You reached this page through the archive. Click here to return to the archive.

Note: This article is over a year old and information contained in it may no longer be accurate. Please use the contact information in the lower-left corner to verify any information in this article.

Companydance will celebrate new dance space with concert of original, reconstructed works

By Anne Keasling '03
April 30, 2002

NORTHFIELD, Minn. - Companydance, St. Olaf College's modern dance company, will perform its annual spring concert May 2-4 at 8 p.m. in Kelsey Theater in the Speech-Theater Building. The concert includes a wide variety of styles and content, including works by students, faculty and guest artists, as well as a reconstructed dance by modern dance pioneer Doris Humphrey.

Companydance, which numbers some 60 dancers, performs under the direction of Assistant Professor of Dance Heather Klopchin.

The opening piece, "Invocation," by Minneapolis dancer and choreographer Wynn Fricke, was choreographed and taught to seven students during a residency at St. Olaf in September. Members of Companydance showed the work at the American College Dance Festival in Arizona in March.

Senior student choreographers Sarah Miller and Nellie Rainwater each will have works in the concert. Miller's "Grace" and "To Cradle Swallows" and Rainwater's "How the Loved Look" were chosen by audition to represent student choreography. Each piece, originally shown at the senior dance concert last fall, has been reworked in preparation for the spring concert.

Sherry Saterstrom, assistant professor of dance, has been working with a performance improvisation group throughout the year. They will perform a group improvisation, entitled "Catching On," that has students dancing around senior art student Noah Holm's sculptures.

Companydance also will perform a reconstructed version of "Waterstudy," a modern dance choreographed in the 1920s by the legendary Doris Humphrey and reworked here by Humphrey specialist Gail Corbin. This piece brings a unique glimpse into the early history of modern dance in the United States, showing the expansion of style and technique.

Closing the show will be "Rockhouse," a lighthearted jazz number by Cathy Young, artistic director of Cathy Young Dance in the Twin Cities.

For many dance students, the spring concert is the year's culminating event. "In my last performances I'm going to celebrate with the people who have made my college dance experience so memorable," says St. Olaf senior Stephanie Laager. "Companydance has allowed me to do the thing that I love, in a place that I love."

The spring concert coincides with the official opening and dedication of the Dittmann Center for Art and Dance, which has provided new rehearsal and performance space to the St. Olaf dance department. "This concert is an exciting show, full of variety," Klopchin says. "You can really see the impact of the new, sufficient rehearsal space and the increased interest in dance this year."

The Companydance spring concert is free to the St. Olaf community and $6 for others. To reserve tickets, call (507) 646-8987.

St. Olaf College, a national leader among liberal arts institutions, fosters the development of mind, body and spirit. It is a residential college in Northfield, Minn., and affiliated with the Evangelical Lutheran Church in America (ELCA). The college provides personalized instruction and diverse learning environments, with more than two-thirds of its students participating in international studies.

Contact David Gonnerman at 507-786-3315 or gonnermd@stolaf.edu.