purchase College’s Conservatory of Dance program. In July 2016, she received the “Innovative Choreographer Award” from “The Series; Volume 1”, hosted by Ballet, Inc. for Thou Art Loosed. In March 2017 she was selected as Honorable Mention for Emerging Artist Residencies from Periapsis Music and Dance, Inc. She was selected to choreograph a new piece, Validated, for iKADA Contemporary Dance Company’s annual “Share the Stage” showcase in December 2017.

Michelle Thompson Ulerich: The Pairings (2018)

Featuring a new score by Joshua Piper (also known as Heavy Piano), this work, which is performed on pointe, is inspired by things that go well together, things that contrast or repel, and how couples, friendships, enemies, and partnerships move together. The work culminates in a celebration of life and the partnership between living and life.

Growing up, Michelle Thompson Ulerich trained at San Francisco Ballet for 9 years. With Ballet Austin from 2001 to 2015, she danced works by Stephen Mills, Balanchine, Tharp, Ulysses Dove, van Bommel, Thang Dao, Dolbashian, James Gregg, Amy Seiwert, and Sidra Bell. Since 2015, Michelle’s choreography has been commissioned by Avant Chamber Ballet, Columbia Ballet Collaborative, Ballet Austin, The Moving Beauty Series, Ballet Zaida, Illusory Impressions, and Ballet Spartanburg. She teaches at Purchase College and performs with Spark Movement Collective.

Week 2: April 26 – 29

Hannah Garner: Here to Here (2018)

In an evocative piece for twenty dancers, Hannah Garner’s new work Here to Here explores situations in which ideas just don’t line up. By juxtaposing compassionate duets with verbal competitive commentary or adagio moments with rapid-fire narration, text and movement are combined to ask: how do individuals choose to present themselves and how can they better navigate the sensitive subject of inconsistency? While the tone of the new work varies from scene to scene, Hannah utilizes both humor and solemnity to create a nonlinear storyline. Here to Here continues Hannah’s research on finding solace in the humor of being human.

Hannah Garner graduated summa cum laude from Purchase College, earning a BFA in Performance/Composition and a minor in Arts Management. Since graduating, Hannah has worked with Doug Varone & Dancers, Sue Bernhard Danceworks, Megan Williams Dance, and Rovaco Dance Company. Hannah’s work as 2nd Best Dance Company has been seen at FringeNYC, Triskelion Arts, The Wassaic Project, and in music videos for Half Waif and Frankie Cosmos (upcoming). Hannah currently teaches in New York City and guest teaches at Purchase College. www.2ndbestdance.com

Melanie Gambino: Movement Unfoldings (2018)

This piece is a dedication to the unfolding bio-intelligence of the origins of life itself.

It is an exploration in fluid movement, the principles of flight and somatic experiencing. The work invites the audience and the dancers to experience the resonating fluid system, which is ever present in all life forms. It is an experiment, an exploration, a celebration, a prayer and a call to discover the fluid wisdom that is already moving within and all around.

Melanie Gambino '84, is a Continuum Teacher who was mentored and authorized to teach by its founder Emilie Conrad. Melanie has over 30 years of professional experience in the Somatic Movement Meditation/Healing Arts/ Education and Performing Arts fields. She holds a BFA, BA, and MA in these related fields.Melanie is on faculty at The Conservatory of Dance at Purchase College and is the Resident Choreographer and Director of Dance and Somatic Movement Meditation and Mindfulness at the Harvey School.

Rosalind Newman: Multiples (2002)

Featuring music by Amy Denio, this piece was originally conceived in Hong Kong for four dancers, one table and 4 balls and then restaged for in New York City. In this version the piece is for 20 dancers, 5 tables, and 40 balls. Like the balls that roll through this work, each time the piece has been remounted it has morphed, changing and moving in new directions and shifting the course of its interpretation.

Rosalind Newman’s choreography has been performed internationally in festivals in the U.S., Europe, and Asia. Recognized with a number of fellowships and awards, they include a Guggenheim and two Hong Kong Dance Alliance Awards. She was course leader in the master’s graduate program in choreography at Laban/Trinity in London and is presently on the faculty of Purchase College’s Conservatory of Dance and the Juilliard School.

Sarah Beth Oppenheim: Splinter (2018)

Circled up and sliced about, Splinter burrows into consequence, canon, and durations of resolve. The cast of twenty pushes into every which corner, sometimes sight unseen.

Sarah Beth Oppenheim hails from California. She earned her BFA at Purchase College and her MFA at University of Maryland. Her company Heart Stück Bernie makes site-specific performance art with exposed seams and a highbrow/lowbrow zeitgeist cocktail. She currently works in Washington, D.C. as a Teaching Artist at Dance Place and Professorial Lecturer at American University. sarahbethoppenheim.com

About The Conservatory of Dance and Purchase College, SUNY

The Conservatory of Dance in the School of the Arts at Purchase College is one of only a handful of programs in the world where dancers can learn what it means to be a dance professional. The BFA program features rigorous training in classical ballet and modern/contemporary dance, a faculty of renowned professionals, and proximity to New York City dance companies and choreographers. Purchase boasts an award-winning dance building and opportunities to perform in the world-renowned Performing Arts Center.

Purchase alumni perform with many of the foremost contemporary modern and ballet dance companies in the world. They also teach, direct, choreograph major productions, and have founded their own companies all around the globe.

About Purchase College–SUNY

Purchase College, part of the State University of New York (SUNY) network of 64 universities and colleges, was founded in 1967 by Governor Nelson Rockefeller. His aspiration for Purchase was to create a dynamic campus that combined conservatory training in the visual and performing arts with programs in the liberal arts and sciences, in order to inspire an appreciation for both intellectual and artistic talents in all students. Today, Purchase College–SUNY is a community of students, faculty, and friends where open-minded engagement with the creative process leads to a lifetime of intellectual growth and professional opportunity. For more information about the College, visit www.purchase.edu.