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Long Beach CA – The California State University, Long Beach Department of Dance presents HyperDrive, a celebration of modern, ballet, and jazz dance created by CSULB dance faculty and guest artists, April 23 and 24 at 8 pm. in the Richard and Karen Carpenter Performing Arts Center on the University campus. HyperDrive features the work of CSULB dance faculty Lorin Johnson, Susan McLain, Sophie Monat, Cyrus Parker-Jeannette, and Andrew Vaca, and guest artists Frank Chaves and Marie de la Palme. From syncopated concert jazz dance to stunning modern dance imagery to contemporary pointe work, HyperDrive will offers a significant taste of the wide variety of dance techniques and genres that are part of the comprehensive CSULB Dance curriculum, and will tangibly demonstrate why the dance programs at CSULB is consistently ranked among the “Top Ten Dance Programs in the Nation.”
HyperDrive features well-known dances by our Spring 2009 Guest Artists Frank Chaves and Marie de la Palme. Chaves, the Artistic Director of River North Chicago Dance Company, has staged the high energy Grusin Suite, featuring the music of jazz great Dave Grusin, on our CSULB dancers. An international choreographer and teacher, Chaves has created numerous works for River North Chicago and other companies including Spectrum Dance Theatre, Giordano Jazz Dance Chicago, Point Park College for the Performing Arts, Barat Repertory Dance Company, Kaleidoscope Dancers, Pori Dance Company (Finland), and Ballet Pacifica’s Choreographer’s Workshop.
The Cage, by Horton Award-nominated choreographer Marie de la Palme, is a stunning and sensuous duet set to Debussy’s “Prelude to the Afternoon of a Faun,” The Cage was awarded the Engagement Award at the Choreography Under the Stars Dance Festival in 2006, and has been seen in venues across the country. de la Palme, currently the Director of the Irvine Valley College Performing Ensemble, was a principal dancer for Alvin Ailey III, Trisler Danscompany, Keith Lee Ballets, and Omega Dance. She choreographed for Jacques d’Amboise’s National Dance Institute, later working on industrials and musicals in Orange County and Las Vegas before focusing on concert choreography.
The anchor of the HyperDrive program is the work created by the resident faculty choreographers of the CSULB Department of Dance. Ballet professor and former ABT dancer Lorin Johnson will premiere Current, exploring the somber tones of the Kyrie through visualizations of flowing water, inspired and set to Mozart’s “Mass in C-Minor.” Former Martha Graham Dance Company principal dancer Susan McLain premieres the visually stunning Just a Rose Will Do, a metaphoric journey that symbolizes love and loss, where the rose, most often associated with the fleeting beauty of life’s poignant moments, is embodied by women. Department of Dance Chairperson Cyrus Parker-Jeannette and lighting designer Andrew N. Milhan have collaborated their talents to premiere And That We Call Being, a celebration of Walt Whitman’s Songs of Myself, set to music created by well-known jazz artist Fred Hersch. Known across Southern California for her lively balletic works, ballet professor Sophie Monat premieres Six Sonatas, featuring the CSULB dancers interpreting the melodic flow of six Corelli sonatas through precise pointe work and vibrant partnering. Lastly, Andrew Vaca’s Gimme Lip (2003) will turn the Carpenter Performing Arts Center into the “Lip Locker,” a lip-synching cabaret where the audience will take a look at gender roles and tolerance in a raucous theater dance work utilizing music ranging from the 60s to today.
Tickets for HyperDrive are $25 for the general public, $20 for students, seniors, CSULB Faculty and staff, and DRC members, and $18 for groups of 12 or more. Tickets are currently available from the Arts Ticket Office at (562) 985-7000 or via the Internet at www.csulb.edu/dance. For group ticket sales, please call (562) 985-2024. Special VIP tickets for the Friday, April 24 performance are available and include a special pre-performance reception and showcase. All proceeds benefit student scholarships. $5 patron parking is available in CSULB Parking Lot 12, adjacent to the Carpenter Performing Arts Center. Please be advised, HyperDrive contains mature images and adult content. Parental discretion is recommended. For additional information, contact Concert Director Andrew Vaca at (562) 985-9224.
