UM School of Theatre & Dance Hosts 2014 ACDFA Northwest Regional Conference, Now thru 4/5

The University of Montana School of Theatre & Dance is the proud host of the Northwest Regional Conference of the American College Dance Festival Association (ACDFA). From today, April 2-5 the University and Missoula communities will welcome 400 dancers, artists and musicians from universities and colleges throughout the nation and the globe.

Highlights of this remarkable dance event include:

Opening Concert featuring the choreography and performance of dance faculty from universities throughout the Northwest. In effort to realize the theme of this conference, converging communities, they have creatively collaborated through virtual mediums to design a new dance work that will premiere at the Opening Concert. Accompanying the choreography will be renowned Missoula musicians John Sporman and Travis Yost as well as Boulder, Colorado's Jesse Manno.

CoMotion Dance Project presents Fire Speaks the Land. This is a 50-minute performance that uses original choreography, narration, and music to explore fire science, forest ecology, and traditional Native perspectives on fire. This beautifully crafted live performance has appeal for all ages.

Adjudicated concerts featuring work from 26 universities and colleges (including UM) and The Top of a Very Tall Mountain by renowned Seattle choreographer KT Niehoff. In January, Ms. Niehoff served as a guest artist in the UM Dance Program. She taught seven advanced dance majors her technique "unhinge," which serves as the basis for this luscious, fierce, highly physical and dynamic choreographic work. Set to Niehoff's original sound score and accompanied by live vocalists, The Top of a Very Tall Mountain will represent UM in the adjudicated concert. UM senior Claire Christensen's choreography Organized Chaos in the Silence of Solitude will be a student-featured work in the adjudicated concert. Her work is an ongoing investigation of the act of meditation practices and how those individual experiences could collectively translate through contemporary modern dance movement. These are two of 44 pieces being performed over two days.

Closing Gala Concert, featuring work selected from the four adjudicated concerts. This work represents what the adjudicators found to be of the utmost excellence in performance and choreography at the conference. Two pieces from the Gala Concert will be selected to perform at the Kennedy Center in Washington, DC in June 2014.

Dance for Camera Screening presents seven original dances for camera made by students and faculty from the University of Colorado, Boulder; University of Oregon; Brigham Young University; Gonzaga University; University of Wyoming; Utah Valley University; and University of Montana. Each film will be screened and then given constructive feedback by Missoula's Mike Steinberg, Amy Ragsdale, and Heejoo Kim.

More than 90 dance classes scheduled daily throughout the University community. Classes range in genres and include ballet, contemporary modern dance, hip-hop, somatic studies, improvisation, tap, jazz, and cultural dance forms.

UM School of Theatre & Dance

Northwest Regional Conference of the American College Dance Festival Association

April 2-5, 2014

Opening Concert, Montana Theatre, April 2, 7:30PM ($8 at door)

CoMotion Dance Project, April 4, 10:40AM, Masquer Theatre (Free)

Adjudicated Concerts I-IV April 3-4, 12:30 and 8:30PM daily, Montana Theatre (Free)

Dance for Camera Screening, University Center Theater, April 5, 10:30AM (Free)

Gala Concert, April 5, 7:30PM, Montana Theatre ($8 at door)

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