<div style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-family: times new roman,serif;">THE OBERLIN COLLEGE THEATER AND DANCE PROGRAM PRESENTS</span><br></div><div style="text-align: center;"><font style="font-family: times new roman,serif;" size="6">Oberlin Dance Company</font><br>
</div><div style="text-align: center; font-family: times new roman,serif;">In Oberlin College's Hall Auditorium<br></div><div style="text-align: center; font-family: times new roman,serif;">May 1-2, 2009<br>8pm, Friday and Saturday<br>
</div><b><br style="font-family: times new roman,serif;"></b><font size="4"><span style="font-family: times new roman,serif;"><b>OBERLIN, OH</b>— For Oberlin Dance Company’s annual spring performance, four talented choreographers will present their work in an eclectic evening of dance, including an ensemble-created piece, the tragic romance of four acclaimed poets, and two collaborations with Oberlin College’s renowned TIMARA department. Featuring thirty-four dancers and four live musicians, Oberlin Dance Company showcases the choreography of Guest Artist Bill Young ’75, Visiting Assistant Professor Ashley Thorndike, Guest Artist Eric Handman, and Visiting Artist Holly Handman-Lopez. The pieces range from traditional to experimental, displaying both Oberlin talent and dancers from around the country.</span><span style="font-family: times new roman,serif;"></span></font><br style="font-family: times new roman,serif;">
<br style="font-family: times new roman,serif;"><span style="font-family: times new roman,serif;"> The first piece of the evening, <i>Pass the Time</i>, was developed over Winter Term 2009 by Guest Artist Bill Young and fifteen Oberlin students during a two-week intensive residency. Each dancer created a style of movement and activity unique to their personal identity, culminating in an exciting one-of-a-kind group performance utilizing both dance and spoken word. Young, an Oberlin graduate who first discovered his love of dance during his freshman year, is “thrilled” to create what he deems “truly a reflection of the specific chunk of humanity that is the sum total of the incredible individuals on stage.” <i>Pass the Time</i> was first previewed February 7, 2009 in Oberlin’s Warner Main Space. </span><br style="font-family: times new roman,serif;">
<span style="font-family: times new roman,serif;"> Ashley Thorndike, a visiting assistant professor in the dance program, and Peter Swendsen, a TIMARA professor in the conservatory, will premiere their latest collaboration, <i>coldness and lightness</i>. Danced by three Columbus-based dancers, this new work, as Thorndike explains, "explores the contrast between emotional and physical edges, both within and between dancers.”</span><br style="font-family: times new roman,serif;">
<span style="font-family: times new roman,serif;"> Eric Handman’s <i>Voce</i> was previously performed at Oberlin last fall as part of the yearly Fall Forward dance concert. Featuring a trio of dancers, <i>Voce</i> is described by Handman as “a dense interplay between dancers that is intensely musical without being musically redundant.” The six-minute dance manages to chart the seemingly organic evolution of complex and dynamic relationships between its performers. “I'm always striving for visceral intensity, complexity, coherence and a sense of purposefulness in the work,” says Handman, who enjoyed a weeklong guest artist residency at Oberlin last September with his wife Pamela Geber. </span><br style="font-family: times new roman,serif;">
<span style="font-family: times new roman,serif;"> The final piece, <i>Despite All Marriages</i>, tells the true story of poets Sylvia Plath, her husband Ted Hughes, his lover Assia Wevill, and her husband David Wevill. Choreographer Holly Handman-Lopez was haunted by the tragic tale for two years before creating the piece, a blend of theater and dance that features dialogue and recognizable characters as well as original music composed by TIMARA major Meade Bernard and cellist Teddy Rankin-Parker. Handman-Lopez is excited to utilize the talents of four actors, eight dancers, and two live musicians, all Oberlin students, to create a performance she hopes will be both fascinating and moving. “There’s no message or moral,” Handman-Lopez says. “We're telling a part of the story that has been largely ignored. It’s sordid, it’s sad, it’s heart-wrenching.”</span><br>
<br style="font-family: times new roman,serif;"><span style="font-family: times new roman,serif;"></span><span style="font-family: times new roman,serif;">Oberlin Dance Company
will be performed at Oberlin College’s Hall Auditorium Friday and
Saturday May 1-2 at 8 pm. A reception will follow the performance on
Friday, May 1. Hall Auditorium is wheelchair accessible. This
production is sponsored by the Oberlin College Theater and Dance
Program. Hall Auditorium is l</span><span style="font-family: times new roman,serif;">ocated on </span><span style="font-family: times new roman,serif;">67 N. Main St. on Rte. 58,</span><span style="font-family: times new roman,serif;"> between the Oberlin Inn and the Allen Art Museum. Free parking is located in the rear.</span><br style="font-family: times new roman,serif;">
<br style="font-family: times new roman,serif;"><div style="text-align: center;"><b><span style="font-family: times new roman,serif;">GENERAL ADMISSION </span></b><br style="font-family: times new roman,serif;"><span style="font-family: times new roman,serif;">$4 Students</span><br style="font-family: times new roman,serif;">
<span style="font-family: times new roman,serif;">$6 Seniors, Alumni, Staff</span><br style="font-family: times new roman,serif;"><span style="font-family: times new roman,serif;">$8 Public</span><br style="font-family: times new roman,serif;">
<span style="font-family: times new roman,serif;">All $3 more at the door</span><br style="font-family: times new roman,serif;"><br style="font-family: times new roman,serif;"><b><span style="font-family: times new roman,serif;">CENTRAL TICKET SERVICE </span></b><br style="font-family: times new roman,serif;">
<span style="font-family: times new roman,serif;">440-775-8169</span><br style="font-family: times new roman,serif;"><span style="font-family: times new roman,serif;">1-800-371-0178</span><br style="font-family: times new roman,serif;">
<span style="font-family: times new roman,serif;">Located in the lobby of Hall Auditorium</span><br style="font-family: times new roman,serif;"><span style="font-family: times new roman,serif;">Open Noon to 5 PM</span><br style="font-family: times new roman,serif;">
<span style="font-family: times new roman,serif;">Monday – Friday</span><br style="font-family: times new roman,serif;"><span style="font-family: times new roman,serif;">Door sales begin one hour prior to performances.</span><br>
<br style="font-family: times new roman,serif;"><b><span style="font-family: times new roman,serif;">HALL PUBLICITY</span></b><br style="font-family: times new roman,serif;"><span style="font-family: times new roman,serif;">440-775-8171</span><br style="font-family: times new roman,serif;">
<span style="font-family: times new roman,serif;"><a href="http://www.new.oberlin.edu/theater-dance/" target="_blank">http://www.new.oberlin.edu/theater-dance/</a></span><br style="font-family: times new roman,serif;"></div>
<br style="font-family: times new roman,serif;">
<div style="text-align: center;"><b><span style="font-family: times new roman,serif;">OTHER UPCOMING DANCE EVENTS</span></b><br style="font-family: times new roman,serif;"><i><span style="font-family: times new roman,serif;">Glimpses</span></i><br style="font-family: times new roman,serif;">
<span style="font-family: times new roman,serif;">Micheline Heal’s Senior Dance Concert</span><br style="font-family: times new roman,serif;"><span style="font-family: times new roman,serif;">South Bowl</span><br style="font-family: times new roman,serif;">
<span style="font-family: times new roman,serif;">May 9, 2009</span><br style="font-family: times new roman,serif;"></div><br>