State of Change November 18, 2011

Nov 18, 1:00pm & 8:00pm; Nov 19, 8:00pm

Yukie Fujimoto, MRDC Artistic Director, will premiere a new trio called "...and then there were Three", that observes alliance, exchange, kinship, and siblings. Mills Dance Department chair and MRDC Co-artistic Director, Sonya Delwaide, has created a piece entitled "Les Cloches: Versions 1 & 2". Inspired by the music of Marin Marais, she challenges her dancers to explore two different interpretations of the same score and examine how a shift in perception can alter an experience of the same thing. Visiting Professor Sheldon Smith will present a new work that is loosely inspired by 15 year old style rookie Tavi Gevinson, press conferences that feature apologies by athletes, the town of Gary, Indiana, and myths about rabbits. The work investigates apologies, regret, and redemption through a series of dreamlike images, weaving together moments that are deeply broken with moments that are highly focused to suggest that our greatest moments of clarity often arrive at our moments of deepest uncertainty.

Renowned choreographer and Mills alumna, Molissa Fenley ('75), will present her newly commissioned piece, Credo in Us. Originally choreographed as a piece d'occasion in celebration of the inauguration of Alecia A. DeCoudreaux as president of Mills College, which premiered at the Mills Art Museum on September 22, 2011. In this new variation, Fenley continues her homage to the artistic explorations of John Cage with a new cast of dancers, different props, and many new choreographic phrases.

Finally, with the guidance of Doug Varone and Dancers company member Erin Owen, MRDC also presents Varone's The Bench Quartet, a piece that premiered in 1986 and has been a favorite in the company repertoire for the last 25 years. Following the architecture of JS Bach's Cantata #78, the quartet of women weave seamlessly in and out of sync with each other, ultimately forming a solid community through their interaction and need for human connection.

Official Website: http://www.mills.edu/dance