Coker College Hosts Residency with Guest Dance Company

The Coker College Dance Program will host guest dance company Adele Myers and Dancers as part of the Hartsville-Coker Concert Association’s 2013-14 season. This performance will be held Thursday, April 17 at 7:30 p.m. in Watson Theater of the Elizabeth Boatwright Coker Performing Arts Center.

The dance, entitled “Einstein’s Happiest Thought,” is a full-length work that incorporates dance, film, music and scripted performance. The piece is directed and choreographed by Adele Myers and the original score is composed by Josh Quillen. Collaborators include dramaturg Ain Gordon, lighting and visual designer Kathy Couch, filmmaker Emmy Pickett and writer Blanche Boyd.

In addition to the Hartsville-Coker Concert Association performance, Adele Myers and Dancers will host master classes open to Coker dance majors and to the public. Angela Gallo, associate professor of dance, collaborated with the company to arrange the workshops and masterclasses and secure additional funding for their performance. The company has a class called “Movers and Shakers” that will be catered specifically to those with no dance experience. This class will be held Tuesday, April 15 from 9:15 a.m. to 11:15 a.m. and is free and open to the public.

Myers founded Adele Myers and Dancers in 2000. The company has performed in theaters and festivals including Bates Dance Festival, Maine; Jacob’s Pillow Inside/Out, Massachusetts; Dance New Amsterdam, New York; Vermont Performance Lab, Vermont; and New Haven International Festival of Arts and Ideas, Connecticut.

Myers studied choreography at Sarah Lawrence College. She earned a master of fine arts in dance at Florida State University and a doctorate in performance studies from New York University. Myers served as a faculty member in the dance department at Connecticut College from 2006 until 2013. She lives in Connecticut with her husband and two children.

The creation and presentation of this work is supported by the National Endowment for the Arts in cooperation with the New England Foundation for the Arts through the National Dance Project. Major support for National Dance Project is provided by the Doris Duke Charitable Foundation and the Andrew W. Mellon Foundation with additional support from the Community Connections Funds of the MetLife Foundation. Support from the National Endowment for the Arts provides funding for choreographers in early stages of their career. The performance is a collaboration between the Coker Dance Program and the Hartsville-Coker Concert Association, with additional support provided by a grant from the Black Creek Arts Council.

Production residency for this work was supported by the National Dance Project of the New England Foundation for the Arts, with funding from the Andrew Mellon Foundation. General Operating support was made possible by the New England Foundation for the Arts with funding from the Doris Duke Charitable Foundation. Additional development support has been provided by the Bates Dance Festival and Summer Stages Dance at Concord Academy with funding from the New England Foundation of the Arts, and from Connecticut College and the New Haven ACES Educational Center for the Arts.

A partnership between Coker College and Hartsville, the Hartsville-Coker Concert Association presents an annual program of performing arts events in downtown Hartsville and on the Coker College campus. Individual tickets are sold for each event or discounted season tickets are included in the Association’s membership.

Tickets for the performance, which are available at the door, are $25 for adults and $7 for children under 18. Coker students with college identification are admitted for free.

For more information about the Hartsville-Coker Concert Association, visit www.hartsvillecokerconcerts.org or call 383-8125. For more information about Adele Myers and Dancers, go to adelemyersanddancers.com. For more information about the performance or classes, please contact Angela M. Gallo at 843-383-8381 or agallo@coker.edu.

Release written by media relations coordinator Elizabeth McCarley.

November 21st - 23rd: Faculty and Guest Artist Dance Concert at Coker College

The Coker College dance program will present its annual Faculty and Guest Artist Dance Concert Nov. 21-23 in the Watson Theater of Coker’s Elizabeth Boatwright Coker Performing Arts Center. Each show begins at 7:30 p.m. Tickets are $10 for general admission, $5 for high school students and senior citizens, and free for those with a Coker ID.

Six diverse dances will be presented, ranging from theatrical and humorous to introspective and poetic. The concert features choreography from Coker dance program director Angela Gallo, assistant professors of dance Kristin Hapke and Meredith Sims, adjust faculty member Heather Watkins and guest artist Adele Meyers. Performers include the Coker College Repertory Dance Company, a pre-professional dance company, 18 dance majors, and guest dancers from Connecticut and New York.

The Dancing Room, guest artist Myers and dancers, projects the pure joy of dance. This energetic work brims with robust athleticism and tends toward a humanist perspective that emphasizes people dancing, not simply dancers moving. According to Roy C. Dicks of the Charlotte News & Observer, “The work’s uplifting exuberance lingers long after the curtain falls.” Dancer Kelli Lynch from Myers’s company recently taught this work to Coker students during an extended residency at Coker. Myers and dancers will return in April to perform their latest work, Einstein’s Happiest Thought.

The Coker College Repertory Dance Company will perform Sole, a sultry, upbeat jazz piece choreographed by Sims, who takes inspiration from legendary theater dance choreographer Jack Cole. Sims will also present aquirky, highly energetic group piece titled Knick Knack and inspired by "knick knacks" found around a home.

Tracking by Hapke is a highly physical quintet with aggressive partnering and suspended lifts that push the mental and physical endurance of the dancers. Originally created in 2004, Tracking was presented at The Kennedy Center during the American College Dance Festival, where it earned Hapke a nomination for ACDF/Dance Magazine Outstanding Choreographer award.

Gallo’s Out of View, an introspective and fluid contemporary dance work, intertwines dancers explore what is hidden and what becomes revealed. Illuminating the subconscious is the thematic material underlining Heather Watkins Little Spoon. This intimate and fluid duet first began as an underwater aesthetic study and continues to embody the aspect of reflection.

After Friday night’s performance, performers and choreographers will hold a Q&A session immediately following the show. For more information or questions about tickets, contact Gallo at 843-383-8381 oragallo@coker.edu .