Upcoming Events
Thursday, September 24, 5:00pm, Herter 301, UMass Amherst
Lecture on Martha Graham and Isamu Noguchi
Martha Graham, Isamu Noguchi, and Greek Myth: Classical Reception and Artistic Collaboration, with Ronnie Ancona (Hunter College)
Thursday, October 8th, 5:30-7:30 pm, 472 N. Pleasant Street, UMass
472 Opening Gala: An Immersive Celebration
Five College Dancers! Join us in celebrating the opening of the new UMass Amherst dance spaces with tours of the new spaces, several site-specific performances, an archive exhibition, and light refreshments.
Monday, October 12, 5:00pm, Online
Study Abroad with UMass and Accademia Dell'Arte in Arezzo Italy
UMass Amherst now offers a Summer Abroad Program in Arezzo Italy for Dance & Physical Theater. Those interested in learning more about the program are welcome to come to this informational Zoom session.
Learn more in a virtual info session on October 12th at 5pm.
Zoom Link: https://umass-amherst.zoom.us/
Friday, November 6, 4:30-6:00 PM, Theater 14, Smith College
Five College Dance Lecture
Always Experimenting: Merce Cunningham, Trisha Brown, Garth Fagan
with Wendy Perron, Dance Artist, Author, Editor, and Historian
This year’s Five College Dance Lecturer will be Wendy Perron, dance artist, author, editor, and historian. Perron will discuss this year’s repertory project artists Merce Cunningham, Garth Fagan, and Trisha Brown.
All three works will be performed at the Smith College Faculty Dance Concert in Theater 14, Mendenhall Center for Performing Arts, Smith College on November 19-21 at 8:00pm. Garth Fagan’s “From Before” (1978) will also be performed at the Amherst College/ UMass Amherst Faculty Dance Concert at Kirby Theater, Amherst College, on December 3-5 at 7:30pm.
Wednesday, November 18, 1:25-2:55pm, 472 N. Pleasant Street Dance Studios, UMass Amherst
BalletX Masterclass with Tara Keating
Join Five College Dance and UMass Amherst Dance for a masterclass with Tara Keating, a founder of BalletX (and former member of Pioneer Vally Ballet) on Wednesday, November 18, 1:25-2:55pm, at 472 N. Pleasant Street Dance Studios, UMass Amherst. Free with registration through this form and open to the public.
What to wear: Clothes that are comfortable and easy to move in. Class will include a warm-up and repertoire.
Please join us for a performance with BalletX at the FAC/FCT Performance Hall, UMass, on Friday, May 1 at 8:00pm. Please get your tickets through the FAC box office.
Founded in 2005 and led by Artistic and Executive Director Christine Cox, BalletX, Philadelphia's premier ballet company, unites artistic innovation with technical excellence to forge new works of athleticism, emotion, and grace. The company has commissioned 150 world premiere pieces from more than eighty choreographers from around the world, helping to expand the vocabulary of contemporary ballet while positioning itself at the forefront of innovation in the field.
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Please remind your dance friends to sign up for the FCD E-Blast here and follow us at fivecollegedance.
Featured Courses
THDA 126H Monday & Wednesday 1:05-2:20, Amherst College
Afro-Cuban Dance with Neri Torres
This course explores Cuban dance traditions---including Orisha dances, rumba, and Bantu-derived forms---rooted in African ethnic groups such as the Yoruba, Bantu and Fon, and examines their central role in shaping the island's cultural idenity within the African diaspora. Students analyze movement in close relationship with musical structures such as polyrhythm, call-and-response, percussion, and song, as well as the spritual and social contexts from which these practices emerge.
DAN 171 Tuesdays & Thursdays 9:25-10:40, Smith College
Dance History: Political Bodies with Neri Torres
Through readings, discussions, dance viewings, movement activities and sessions in the Museum of Art, Josten Library and Sophia Smith Collection, students examine how notions of race, nationality, gender, sexuality and political ideology inform dance.
Dance 133 Monday & Wednesday 3:15-4:30, Mount Holyoke College
Intermediate Breakin' with Andres Ramirez
In this course, we will deepen our understanding of the history and foundation of Hip Hop Culture from its birth to both the current underground and commercial scenes. We will work on both foundational and dynamic movements to continue developing the skills of each student. We will also introduce in-person classes on battle etiquette and, as community work, visit at least one local event where students will learn about the importance of community within the Hip Hop culture.
Dance 318, Tuesday & Thursday 1:45-3:00, Mt. Holyoke College
Advanced Contemporary Dance Technique
Advanced study in modern technique focuses on body level issues of strength, support, alignment, articulation, and initiation; and performance issues of rhythmic clarity, spatial clarity, intention, embodiment, intricate coordinations, and expanding personal vocabularies. Students will build capacity for physical endurance and active presence as well as a deepening awareness of the body's potential.
Announcements
Special Announcement! Fall 26 FCD Repertory Project
Find out all about "From Before" and Garth Fagan Dance on the FCD Repertory webpage with a video of the Alvin Ailey American Dance Theater performing the work as well as a short documentary of the work featuring Garth Fagan's company. Neri Torres at Amherst College will be the rehearsal director.
Dance Magazine's 25 to Watch List
Julia Antinozzi '18
Congratulations to Julia for making Dance Magazine's "25 to Watch List." See our Five College Dance Spotlight on Julia here. From the article:
"Antinozzi graduated from Smith College in 2018 with a dance degree and an astronomy minor, and has been choreographing for her own dancers since 2022...Taken altogether, her works [The Suite and Third Variation both from 2024] illustrate a probing of her fascination with classical ballet filtered through a contemporary—and uniquely Antinozzi—lens, daring viewers to take a closer look."
Five College Dance featured in Dance Magazine
Five College Dance was featured in Dance Magazine this fall in an article by Stav Ziv. The piece includes information about the FCD program, this year's guest artist repertory project, an excerpt of Lucinda Childs's Dance, and interviews with faculty and students. Download a PDF of the article to read below.