— Annual Presentation is a Collaborative Effort by Student Choreographers, Dancers, Costume Designers and Composers Creating and Performing Original Works —
Queens, New York, April 30, 2021—This year’s Queens College Student Choreography Showcase — Infinite Synapse — will incorporate a variety of dance techniques from contemporary to West African and traditional Irish dance, representing a journey through personal transformation, mindfulness and cosmic refractions. Presented annually by the college’s Department of Drama, Theatre, and Dance as a celebration of artistic excellence, the showcase is an opportunity for student choreographers, dancers, costume designers and composers to collaborate on creating and performing original works.
Infinite Synapse, directed by Queens College Professor Edisa Weeks, founder of Delirious Dances, will be livestreamed by the Kupferberg Center for the Arts from Thursday, May 6, through Sunday, May 9. Original choreography by Queens College students Alisha Anderson, Anna Artinger, Dana Mongelli, and Isobel Seabrook will be presented in both live and prerecorded features. Also participating this year is alumnus Jiemin Yang, currently a City University of New York (CUNY) Dance Initiative Artist in Residence.
About the works
What Lies Beneath: The Afterlife by Alisha Anderson combines elements of West African and contemporary dance in an exploration of life after death and the interactions of a spirit with other souls as it journeys toward the afterlife. Costumes by Taleah Cameron.
Don’t Always Believe Demons Answer by Anna Artinger is a contemporary dance about loss and the grieving process from the perspectives of the choreographer and cast, and in response to the societal impact of distancing during the pandemic. Original music by Kyle Miller and Anna Artinger, costumes designed by Courtney Johnson.
Cosmic Convergence by Dana Mongelli investigates the interconnectedness of humans and a search for meaning as impacted by the COVID-19 pandemic. Original music composed by Diego Guarnieri and Luca Longobardi, with costumes designed by Rosemarie Davi in collaboration with Dana Mongelli.
Tranglam is Isobel Seabrook’s dance film debut and CUNY Macauley Honors College thesis, merging her training in traditional Irish dance with her passion for contemporary movement. Centered around the idea of mindfulness, the film explores the cyclical process of struggling against one’s own consciousness to remain in the present moment, despite whatever chaos may arise.
Wo/我 (equivalent to “I” in English) by Queens-based cross-disciplinary artist Jiemin Yang combines cinematic and movement art to explore Yang’s personal story as a queer Chinese dance artist who is also a son of an immigrant family with traditional cultural values. The presentation offers viewers a glimpse into Yang’s personal world through vivid visuals and frank narrative in the hope that it will spark discussion and resonate with viewers who have shared similar experiences. The original score was composed by James Acampora and Jacob Psenicka; filmmaker Ellen Maynard served as director of photography and editor.
Performance dates are Thursday, Friday and Saturday, May 6 through 8, at 7 pm, and Sunday, May 9 at 5 pm. Tickets are $10. Visit the Kupferberg Center website to purchase tickets and access the streaming link. Download publicity images here.
Please click here for artists’ bios.
About the Queens College Department of Drama, Theatre & Dance
The Department of Drama, Theatre & Dance offers the study of the subjects appropriate for a liberal arts degree. A balanced combination of theory and practice aims at giving an understanding of the arts of drama, theatre and dance that can serve as a foundation for graduate study. Every effort is made to provide scope for the development of individual talent and skills as a preliminary step for those students who intend to pursue future conservatory training for a stage or dance career.
The department offers strong, diversified academic programs in theatre (covering history, literature, acting, directing, stage management, design, and technical theatre), and dance (modern, ballet, tap, Asian and African dance, choreography, and history). Each year, on our three stages, the department presents a wide range of five fully realized productions. These are dramas and comedies, classic and modern plays, new plays, musicals, operas, and dance concerts. Under the guidance of faculty and guest directors and designers, student actors and dancers perform for audiences drawn from all segments of the college community, as well as Queens neighborhoods.
For more about Queens college, visit http://www.qc.cuny.edu/Pages/home.aspx
Contact:
Maria Matteo
Associate Director, Media and College Relations
718-997-5593
maria.matteo@qc.cuny.edu