[NEohioPAL] CWRU Spring Concert: Vitromer

[Katherine Averill]

Case Western Reserve University’s Department of Dance continues its
2023-2024 season with Vitromer, a thesis concert featuring Master of Fine
Arts candidates Joel K. Linebach and Chengyao Zhou. Vitromer features the
candidates in solos, duets, and ensemble works. Performances are March 21,
22, 23 at 7:30 p.m. and March 24  at 2:30 p.m. All performances are located
at Mather Dance Center on the Case Western Reserve campus.

Both candidates created ensemble works featuring graduate students and
undergraduate dance majors and minors. Joel Linebach’s - MER - utilizes
selected concepts from polymer physics and biology to inspire the
generation of a wide range of dynamic movements for a cast of nine dancers.
Through spatial arrangements of groups of varying sizes and an interplay of
dynamics across the groups, the work emulates Brownian dynamics of
biochemical molecules and biological systems. Zhou’s Motion Ink is loosely
inspired by abstract expressionist paintings, with music by Travis Lake.
This sextet uses dancers’ sweeping movements and linear paths as well as
shapes and tableaus to simulate a painter's brush strokes on a canvas. The
interaction of different bodies generates a variety of unique images,
exploring the endless possibilities that arise from the combination of
movement and expression; yet unlike a canvas that can be viewed over and
over, each movement is transient, existing only in the present moment.

In addition to creating larger ensemble groups, both candidates will
perform in their own choreography. Zhou dances a solo entitled The First
Time of Death which takes its inspiration from a line in an ancient Chinese
poem: "Wildfires burn endlessly, but with the arrival of spring winds, life
is reborn." Set to music by Chen Yi, this solo incorporates movements that
inherently weave moments of regret and struggles with growth and revival to
portray a journey of resilience and revitalization.  Like Zhou, Linebach
will be featured not only as a choreographer, but as a dancer.  In his trio
Cerulean, Linebach begins his ‘ode to the motion of water’ with a solo of
sweeping movements that travel through space evoking qualities of water in
various forms.  As other dancers enter, the trio carves through the space,
channeling and cascading in patterns with flowing movements, often
swirling, bursting, and spouting like water itself.  Kinetic Echoes,
Linebach’s quartet in which he also dances, is a culmination of research
funded in part under the auspices of the Baker-Nord Center for the
Humanities at Case Western Reserve University with a Graduate Research
Grant.  Investigating the use of wearable technology in exploring the
intersection of movement and sounds generated through movement in a
contemporary dance was the cornerstone of Linebach’s creative research.

Returning after its premiere in 2023, Shall we drink a cup of tea before we
leave? choreographed by Zhou, is a quartet inspired by the traditional Sado
tea ceremony. At the heart of the choreography is a sense of a "once in a
lifetime" moment that we might all experience at some point in time. All
knowing of the sense of impermanence, the host or hostess treats their
guests with reverence and honor while the guests simultaneously reciprocate
to create a harmonious atmosphere.

Ticket Information

Tickets are $10 for students with ID, $12 for seniors age 60+ and CWRU
personnel, and $15 for general admission. Reservations are now open, and
may be made by calling (216) 368-5246 or online at
https://case.edu/artsci/dance/news-and-events/ticket-reservations
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