In celebration of Hamilton College's 2002 Family Weekend, the Departments of Theatre and Dance and Music will present several free performances by students and faculty in the dance program, choir, orchestra, and jazz ensemble.
On Friday, Nov. 1, at 8 p.m., the Hamilton College Dance Program will present works choreographed by professors Elaine Heekin, Bruce Walczyk, and Leslie Norton featuring Hamilton College students. Also on the Friday evening program is music by the Hamilton College Choir and College Hill singers under the direction of G. Roberts Kolb. On Saturday, Nov. 2, the Dance and Choir program will be repeated at 1:30 p.m. In addition, the Hamilton College Orchestra directed by Professor of Music Heather Buchman, and the Hamilton College Jazz Ensemble, under the direction of "Doctuh" Mike Woods, will perform at 8 p.m. These Family Weekend events will be held in Wellin Hall on the campus of Hamilton College and are free and open to the public.
The Friday evening and Saturday afternoon dance portion of the Family Weekend performances will include a restaging of the ballet Pas de Quatre by Leslie Norton as well as original work titled "Poindexter's back in town?!" choreographed by associate professor Bruce Walczyk, and Elaine Heekin's "Soundround."
Pas de Quatre, restaged by Leslie Norton, was first presented as a command performance for Queen Victoria in 1845. It brought together four of the greatest ballerinas of the Romantic Era. With music by Ceasre Pugini, costume design by Kate Theile and lighting design by Bill Burd, this piece will be performed by dancers Heather Koniz '04 , Mary Ann Vicari '06, Emily Hildebrand, and Katharina Banks Plumb '05.
"Poindexter's Back in Town?!" is the fourth installment of the humorous Poindexter series. Dating back to the 1980's, the works are based on the oddities of the Poindexter character and his relationship with reality. This piece contains elements of the previous three with the addition of Laura Fortinsky '04, Heather Koniz '04 and Laura Spaziani '03 as reinforcements. Contact and structured improvisation are utilized along with set movements accompanied by the music of Jakouka, Laurie Anderson, David Lynch and Creedence Clearwater Revival.
Elaine Heekin's "Soundround" is a piece consisting of Hamilton students, faculty and area artists. It explores the interplay of various percussive sounds through vocals (Richard Lloyd) drums (Sharon McGuire) and step dancing (Nicholle Smith '04 and Katie Dunkel '05). The rhythmic, athletic movement performed by Ashley Jaffe-Anechiarico '04, Hannah Friedberg '03 and Laura Spaziani '03 bounces off the syncopated score to create a playful, energy packed environment.
The Hamilton College Choir will sing works in a variety of styles, including a double-choir motet by Tomas Luis da Victoria, a powerful setting of the psalm "By the Waters of Babylon" by the 20th-c. American composer Edward Fissinger, movements from a setting of the German mass by Johann Nepomuk David, and a spiritual arranged by Alice Parker. The College Hill Singers will present three musical reflections on the timeless theme of the beloved as a rose with thorns in the guises of an Elizabethan madrigal, a late-20th century setting by Morten Lauridsen of a poem of Rilke, and a song by Billy Joel in a Kings Singers arrangement. Both ensembles are under the direction of G. Roberts Kolb, professor of music and director of choral music at Hamilton.
On Saturday evening the Hamilton College Orchestra and Jazz Ensemble take the stage. Conducted by Heather Buchman, the HCO will perform Felix Mendelssohn's Hebrides Overture (also known as Fingal's Cave) and Beethoven's Symphony No. 7.
Felix Mendelssohn composed the Hebrides Overture in 1830 (at the age of 21), inspired by a trip to the chain of islands off the coast of Scotland. Typical of the Romantic style, this overture depicts the natural, desolate beauty of the island with its water and storm imagery. Beethoven's Symphony No. 7, composed in 1811-12, is best known for the 2nd Movement funeral march, which is generally acknowledged as one of the monuments of the orchestral literature.
Under the direction of "Doctuh" Mike Woods, The Hamilton College Jazz Ensemble will perform a variety of work including "Joyful Noise," a piece they recently performed with saxophonist and composer Steve Wilson as part a concert in the Performing Arts Series at the culmination of a week-long residency.
These performances are free and open to the public. All seating is general admission. For more information, call the performing arts box office at (315) 859-4331. Box office hours are 1-4 p.m. weekdays.
