student stretching their neck while sitting on a stage with other students in the background

Theatre and Dance

THE SCHOOL OF THEATRE AND DANCE PRESENTS

Dance Up Close

Producers: Brooklyn Draper, Heidi Jones Eggert
Stage Manager: Jake Cowden
Choreographers: Jake Cowden*, Hannah Dusek, Maeve Fahey*, Bella Kasper*, Georgia Littig**,
Jenna Mitchell, Sophia Petersen*, Alma Stephens*, Regan Tintzman
Scenic/Props Coordinator: Brian Gregoire
Costume Coordinator: Lara Berich
Lighting Coordinator: Kendall Skoog
Sound/Projection Coordinator: Mike Post

*Partial fulfillment of the Bachelor of Arts degree in Dance (Senior Project)
**Partial fulfillment of the Bachelor of Fine Arts degree in Dance (Senior Project)

Audience Discretion Advised: This production contains
atmospheric fog/haze and strobing effects.

DANCE PIECES

The Unexpected Movements of Tennis: Breaking the College Expectation to Conform Through Dance (2021)
Choreographer: Bella Kasper
Music: “How Glad I Am” by Nancy Wilson, “Raingurl” by Yaeji, “Bruce Lee” by Underworld
Scenic Designer: Brian Gregoire
Costume Designer: Lara Berich
Lighting Designer: Kendall Skoog
Performers: Liana Dillon, Hannah Dusek

Spare No Effort – 0 to 99 (2021)
Choreographer: Sophia Petersen
Music: “99” by Elliot Moss
Costume Designer: Lara Berich
Lighting Designer: Mike Post
Performers: Karter Bernhardt, Hannah Dusek, Mia Johns, Elle Lundgren

Amaranthine (2021)
Choreographer: Regan Tintzman
Music: “I Want to Feel Alive” by the Lighthouse and the Whaler, “Amaranthine” by Danika Tintzman
Costume Designer: Paula Niccum
Lighting Designer: Peter Fedock
Performers: Sofia Beers, Anika Bennetts, Hannah Jeppesen, Matthew Miller, Rebecca White

Together (2021)
Choreographer/Videographer/Editor: Jake Cowden
Music: “Am I Dreaming” by Lil Nas X ft. Miley Cyrus, “Experience” by Ludovico Einaudi
Performers: Jozlyn Baumann, Maria Chimarusti, Hannah Dusek, Maykala Jackson, Elle Lundgren, Kyoko Noguchi, Rebecca White

And Then, the Influence Shifted (2021)
Choreographer: Hannah Dusek
Music: “Interlude 1” by alt-J, “Forever” by Labrinth, “Braid (mmph Remix)” by Perfume Genius
Costume Designer: Paula Niccum
Lighting Designer: Kendall Skoog
Performers: Tiffany Ballantine, Karter Bernhardt, Liana Dillon, Elle Lundgren, Matthew Miller, Rebecca White

~15-Minute Intermission~

Unknown Trajectory (2021)
Choreographer: Maeve Fahey
Music: “Colors and Shapes” by Mac Miller, “Minim” by Dustin O’Halloran, “F Major” by Hania Rani
Scenic Designer: Brian Gregoire
Costume Designer: Lara Berich
Lighting Designer: Hannah Gibbs
Performers: Maria Chimarusti, Zoe Dehline, Liana Dillon, Hannah Dusek, Jordyn Keenan, Elle Lundgren, Matthew Miller, Regan Tintzman

A Coffee Shop Rose (2021)
Choreographer: Jenna Mitchell
Music: “Coffee Shop” by Audio Library PH, “More Than Friends” by Jason Mraz, “This Feeling” by The Chainsmokers
Scenic Designer: Brian Gregoire
Costume Designer: Paula Niccum
Lighting Designer: Kendall Skoog
Performers: Maria Chimarusti, Benjamin Wambeke, Paige Wisneski

Indentations (2021)
Choreographer: Alma Stephens
Music: “Bela Lugosi’s Dead” by Bauhaus
Costume Designer: Lara Berich
Lighting Designer: Ashley Milleson
Performers: Tiffany Ballantine, Mia Johns, Jordyn Keenan, Kristen Manfredo, Benjamin Wambeke, Rebecca White
PROGRAM NOTE: This piece contains strobing effects.

Good Eggs (2021)
Choreographer: Georgia Littig
Music: Vivaldi’s The Four Seasons: “Shadow 4,” “Autumn 3,” “Spring 3,” and “Spring 0” recomposed by Max Richter
Scenic Designer: Brian Gregoire
Costume Designer: Morgan Brooks
Lighting Designer: Hannah Gibbs
Performers: Karter Bernhardt, Georgia Littig

LAND ACKNOWLEDGEMENT
The School of Theatre and Dance acknowledges that these
are the aboriginal territories of the Salish and Kalispel people, a number of whom
are our colleagues, students, and friends. We honor the path
they have always shown us in caring for this place for the generations to come.

AUDIENCE STATEMENT OF EMPOWERMENT
The School of Theatre & Dance recognizes that art can provoke;
therefore, during the course of this performance, patrons are empowered to leave
if themes or situations make them uncomfortable.

THE VIDEOTAPING OR OTHER VIDEO OR AUDIO RECORDING
OF THIS PRODUCTION IS STRICTLY PROHIBITED.

~15-Minute Intermission~

About DANCE UP CLOSE

The UM Dance Program is elated to be welcoming each of you back into the Masquer Theatre for our production of Dance Up Close. We have taken this semester to concurrently reflect and find resilience during these exceptional past couple of years. Our faculty and students have been working tirelessly to step into this next chapter of Dance at the University of Montana and we welcome you back into our beloved spaces that support each of us to create dance that inspires all.

Dance Up Close is a uniquely intimate production that provides a platform for students to experiment with dance composition and presentation. Mentored by faculty and peers, these burgeoning artists have developed original dances specifically for this production; when a dance arrives on stage and begins an exchange with the audience, the choreographer can glean which moments may have been successful in the work and which moments can be refined.

It is central to the UM Dance Program’s mission to cultivate a rich and inspired environment for students and faculty to develop and enhance a creative voice. This season’s Dance Up Close serves as a venue for majors to present creative research, which partially fulfills requirements for the dance degree. This year’s production features nine new and diverse works choreographed by junior and senior dance majors. They have worked collaboratively with Design & Technology faculty, staff, and students to achieve a complete visual translation of their choreographic intention.

The Dance Program celebrates the process and unique expression of each of the choreographers presented in Dance Up Close. We applaud the cast of performers who took tremendous risks and tackled new territory through the creative process and performance. We thank you for being here and being a part of this very special performance with us.

~Brooklyn Draper, Assistant Professor of Dance & Heidi Jones Eggert, Associate School Director/Head of Dance; Associate Professor of Dance

Production Staff

Production Manager: Jason McDaniel

Technical Director/Scene Shop Manager: Brian Gregoire

Scene Shop Staff: AChris, Ashley Milleson, Trevor Monsos, Jay Michael Roberts

Carpentry and Paint Crew: Bryce Ballantine, Kinsey Church, Hope Ensminger, Michael Esparza, Peter Fedock, Gabriella Giordano, Kalen Grinnell, David Miller, Laila Sisson, Audrey Sylling, Shannon Webb

Prop Shop Manager: Jacquelyn Simonis

Costume Shop Manager: Paula Niccum

Costume Shop Staff: Morgan Brooks, Ember Cuddy, Kylie McDonald, Sarah Sizemore, Aurrora Watkins

Costume Construction Crew: Tiffany Ballantine, Jason Bernardi, Kaitlyn Bratten, Chloe Burnstein, Donna Campbell, Bailey Carlson, Hailey Chabotte, Maria Chimarusti, Ember Cuddy, Hannah Dusek, Maeve Fahey, Kate Heidlebaugh, Rachel Hoerth, Jamie Howard, Bella Kasper, Georgia Littig, Hannah McLean, Xideka McTague, Matthew Miller, Samantha Mitchell, Auna Noah, Emily Ross, Hanah Trythall, Lizzy Wensley

Head Dyer: Lara Berich

Light/Sound Shop Manager: Mike Post

Light Shop Staff: Peter Fedock, Hannah Gibbs, Aurrora Watkins

Light Hang and Focus Crew: Camille Ball, Elsa Bentz, Jack Broadway, Gabe Gilbertson, Sarah Hibbard, McCabe Thomas, Jillian Richards, Paige Wisneski

Light Board Operator: Ayla Andersen

Sound Board/Projection Operator: Peter Fedock

Scenery/Props Crew: Maeve Fahey, Bella Kasper, Jenna Mitchell, Sophia Petersen

Wardrobe Crew: Camille Ball, Chloe Burnstein, Jamie Howard, Hannah Jeppesen, Daria Porter

Artist Statements

The Unexpected Movements of Tennis: Breaking the College Expectation to Conform
Through Dance
Choreographed by Isabella Kasper (Senior Project)

College as an institution is highly structured. Within any such structure, there are a set of spoken and unspoken norms to which one is expected to conform. In the game of tennis, there is a similarly rigid structure: norms and expectations that one must uphold in order to play. What if you choose not to conform? What then? Can you ever fully break from the preconceived model?

Spare No Effort – 0 to 99
Choreographed by Sophia Petersen (Senior Project)

The intention of the piece has been palpable from the beginning of the creative process. Strength has been recognized in the adaptability needed this past year, as we have all fielded the threshold of our breaking points—this push and pull of entering and exiting crisis mode. I have been very interested in the physical and emotional embodiment of the adrenaline reactions of fight, flight, and freeze. The strength of my dancers inspired the decision to specifically focus on fight within this work. I chose to explore the exertion of internal impulse … a polarity of energy moving in waves, pulling the tide back and crashing it forward. The dancers spare no effort as they represent the juxtaposition of being left with no other choice but to fight.

Amaranthine
Choreographed by Regan Tintzman (Junior Project)

Amaranthine looks at the development of youth through the constant and monotonous passing of time. Seeming to move in one direction, the individual becomes both important and invisible to the perspective of others.

Together
Choreographed by Jake Cowden (Senior Project)

Last year, I explored Sonder: the concept that every individual is the main character of their own vivid and complex story. This year, I wanted to explore the other side of that idea … how can individuals move among being one, being one among many, and many being one? I wanted to put a focus on bodies moving between group and solo work, how being with others can affect the movement and intention, how individuals can find their individuality within a larger group, and how finding different perspectives of all that can tell a different story. In creating a film dance, I was able to tell a story in a different way than I normally would—I explored the story with more focus on individuals within the larger group. Using different shots and angles, I put attention on spots where live performance can’t. Putting attention on someone’s hand or just having the upper body in frame forces the audience to see exactly what I want them to see while also making them unable to see what I don’t. I was able to really explore capturing movement and a sense of flow and time. I learned a lot about how simply capturing a dance is so different from telling a story through a dance designed for film.

And Then, The Influence Shifted
Choreographed by Hannah Dusek (Junior Project)

In the past few years, the dynamics of power in our society have become prevalent in daily life to an extent that seems unprecedented. What is it exactly, though, that determines who or what holds the power in any given situation? The inspiration for this piece was driven by this very question; the resulting answer is manifested in the work as eight different “powers” that shift and influence each of the six dancers. As each different power is physicalized by the dancers, the overall movement is meant to come together so as to examine the various perspectives by which power can directly (or indirectly) influence the function of a multivariable system as a whole.

Unknown Trajectory
Choreographed by Maeve Fahey (Senior Project)

Within Unknown Trajectory, I wanted to embark on a creative journey for which I did not necessarily know the destination. The unknown has always given me a sense of hesitancy, and while at the beginning of the process I searched for stability and structure, I discovered that what was needed in this project—and in this current climate of the pandemic—was flexibility and comfortability with not knowing precisely what to do next.

I attempted to foreground this idea of journey in this piece by playing with discombobulation, even in uniformity. I’ve recently been feeling disoriented in my daily life, so I wanted to create a sense of the fantastical while still encouraging ties to reality. I’m thankful for the work and creativity the dancers have put into the formation of this piece!

A Coffee Shop Rose
Choreographed by Jenna Mitchell (Junior Project)

It is now very common that our relationships blossom within a close friend group. Support is the main energy we rely on from our group as we experience something new. The three dancers in this piece lean on each other for support during the difficult transition into the new relationship, which helps them ignore everything else going on around them. In this way, we are able to see how friendships and relationships rely on each other for a person’s life to seem complete.

Indentations
Choreographed by Alma Stephens (Senior Project)

This piece is intended to explore the influence that we have on each other. I am curious about how to convey the subtleties of influence through movement and how our relationships shape or influence the creation of many selves. Throughout this process, my dancers and I explored what we absorb throughout our lives from fleeting moments with strangers to core memories from our childhoods and how these contribute to the many selves that we are. What does joy/trauma/aging/the gaining and loss of relationships contribute to the creation of your many selves?

Good Eggs
Choreographed by Georgia Littig (Senior Project)

Good Eggs practices to approach not only dance, but life, from a place of curiosity and genuine nature. What delineates a “good” person from a joyful one? I have discovered in my own pursuit of “goodness,” it is much different than the pursuit of joy. Goodness is a standard: set by societal expectations, infinitely static. Joy is not. Joy lives in the fluctuation of emotive anecdotes, spontaneity, epiphany, and discovery! We share with you an attempt to free ourselves from the perfect persona and migrate toward ingenuity in the development of human experience. We begin hatching, then taking our first steps, learning to share and compromise and ending our journey in acceptance and being.

Teaching Project
Teaching Philosophy by Chloe Burnstein (Senior Project)

A continuous life learner both provides a gift and receives one. All humans are both the teacher and the novice. As a facilitator of a movement-therapy-based dance class, I am focused on a mutual relationship of continuity and joy. I am interested in finding peace within our bodies and energy in stillness, focusing on discovering and learning about the different emotions that run through our bodies. Our bodies are our most sacred home: how do we communicate through movement the thoughts, confusion, stress, and disarray our homes are experiencing? Bodies endure physical pain, emotional trial, ebbs in our spiritual well-being, and environmental awareness. I am interested in researching how movement can cradle and reincarnate the sensations our exterior complexes have invited into our home.

Special Thanks

Tom Berich
Andy Josten
William Muñoz
Dustin O’Halloran
Danika Tintzman
Michael Wall
AlphaGraphics
Audio Library PH
College of the Arts and Media Advisory Council
The Lighthouse and the Whaler
Will Baxter Band

Talent Scholarship Recipient 2021-2022

Ember Elizabeth Cuddy (they/them/theirs) is a junior in the Design and Technology concentration of the BFA Theatre program, focusing in Costumes, and is honored to be the 2021-2022 Talent Scholarship recipient. Raised in East Helena, MT, they have always loved clothing. Originally wanting to be a fashion designer, Ember discovered their love of theatre and costumes when they were in high school working on several different plays as an actor, assistant stage manager, props designer, and costume designer. As a senior in high school at the Montana State Thespian Festival, they saw UM’s production of White Christmas and knew that the University of Montana was the school for them. Since arriving at UM in Fall 2019, Ember has been involved with many shows. They were one of the props designers for Pride & Prejudice, pre-COVID, and then one of the props designers for She Kills Monsters: Virtual Realms. They also were the assistant costume designer for Welcome to the Void. They also greatly enjoyed working as one of the costume designers for Fabled earlier this semester.

Ember has taken many classes in costume design, rendering, flat patterning, draping, textiles, and period patternmaking here at UM. They love creating beautiful pieces of clothing and coming up with interesting and socially aware design concepts. Not only is Ember a Theatre major, but they are also getting a minor in Women, Gender, and Sexuality Studies. They are fascinated by the way gender can influence clothing and the way sexuality and identity can affect people’s presentation. They hope to someday work on developing a more nuanced understanding of gender in theatre and to help create affirming clothing for people of all identities.

In addition to their love of theatre, Ember also loves to read and write. They love writing poetry and short stories. They have been published in Helena’s 2019 edition of Pen & Ink and The Make It Safe Project’s newly released anthology book First Love. They also were given the opportunity to perform a poem in Verbatim: Celebrating Resilience this year. Ember also runs an Etsy shop where they sell earrings and art prints.

Ember is so grateful to their mentor and advisor, Assistant Professor Lara Berich, for their constant encouragement and support. They are also grateful to Costume Shop Supervisor Paula Niccum and Professor Alessia Carpoca for all of their advice and lessons. Ember is thankful to the rest of the Theatre and Dance faculty/staff for their support and instruction. They also wish to thank the audience and donors for their support and appreciation of the performing arts.

UM Theatre and Dance Students Supported by

Ballet Beyond Borders Scholarship; Charles Ross Capps, Sr., and Agnes Ranjo Capps Scholarship; George & Louise Caras Scholarship; James Caras Family Scholarships; Sarah Crump Memorial Scholarship; Alexander & Virginia Dixon Dean Scholarships; William P. Gillespie Scholarship; Riki Gordon Scholarship; Donal Harrington Scholarships; Mary Cardell Moore and Robert & Florence Cardell Awards; Mott Ranch Scholarship; Odyssey of the Stars Scholarships; Sarah Ottley Memorial Scholarship; Rachel Sprunk Smith Scholarship; Sheila M. Sullivan Scholarship; Talent Scholarship; Thespian Scholarships; UM Dance Days Scholarships; Steve Wing Scholarships; May Carol Zeman Award

PICK-WHAT-YOU-PAY Supported by
Anonymous; UM President’s Office

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