Dance Program Hosts American College Dance Festival: March 13-16

Friday, March 7, 2008 -

 

By the time March rolls around, spring break will actually seem plausible.  Many students will head south to thaw out from one of Madison’s most grueling winters ever.

For students majoring in dance, however, things will heat up right here on campus when the UW-Madison Dance Program hosts the American College Dance Festival Association’s (ACDFA) North-Central Regional Conference on March 13-16. 

More than 500 students and faculty from 33 colleges and universities from the Midwest, along with 30 students from Taiwan, will come together with one thing in mind – dancing!  Participants will engage in four days of performances, workshops, panels, and master classes taught by instructors from around the region and country. 

“And the public is invited,” says Jin-Wen Yu, dance professor and chair of the Dance Program. “We will be presenting seven performances at the Wisconsin Union Theater that are free and open to the public.” 

A Global Concert on Friday night, March 14, and the Gala Concert on Sunday afternoon, March 16, will be showcased along with five adjudication concerts.  (See details and schedules attached)     

Each year the ACDFA sponsors ten regional conferences across the country.  They serve as the primary means for college and university dance programs to perform outside their own academic settings and be exposed to the diversity of the national college dance world.

Participating in an ACDFA conference can be a “heady” experience in the life of an emerging dancer.

“The American College Dance Festival was truly amazing,” says a former student participant.  “I enjoyed the atmosphere of total emersion, the blend of performances, classes and time just to hang out and absorb the energy charging the campus.”

For another, “The weekend we spent at the festival was pure heaven:  taking four dance classes a day, watching at least four hours of performances, the camaraderie, rehearsing, performing and learning so much from the expertise of the dance teachers.”

Traveling to different schools and parts of the country is only one of the overall educational benefits.  ACDFA has been the primary venue for college programs to share creative work and showcase the incredible training that’s offered at universities.  It’s also a great connection with the professional world.

Among the roster of dance luminaries who have participated in regional and national festivals in the past are:  Edward Villella, Paul Taylor, Viola Farber, Pearl Primus, Alwin Nikolais and Liz Lerman.

Conceived in the early 1970s, the American College Dance Festival Association continues to support and promote the wealth of talent and creativity that is prominent throughout college and university dance departments.  The fostering of creative potential and artistic excellence in choreography and/or performance is central to its educational mission.

ACDFA has established ten regions throughout the country for organizational purposes and maintains a strong regional structure to help facilitate the exchange of information. Dance Program chair Jin-Wen Yu is on the board of the North-Central region.

Dating back to 1926, the University of Wisconsin-Madison was the first campus in the country to offer a degree in dance.  Lathrop Hall, built in 1910 in a classic Renaissance Revival style and renovated in 1997, has been home to the Dance Program since then. 

“We are fortunate and proud to share our beautiful state-of-the-art facilities to host this year’s conference,” says Yu.  “And it’s important we do so.” 

ACDFA also sponsors a National College Dance Festival every other year. It’s at this biennial event that works selected from each regional conference are traditionally showcased at the Kennedy Center in Washington, D. C. at three gala concerts.

This year is the exception.  Because of ongoing Kennedy Center renovations, the 2008 National will be held at the Miller Theatre in New York City on June 4-6.  “Thanks to the generosity of a UW-Madison alumni donor, we’ll be taking 16 students to New York to participate in the National Festival,” says Yu.  “If one of our pieces adjudicated here at the North-Central Conference is selected to be performed at a gala concert in New York, it would be a tremendous honor and experience for our dancers.”

One way or another, the UW dance contingent is slated to perform in New York.  The Dance Program and the UW Alumni Association are collaborating to present a concert for UW alums in New York at the Tribeca Performing Arts Center on June 3.  

In the interim, UW dancers are gearing up to welcome hundreds of other collegiate dancers to Lathrop Hall in March.  Then it’s on to the National Festival in June where they’ll take advantage of opportunities to network with alumni and explore New York, the dance capitol of the world – the city that never sleeps.  It’s where dancers long to be.  It’s where they’ll discover…  If they can make it there, they can make it anywhere!

Public Concert Schedule
All concerts will be held at the Wisconsin Union Theater, 800 Langdon Street

Global Concert
Friday, March 14, 8 p.m.
Features Chinese and contemporary dance repertories, as well as a fusion of traditional and popular African Caribbean movement.

Gala Concert
Sunday, March 16, 2 p.m.
Features the top eight to 10 works adjudicated during the conference.

Adjudication Concerts:
Thursday, March 13, Concert One: 11am-12:45pm; Concert Two: 5-7pm
Friday, March 14, Concert Three: 10:45am-12:30pm; Concert Four: 4:30-5:45pm
Saturday, March 15, Concert Five: 11:15am-1:15pm
(Twenty-two schools will perform 42 works for adjudication.)

For more information, see www.dance.wisc.edu or contact Ereck Jarvis, Conference Coordinator at (608) 262-1640, jejarvis@wisc.edu

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