News Release

Back to Newsroom

---

09.21.09

Contacts: Emory College Center for Creativity & Arts, Jessica Moore, jkmoore@emory.edu, 404-727-1687; Emory Dance Program, Anne Walker, awalker@emory.edu, 404-727-7266;

FAMILY AND POETRY INSPIRE CHOREOGRAPHER ANNA LEO’S NEW WORK SET FOR PREMIERE IN SEPTEMBER

Emory University opens its 2009-10 dance season with “…me so much nearer home,” a concert of work choreographed by Emory Dance Program director Anna Leo (Sept. 25 and 26 at 8 p.m.; Sept. 27 at 3 p.m.; Schwartz Center, Dance Studio). Each work – solo, duet, trio and quartet – is inspired by or honors a member of the choreographer’s family. There is a sense of continuity in the work both thematically and structurally as each dance is introduced by a poem, and the program runs from beginning to end, approximately one hour, with no intermission. All tickets are $5 and are available to the public starting Sept. 11 from the Arts at Emory box office at 404-727-5050, or online at www.arts.emory.edu.

Much of the work is driven by form as is especially evident in the first work, “Warrior Woman Pantoum,” which takes as its structural base the Malayan pantoum poetry form (quatrains in which the second and fourth lines of a stanza repeat as the first and third lines of the next stanza, etc). Work on the solo began at the Hambidge Center in Rabun Gap, Georgia during a three-week residency in summer 2006. Performed by Bridget Roosa, Agnes Scott Dance Program Director, this work investigates images and metaphors that speak to the concept of a female warrior and also echoes the repetitive nature of the poetic form in the development and connection of its movement phrases that feature shifts in the dynamic spectrum ranging from softness and vulnerability to intense strength. Dedicated to Leo’s mother, the work is complemented by a score by Emory Music Department faculty member and composer Steve Everett, and is introduced by “Voice,” a poem written in response to the solo by 2007 Perugia Press First Book Award winner Lynne Thompson.

The solo is followed by “Seven Little Dances for Three,” a new trio honoring Leo’s two siblings. Moving from introductory solos through playful and poignant movement exchanges, the trio is performed by Emory dance program 2001 alumna Blake Beckham and Atlanta-based dancers Kimberly Kleiber and Kristi Topham Petty. The piece features a score by the dance program’s music coordinator Kendall Simpson, and the work is introduced by “Sister, Sister, Brother,” a poem written by Leo’s husband, Robert Brown.

“Together with Eyes Closed,” danced by Emory Dance faculty members Gregory Catellier and George Staib, is introduced by a poem written by Los Angeles-based poet Cecilia Woloch. Choreographed in 2005 with music by Emory Dance Program musician/composer Klimchak, the duet is dedicated to Leo’s husband.

The final work of the performance, “Good Graces,” with a score by Steve Everett, was made in 2004 as part of Leo’s “Triptych for V,” a concert which featured three dances honoring her daughter, Vita. “Good Graces” was initially inspired by Fran Castan’s poem “First Month’s Blessing,” and pays homage to Leo’s daughter and the unique community that began at her birth and continues to support and grow with her. The structure of the dance places the dancers in numerous moving squares, lines, triangles and circles that abstractly speak to the notion of community. The quartet is performed by Emory dance faculty members Lori Teague and George Staib, along with Blake Beckham and Jade Poole.

Anna Leo’s choreography premiered in New York City in 1980 and has been produced there by Dance Theater Workshop, Dance on the Lower East Side and Patsy Tarr and the Dance Chance. Her work there received acclaim from the New York Times, the Washington Post, the Village Voice and other publications. She has taught and choreographed in the U.S., Canada and Germany, received funding from the National Endowment for the Arts and is one of three recipients of the 1997 Excellence in Teaching Award from Emory College. Leo is currently an associate professor and director of the Emory Dance Program. Her teaching areas include modern technique, dance history, solo composition and a seminar on the history, philosophy and practice of yoga.

###

CALENDAR LISTING: 

“…me so much nearer home”: Faculty Dance Concert, Fri, Sept. 25–Sat., Sept. 26, 2009 at 8 p.m., Sun., Sept. 27, 2009 at 3 p.m., Schwartz Center for Performing Arts, Dance Studio, 1700 N. Decatur Rd., Atlanta, GA 30322, 404-727-5050, boxoffice@emory.edu, www.arts.emory.edu, $5 general admission. Tickets on sale Sept. 11; special pre-sale for Emory faculty, staff, students, and Friend's group members Sept. 9. Inspired by choreographer Anna Leo’s family, this concert presents a sequence of elegant dances that honor the nature of family and community. Blending delicate gesture with physically driving movement, each dance – solo, duet, trio and quartet – is introduced by the reading of a poem. The concert features music composed by Music Department faculty member Steve Everett, and Dance Program composers Kendall Simpson and Klimchak. Poems are by Robert Brown, Fran Castan, Lynne Thompson, and Cecelia Woloch. Dancers will be from the Atlanta professional community and Emory faculty. This concert is sponsored in part by a grant from the Emory University Research Committee.

EMORY DANCE PROGRAM
The mission of the Emory Dance Program is to provide a curriculum that interweaves both the practical and theoretical to foster students' creative, intellectual, and communicative powers in the field of dance. We seek to develop skilled and uniquely expressive individuals who move and act with intelligence and sensitivity, think independently, and value original thought and diversity.

ARTS AT EMORY
Emory University provides a dynamic, multi-disciplinary environment for the study, creation, and presentation of the arts.

Editors Note: High-resolution photographs available upon request.

 

---

Back to top