Peck School Dancers Travel to NYC For A Performance April 15-16

We're proud to announce that 12 of our undergraduate dance students will travel east this week to perform the Alwin Nikolais dance work "Water Studies" as part of the "Sharing the Legacy" conference April 15-16 at Hunter College in Manhattan.

Our students will dance at the Sylvia & Danny Kaye Playhouse, along with students from 11 other colleges. "Sharing the Legacy" at Hunter College is an ongoing series that addresses the challenges involved in preserving historically significant dance and introduces the next generation of dancers to their artistic heritage.

This year, "Sharing the Legacy" honors the centennial celebration of Nikolais's life work as a multimedia pioneer. "Water Studies" was first performed by the UWM Dance Department in 2009, as the culmination of a year-long residency by Alberto Del Saz, co-director of the Nikolais Louis Foundation for Dance. The Nikolais residency was made possible by American Masterpieces: Dance, a program of the National Endowment for the Arts, which is administered by the New England Foundation for the Arts with Dance/USA.

"While our department performs a lot of new and experimental work, we also have a commitment to connect our students with what has come before," says Ed Burgess, Dance Department chair. "Performing the Nikolais work has broadened their abilities as thinkers, collaborators and choreographers."

Alberto del Saz was so impressed with the UWM students' grasp of the Nikolais choreography that he recommended they be invited to perform at the prestigious Hunter College conference. He also returned to UWM this academic year to help the dancers prepare "Water Studies" for performances in this past February's "Winterdances: Égalité!" on campus and the April performance in New York City.

"Sharing the Legacy" marks the first time that a group of UWM undergraduate dancers has traveled to New York City to perform.

"The students will be dancing on a stage that has presented works by Merce Cunningham and Martha Graham, meeting dancers from other nationally recognized collegiate programs and attending master classes," says Burgess. "The trip will connect the students to their profession in a major new way and affirm the choices and sacrifices they've made to pursue this career path."

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