Celebrated dance company to perform founder’s major works
onStage at Connecticut College presents the Trisha Brown Dance Company on Saturday, March 29, at 7:30 p.m. in Palmer Auditorium.
Brown is at once both a grande dame of dance and a renegade, a trailblazer of postmodernism whose experimentation led her to develop a new approach to movement and choreography. Her company is in the midst of a three-year international tour, “Proscenium Works, 1979-2011,” which showcases Brown’s major stage works for one final time in the proscenium format, complete with the significant components created by her collaborators, including the artist Robert Rauschenberg.
The tour coincides with Brown’s announcement that she has choreographed her last works and taken the title of founding artistic director and choreographer.
“With Connecticut College’s longtime connections to dance, we’re very grateful to be part of these celebrations of Trisha Brown’s work,” said Robert Richter, director of arts programming.
The program includes “Astral Converted,” a highly physical 1991 piece with visual and costume designs by Rauschenberg, including metal frame towers built from automotive supplies that house the lights and sound system. The towers are activated by motion sensors to detect the dancers and respond to their movement.
Rauschenberg also provided costumes and the sound score for another piece in the program, “If you couldn't see me,” a 1994 work of seductive beauty. And the program concludes with “I'm going to toss my arms - if you catch them they're yours,” which premiered in 2011 in both Paris and New York to sold-out audiences and enthusiastic praise.
“These pieces are classics in the world of dance,” said Richter, “but they’re also entertaining and exciting enough for those who aren’t necessarily dance fans. We’re concluding our onStage season on a very high note.”
Tickets for the event are $28; $25 for seniors and Connecticut College faculty and staff; $14 for students. For tickets and information, call 860-439-2787 or visit onstage.conncoll.edu.
March 13, 2014