Title: Reframings
Premiere: June 18 & 19, 2015, University of Michigan Museum of Art, 3 staircases on first level. Presented by Ann Arbor Dance Works.
Duration: 6 minutes
Dancers: Jillian Hopper, Yoshiko Iwai, Patty Solórzano
Music: Collage, including excerpts from “I Trill Tunes” by David Borden; excerpts from Preludes IV and XXIV from William Duckworth’s “Time Curve Preludes”; traditional shakuhachi.
Costumes: Patty Branam and Patricia Plasko
Choreographer’s note: Excerpts from three past solos I created inspired by works of visual art have been reframed for a museum vista that encompasses three staircases. The excerpts are from Woman with a Pearl Drop Earring (1986), based upon Jan Vermeer paintings; “The Bath” section of Set of Eight: Routines and Reveries (2000), based upon Mary Cassatt prints and performed in the UMMA apse in 2001; and the “Nude” section of Pratt Block Preludes (2012), inspired by the paintings of Ann Arbor artist Nora Venturelli and premiered in the intimate space of the WSG Gallery. One solo is seen and heard through another in a new composite.
Title: Have Your Cake…
Premiere: June 18 & 19, 2015, University of Michigan Museum of Art, Museum Apse and lobby by gift shop Presented by Ann Arbor Dance Works.
Dancers: Amy Cadwallader, Jillian Hopper, Patty Solórzano, and company
Music: “Happy Birthday Variation for Noel Thomas” from the Earth Journey series by David Borden
Costumes: Patty Branam
Description: As artistic director of Ann Arbor Dance Works, I conceived of an evening of works by several of the UM faculty choreographers. It took place in the museum plaza and in spaces throughout the museum. In addition to directing the evening, I contributed two short works: Reframings and Have Your Cake…Envisioned as a metaphorical meal, the evening of dances began with an amuse bouche in the museum’s outdoor plaza with a work by Missy Beck. From there, the audience entered the museum and moved between three spaces for the "hors d’oeuvres section of the evening, viewing short works by Amy Chavasse, Peter Sparling, and myself (Reframings). The audience then moved to seating around the apse for the main course, where short dances by Bill DeYoung, Sandra Torijano, Robin Wilson, and Gay Delanghe were presented. The evening concluded with a dessert section, including my choreography for the finale Have Your Cake… . The finale began as a brief trio, and then opened out to include all dancers and choreographers and the audience moving through the museum to the lobby. There, a real cake was cut, dessert was served, and the performers communed with the audience during a celebratory reception.
The program was subsequently presented as a series of proscenium works at St Clair County Community College in October 2015.
Preview article UMMA Newsletter
Photos of June 2015 dress rehearsal and performance below by Kirk Donaldson. Included are photos of dances by all the choreographers on the program. Photos of dancer in the gold top and long black skirt (Jillian Hopper, dancer) and of dancer in nude unitard (Patty Solorzano, dancer) are from Fogel’s Reframings. Photos in museum apse that include dancers in white and gold costumes and a wig on dancer Amy Cadwallader are from Fogel’s Have Your Cake,,,
