Choreography: Armando Duarte, in collaboration with the dancers
Music: Moss You Are and Kyrielle by Wim Mertems
Dancers: Hayden Jensen, Amya Lopez, Kendra McDaniel, Ashley McKim, Roni Patterson, Morgan Powers, Cami Rezabek, Katie Scuderi and Elsie VanDaele
This work has been presented as a "work-in-progress." The choreography is a result of a 12-week intense collaboration among the First-Year Seminar students and the choreographer. This collaboration included improvisational approach to movement based on written words; movement interpretation, manipulation, development and further adaptation of specific given movement phrases.
Thanks to this wonderful group of students for their willingness and open minds to work on a new creative process. Your diligence and contributions throughout the process was an inspiration to reach beyond. Thanks to Eloy Barragan for recording the final run of the process. Appreciated!
Armando Duarte, professor, contemporary choreographer, and researcher of the Brazilian popular culture (1993-present), has received various awards throughout his career, including the Best Choreographer Award from the Associação Paulista de Críticos de Arte (São Paulo Association of Art Critics) in Brazil. He has choreographed for companies in the US, Brazil and other countries. His academic research involves in-depth investigation on Samba and Carnival, for which he created courses that offer students theoretical and movement-practice experiences in this popular culture. He has presented lectures on the subject at several universities and conferences in the US and Brazil. He is a two-time winner of the Iowa Old Gold Summer Fellowship, and has received numerous grants from the UI Support Program for Arts and Humanities, the Arts and Humanities Initiative Program, and the prestigious Obermann Center for Advanced Studies Interdisciplinary Research Grant. Professor Duarte is honored with the opportunity to continue sharing his wisdom, artistic vision, knowledge and experience with people of all ages.