Dance audition held for multicultural carnival

Dancers with experience in African-based dance rhythms are invited to audition to perform in a multicultural carnival that celebrates the Caribbean in music, word and dance. A master dance class and audition will be held on Saturday, Feb. 14, 1-4 p.m., in studio 549 in Lathrop Hall, 1050 University Ave., on the UW–Madison campus.

Anita Gonzalez, UW–Madison guest artist-in-residence, will lead the master class and select dancers to participate in carnival performances. Gonzalez is a director, choreographer and performer, and an original member of the acclaimed African-American dance ensemble, Urban Bush Women. Her work fuses African-American and Latin American movements.

Dance rehearsals will be held Sunday, Feb. 15, noon-5 p.m.; and Monday, Feb. 16-Thursday, Feb. 19, 6-9 p.m. Performances will be held on Friday, Feb. 20, at 10:30 a.m. and 7 p.m., and Saturday, Feb. 21, at 7 p.m. Attendance at all rehearsals and performances is mandatory for dancers selected to participate.

The carnival, Sin Fronteras Multicultural Carnival: Celebrating the Word through Dance, Poetry and Caribbean Rhythms, will be held on Feb. 21 at 7 p.m. in the Margaret H’Doubler Performance Space in Lathrop Hall. The event will also feature performances by steel pan virtuoso Jeff Narell; spoken-word artists Chinaka Hodge and Jason Mateokia; and a spoken-word slam featuring the teenage winners of spoken-word and creative-writing competitions held earlier that week.

The event is co-sponsored by the UW–Madison Latin American, Caribbean and Iberian Studies Program; the UW–Madison Dance Program; the UW–Madison Department of Theatre and Drama; the Madison Children’s Museum; and the Madison Metropolitan School District.

For more information on the dance audition or the carnival, contact Willie Ney, 262-2811, wney@facstaff.wisc.edu.