Dance programs a diverse collection

Not every presentation in the University of New Mexico’s eclectic dance program will be on the stage of the Rodey Theatre.

One, “All In,” will be on a screen. It’s a 15-minute film that displays the choreography that UNM Dance Program Director Donna Jewell created with 14 student dancers.

“The work is also a collaboration with the Interdisciplinary Film and Digital Media Program of UNM. “The program provided the cameras. It was filmed and edited by Cassidy Knight,” said Vladimir Conde Reche, the artistic director of “NOVA.”

	If you go WHAT: “NOVA,” featuring the choreography of the UNM Dance Faculty WHEN: 7:30 p.m. Friday and Saturday and 2 p.m. Feb. 26. Repeats at 7:30 p.m. March 2 and 3 and 2 p.m. March 4 WHERE: Rodey Theatre, Center for the Arts, UNM campus HOW MUCH: $15 general public, $12 seniors, $10 students in advance at ticket offices in the UNM Bookstore and the Pit, at area Albertsons supermarkets, by calling 925-5858 or toll-free 877-664-8661 or at the door

“NOVA” is the title of a dance concert that features mostly work by the UNM dance faculty.

The dance film will be screened at each of the six “NOVA” concerts – Friday, Feb. 24, Saturday, Feb. 25, and Feb. 26 and March 2-4.

Reche gives equal value to all of the elements of the eclectic dance concert, including his own.

For that reason, he said, no one performance in the concert can be singled out.

“Every piece is a highlight in itself,” said Reche, who is also an assistant professor of dance at UNM.

The purpose of the concert is to showcase the talent of UNM’s dance faculty. But not every choreographer is a faculty member.

One of two guest choreographers is Antonio Granjero, a native of Spain. Granjero and Eva Encinias Sandoval, a UNM professor of dance, are staging the flamenco work “Alegrias,” which also features Encinias Sandoval singing and Ricardo Anglada playing guitar.

Granjero has soloed and choreographed with the María Benítez Company and is current a guest artist with three companies, including the María Serrano Ciompany in Sevilla, Spain.

The other choreographer is New York-based Takehiro Ueyama, who will stage an excerpt from his work “SALARYMAN,” which is a salute to the resilient nature of the Japanese.

Ueyama, born and raised in Tokyo, moved to the United States to study at the Juilliard School.

These are the other elements of “NOVA”:

♦ An excerpt titled “They who dance together” from Martha Graham’s work “Dark Meadow,” first performed in 1946 to a commissioned score by Carlos Chavez. The excerpt is being restaged by Eric Newton, who is UNM adjunct faculty. Newton, who was a dancer with the Martha Graham Dance Company, is teaching the Graham technique to UNM dance students.

♦ Reche has two works for the concert that he choreographed. One is “Loss of the Absent,” inspired by a poem by Brazilian Clarice Lispector. The accompanying music combines sounds of nature and excerpts from Peter Ilich Tchaikovsky’s Violin Concerto in D. The other is “Thirst,” a high-energy piece for four male dancers. Esteban Garza, James Hooper, Avalon Jay and Louis Roccato dance to the music of Brazilian singer-songwriter Tom Zé.