Hartt Community Division Dance Department to Present HARTTWORKS, 3/18-19

The Hartt School Community Division (HCD) presents its annual HarttWorks dance performance Friday, March 18, at 7:30 p.m. and Saturday, March 19, at 2 p.m. at Millard Auditorium on the campus of the University of Hartford, 200 Bloomfield Avenue, West Hartford. Tickets are $20 each, and can be purchased via the University Box Office at 860.768.4228 or 800.274.8587 or online at hartford.edu/tickets.

HarttWorks offers the unique opportunity for audience members to observe multiple-genre, professional-quality dance works in one cohesive production. From brand new classical ballet pieces to cutting edge premieres of new works by commissioned and in-house choreographers, there is sure to be a "work" that captivates arts enthusiasts and novice viewers alike. With custom costumes and lighting design enhancing the innovative preprofessional student performers, this season's HarttWorks performance will engage dance audiences of all ages.

HarttWorks will feature "BalletWorks," "ModernWorks," and "JazzWorks." Included are new pieces by HCD faculty coupled with the staging of two classic ballet excerpts and a collaborative effort within HCD itself.

In "BalletWorks," the HCD Dance Department teams up with the HCD Young Composers Project to produce an all-new ballet choreographed by HarttWorks Artistic Director Susannah Marchese. Young Composers Project student Jake Poulios, a senior at the Greater Hartford Academy of Arts, composed the music for this ballet, which will be played live on piano by HCD piano student Genny Norman and danced by the HCD Dance Department students. This group effort will be an exciting opportunity to see much of what the Hartt Community Division has to offer.

Also in "BalletWorks" are two staged classics. The Paquita Suite is an iconic ballet in the classical repertoire and an important milestone piece for all young dancers to perform. Staged by Marchese with rehearsal assistance from Hartt Collegiate Dance Division faculty member Hilda Morales, Paquita is a challenge of style and technique.

The second staged piece is a pas de deux from choreographer Michael Vernon's In A Country Garden. This is his own representation of the classic pas de deux from La Fille Mal Gardee. Joining the HCD Dance Department is Hartt Collegiate Dance Division student Calvin Bittner.

Rounding out "BalletWorks" is former HCD Dance Department faculty member Rebecca DeNies's newly created contemporary ballet titled Nuance, a ballet about individuality and how that shapes the group dynamic.

"ModernWorks" presents two premieres by returning guest choreographers Katie Stevinson-Nollet and Cristin Cawley. Cawley's piece titled Joined Hand centers around the idea of hope and peace for the future.

Current HCD Dance Department faculty members, Mary Sylvester and Spencer Pond, created the two "JazzWorks" pieces on this year's program.

Sylvester's rendition of Singin' in the Rain will no doubt be an audience favorite, and Pond's staging of Bob Fosse's "Steam Heat" will represent the first use of Fosse's choreography for the HCD Dance Department students. Fosse's style of jazz is considered a classic style for young jazz students to learn.

HarttWorks will also present a locally based dance troupe, Pond's own company, The Now Unboxing Project, performing Etudes, a celebration of the technique, aesthetic, and themes of jazz set to Chopin's masterworks by the same name. Included in Pond's troupe are HCD faculty members and graduates of the Hartt Collegiate Dance Division.

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