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.

St. Olaf Dance Department receives $10,000 grant

By David Gonnerman '90
September 14, 2005

The Department of Dance at St. Olaf College has received a $10,000 grant for the reconstruction of Anna Sokolow's piece, Dreams. The reconstruction will be conducted by Lorry May, the founding director of the Sokolow Dance Foundation who will be in residence at St. Olaf Nov. 4-12. Dance/USA and the National Endowment for the Arts are awarding the grant through the American Masterpieces: Dance--College Component program.

Dreams, originally choreographed in 1961, was the first serious dance exploration of the Holocaust. As Clive Barnes, former dance critic for the New York Times, once wrote, "This ballet is one of the most depressing, the most shattering and the most impressive of contemporary dance theater." The work was inspired by The Last of the Just, a novel by Andre Schwarz-Bart that chronicles Jewish persecution beginning in England in 1105 and ending with the Holocaust.

The reconstruction of Dreams will be tied into St. Olaf College's theme of "Liberal Arts in Times of War," a sub theme of a greater two-year focus of Global Citizenship and the Liberal Arts. "We hope this piece will encourage college-wide reflection on the contributions of liberal arts to understanding war and its many consequences," says Janice Roberts, chair of the Dance Department who co-wrote the grant with faculty member Heather Klopchin.

Performances of Dreams will take place at St. Olaf (and, possibly, Carleton College) next spring.

LORRY MAY
May is considered a leading authority on the Sokolow repertory, gaining experience as an assistant to Sokolow and, later, as co-artistic director of the performing company, Anna Sokolow's Players' Project. May has set work on the Berlin Ballet Company in Germany, Ballet Independiente in Mexico, Dayton Contemporary Dance Company in Ohio, Dancefusion Company in Pennsylvania and Kansas City Ballet.

While at St. Olaf May will teach dance technique and lecture on dance history. She also will speak to students in the History Department's course on the Holocaust. Her visit also will include lectures and demonstrations for local high school students, and technique classes at Carleton and the Northfield Arts Guild.

American Masterpieces: Dance--College Component strives to celebrate the extraordinary and rich evolution of dance and choreography in the United States by sponsoring select performances, tours and educational opportunities that acquaint Americans with the best of their artistic legacy.

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