The Hartt School Presents Hartt Dances 11/18-20

The Hartt School Dance Division presents Hartt Dances on Friday, November 18, at 7:30 PM; and Saturday, November 19, at 2:00 PM and 7:30 PM; Sunday, November 20 at 2:00 PM at Lincoln Theater on the University of Hartford's West Hartford campus. Admission is $20, with discounts for seniors, students, and groups. Admission is free for University of Hartford students, faculty, and staff with current University ID. For tickets and information, contact the University of Hartford Box Office at 860.768.4228 or 1.800.274.8587, or visit www.hartford.edu/hartt.

Hartt Dances features a new adaptation of Martha Graham's 1946 masterwork Dark Meadow created especially for The Hartt School and coached by Peggy Lyman-Hayes, former principal dancer with the Martha Graham Company and founding director of The Hartt School's Dance Division, and Miki Orihara, current principal dancer with the Martha Graham Dance Company. Peggy worked with Hartt students every week to rehearse the piece and teach the technique as a guest artist. Dark Meadow features live music by Carlos Chavez arranged by Hartt composition student James Stewart and played by Hartt's Performance 20/20 Honors Chamber Music Ensemble. Original sets by Isamu Noguchi were brought to the University of Hartford campus for this performance. Noguchi, a Japanese-American sculptor and frequent collaborator of Martha Graham's, has had sculptures and garden designs on display at the Cigna building in Hartford.

Hartt Dance Division Director Stephen Pier said, "Dark Meadow is a major event for The Hartt School. We have been asked by the Martha Graham Company to re-work this 40 minute masterpiece by focusing on the brilliant group dances. Our dancers have had the rare opportunity to work with two renowned artists from the Company who both worked with Martha Graham."

This concert also features José Limón's Dances for Isadora (1971), that celebrates the passionate and tragic life of "the mother of modern dance," features the piano music of Frederic Chopin, and is staged by former Limón dancer Nina Watt; George Balanchine's Serenade (1st movement), which premiered in Hartford in 1934 and is re-staged by Hilda Morales with help from Debra Collins-Ryder and the Balanchine dancer Victoria Simons; and new works by Dance Division Director Stephen Pier and faculty member Katie Stevinson-Nollet, both featuring live music played by Performance 20/20.

"We are fortunate to have a faculty which includes people who dance with these three giants of dance: Hilda Morales with Balanchine; Nina Watt with José Limón; and Peggy Lyman-Hayes with Martha Graham," continued Pier.

The Hartt School is the comprehensive performing arts school of the University of Hartford that offers innovative degree programs in music, dance, and theatre. Founded in 1920, Hartt has been an integral part of the University of Hartford since its charter merged the then Hartt School of Music, the Hartford Art School, and Hillyer College to create the University in 1957. 2010 markEd Hartt's 90th year of providing world class performing arts education to students in Greater-Hartford and around the world. With more than 400 concerts, recitals, plays, master classes, dance performances, and musical theatre productions a year, performance is central to Hartt's curriculum. For more information about The Hartt School, visit www.hartford.edu/hartt.

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