Fall faculty dance concert ‘bound’ to please

New York choreographer Heidi Latsky freely admits to being fearful ever since Sept. 11. To allay those fears, she did what she does best – she made a dance. Bound, the group work she created to help transform fear into positive energy, will be showcased in the UW Fall Faculty Dance Concert Nov. 21-23. Curtain time is 8 p.m. in the Margaret H’Doubler Performance Space in Lathrop Hall, 1050 University Ave.

“The work is a spin-off from my signature solo inspired by The Reader, a book about post-World War II Germany by Bernard Schlink,” Latsky says. “It moved me to explore how hate manifests in one’s body.”

As a result, Latsky succeeded in transforming the emotion into pure, kinetic energy. “It’s really the movement that excites me more than the conceptual aspect of this piece,” Latsky says. “If you leave the concert feeling like you want to dance – if my work makes you twitch in your seat – then I’ve achieved my goal as a choreographer.”

With support from the Anonymous Fund, Latsky arrived in Madison in early November as the UW Dance Program‘s fall guest artist-in-residence. At the outset, she auditioned students, then began rehearsing with the nine dancers selected to perform her work. She is also teaching classes and will give a lecture/demonstration about her work and the choices choreographers must make on Friday, Nov. 15 at 1:20 p.m. at Lathrop Hall. The event is free and open to the public.

Other works in the concert include:

To Bury the Petal (2002). Utilizing Jin-Wen Yu’s dramatic physicality, Barbara Grubel choreographed this eight-minute solo to Philip Glass’s music “Metamorphosis Two.” Based on flight, love, loss and rebirth, “Jin-Wen Yu takes us on a personal journey that remains unresolved.”

Fragmenting (2002), a repertory piece choreographed by Marlene Skog with music by Yo-Yo Ma and Edgar Meyer. Members of the group explore their relationships with, and attitudes toward, one another and their surroundings – including loneliness, curiosity and indifference – as a calm, yet unsettling pulse drives the dance into fleeting particles.

Dipole Moment (2002), a duet choreographed by Jin-Wen Yu with music by Leonard Eto. The work reveals the close, comforting aspects of a relationship as well as the dramatic. An untitled solo choreographed by Li Chiao-Ping and performed by Colleen Coy with music by Henryck Gorecki.

Cut-Out Commentary? This quartet choreographed by Barbara Grubel juxtaposes dynamic movement and dancing by women with static, life-size cardboard cut-outs of screen stars. Imaginary, illusory idols and images of women are contemplated in this high-energy work.

Tickets are $12/general public and $8/students and senior citizens, except on Thursday, Nov. 21, when student tickets are $5. Tickets will be sold at the door beginning at 7 p.m. All seats are reserved. For more information, call the Dance Program at 262-1691.