MFA Dance Concert: Here We Are
Charlotte York Irey Studios

Choreography by:
Rachael Harding & Stephanie Kobes

Irey Studio
Oct. 2 & 3 at 7:30pm
Oct. 4 at 2:00pm

(Boulder, Colorado)  The University of Colorado, Department of Theatre & Dance is proud to present Here We Are, a Master of Fine Arts dance concert featuring the work of MFA candidates Rachael Harding and Stephanie Kobes. The choreographers work separately in the first portion of the concert showcasing pieces that exhibit their individual athletic styles while exploring the nature of memory. The second half of the concert is a multi-media collaboration between these two dance artists analyzing America’s racial divide.   
 
Here We Are, the title of the concert and the title of the emotionally charged, collaborative duet, delves into the unspoken and bleak realities of racial segregation in America’s past and present.  Juxtaposed images combined with confrontational, powerful, movement nestle inside a historically-based sound score challenging the audience’s understanding of a racially divided society.

The first portion of the concert includes two works created by Harding and three created by Kobes.

Five work lights operated by the dancers create a starkly lit world in which flashes of memories create a shadowy landscape of sweeping movement and evocative, gestural impressions in What Remains (1), choreographed by Kobes.

Kobes further examines the intangibility and slipperiness of memory in What Remains (2)
and What Remains (3).  What Remains (3) is a trio in which a rainy landscape projected on umbrellas opens the door to pieces of memory that begin to fade away.  What Remains (2), a dance for camera work, examines the idea of a woman’s lifetime and the numerous individual memories that make it up, filmed in the reflection of windows, doors and water.

Surfaced, choreographed by Harding,reveals deep emotions, recalling suppressed memories and suggesting that it is a choice to reach for support.  Life experiences bring the dancers together through contrasting gestures and dynamic, expansive movement expression. 

Memoir Sketches, also choreographed by Harding, closes the evening.  Passion and fire drive this energetic Jazz piece into the audience’s core.  The melding of Jazz-fusion with a Spanish flare is accented through the dancers’ bodies and musical rhythms. 

This concert is an evening of unforgettable movement, a night that will invite the audience to reflect on their own lives and memories, an evening you won’t want to miss!