Choreolab to show student and faculty dance pieces

This weekend, Choreolab, Duke’s dance program’s mainstage spring production, will feature a diverse selection of choreography ranging from pieces inspired by modern-day typography to a nine-piece salsa influenced by Cuban Casino dance. Performances include contemporary ballet, modern and jazz dance choreographed by dance faculty Julie Walters, Andrea Woods Valdes and Nina Wheeler, respectively.

This year’s guest choreographer, Jeffrey Page, who has previously worked on Beyonce tours and So You Think You Can Dance, set a piece on Ava Vinesett’s African Dance Repertory class.

“Choreolab has always been performance repertory and a creative output for the Dance Program,” Walters said. “It’s also a vehicle for all the Dance Program students to perform and was always designed to further the choreographic voice.”

This year’s student choreography features seniors Monica Hogan and Alison Kibbe. Hogan will perform Reprise, a contemporary work in which she interacts with a water-filled tank illuminated by submersible lights. Kibbe’s piece, Procurando Nosso Espaco is inspired by fieldwork in Brazil and also part of her senior thesis in cultural anthropology. The site-specific work, which will be performed in the lobby of Reynolds Theater approximately ten minutes before each Choreolab performance, features styles of samba, capoeira, blues and funk to portray how women of the African diaspora use art as a means of carving out and claiming space.

“We have a lot of fun Duke Performances that we can see, but I think what distinguishes Choreolab from all the rest is that you see how people are incorporating arts into their academics,” Kibbe said. “You see both faculty and students working together.”

The Duke Dance Program will present Choreolab Saturday at 8 p.m. and Sunday at 3 p.m. in Reynolds Theater. Tickets are $5 and can be purchased online and at the box office. On Saturday night, there will be a post-performance salsa dance party in Reynolds with live music by West End Mambo.