Spring 2024 Events


Dancing Uphill 2024

Performances January 31 thru February 3, 2024, at 7:30 PM

Cohen Hall Performance Space - Room 110
Dancing Uphill 2024 explores the play, rigor, and collaboration that goes into dancing, dance-making, design, and creative research at the UVM Dance Program. Highlighting UVM dance student performers, Dancing Uphill 2024 includes choreography by UVM dance faculty and guest choreographers as well as featured UVM student work. The concert is directed by Paula Higa.

Tickets for Dancing Uphill 2024 are $10 for UVM Students and $15 for all others.
Seating is general admission - no reserved seating. Seating is limited.

Tickets can be purchased online HERE.

Tickets can be purchased at the door prior to the event. PLEASE NOTE: In person ticket sales are CASH or CHECK ONLY.

For further information email TheatreandDance@uvm.edu

Fall 2023 Events

TouchStone

Creating and performing in the Fleming Museum’s Marble court, UVM dance students and dance Lecturer Julie Peoples-Clark, will explore feelings of isolation, the sensation of touch and human connection. Creative research will explore kinesthetic responses as we leave isolation and welcome touch and connection back into our lives post pandemic.

The explorations will culminate in a site performance that uses the Fleming’s Marble Court as a dance partner, weaving the unique space into the finished work.

Local artist and music producer RicoJames will provide the musical score. The live score will premiere on opening night for the audience and for the dancers.

Friday, October 27, 2023 - 7 pm
Saturday, October 28, 2023 - 2pm
Fleming Museum of Art Marble Court
NOTE: Limited availability. Please email theatreanddance@uvm.edu to make a reservation

 

JULIENNE DOKO – MASTER CLASS

 
DNCE 3100 - Contemporary Advanced
November 1 @ 12:50 - 2:20PM
Location: Cohen Hall - room 110
 
Julienne Doko is a French dance performer, teacher and choreographer with roots in the Central African Republic, currently based in Denmark. In her dance practice, Julienne explores connections between different dance styles and uses contemporary dance as a space of hybridization, a vehicle for synergy between dance techniques and expressions. Her movement and dramaturgical line take inspiration from her homelands and the journeys she has taken in between. Julienne has performed internationally with a number of companies, in festivals, TV shows and in musicals.
Contact Paula Higa at Paula.Higa@uvm.edu for more information.
 

MARCIO VINICIUS PAULINO SILVEIRA – MASTER CLASS

DNCE 3100 – Contemporary Advanced
November 8 @ 12:50-2:20PM
Location: Cohen Hall 110

Born in Brazil, Marcio completed his dance studies at the Bolshoi Theatre School in Joinville. In 2010, Marcio moved to Montreal to join the internationally acclaimed dance company La La La Human Steps as a soloist. Since then, Marcio has performed and choreographed for many companies, including the Young Dance Company of the Bolshoi Theater in Brazil, Les Ballets Jazz de Montréal, EzDanza, Andrea Peña & Artists, PPS Danse, Cirque du Soleil, 7 Fingers, Opera de Québec including Starmania and Carmen, Heart-Ibiza, Mathieu Dufour special Netflix, Télé-Québec, Revolution on tour and Ball du MAC. Marcio is also the winner of the 2nd season of Révolution - TVA with Janie Richard, with whom he also developed the show Syntonie which toured throughout Quebec and which received the Prix Rideau Tournée 2023. Marcio is also studying scenography at Concordia University. Over the past 14 years, working professionally as a dancer and choreographer, Marcio has travelled to over 30 countries and over 200 cities around the world. Since the beginning of his career as a dancer and choreographer, Marcio has been curious to use movement to build an universal communication accessible to all. He seeks to explore movement by questioning the communication between audience and performer, allowing this connection to resonate in his early work as a set designer.
Contact Paula Higa at Paula.Higa@uvm.edu for more information.

 

The Migrant Body – Screendance

Director:  Paula Higa
Co-director: Cal Hopwood
Where: UVM Recital Hall
When 09/15/2023 @ 7:30 pm
FREE

Q&A following the screening of the film will be moderated by Tina Escaja, University Distinguished Professor of Spanish in the School of World Languages and Cultures.

Trailer: https://vimeo.com/814715249?share=copy

Director’s note: In my personal experience as a dual citizen of Brazil and the United States, I've come to realize that the term "migrant" is often used to describe those who are perceived as "foreign" or "other." However, upon reflection, it's become clear to me that we are all migrants in one way or another. Whether we're moving to a new city or country, changing jobs, or simply trying to navigate the complexities of life, we're all on a journey that involves leaving one place and entering another. The Migrant Body invites the audience to take a journey into this vast, and diverse world. It proposes that we can learn from other people and other cultures and gain a deeper understanding of what it means to be human.

 

Spring 2023 Presentations

Chiaroscuro: Bodies in Flux

2023 Senior Capstone Concert

Chiaroscuro is an Italian term that originated during the Renaissance and literally translates to “light-dark”. In visual art, chiaroscuro refers to the use of contrasting tones within the composition of a painting–some figures or areas will be obscured and shadowed, while others will be bright and clear.

This concert is an exploration of the dualities we experience in ourselves and the natural world around us, and an attempt to draw conclusions from these antagonizing forces. This program features 24 dancers performing original works by each of the graduating dance majors (Ella Myregaard, Lucie Novelline, Isabelle Sellers & Erin Sullivan). We developed these works over the course of this semester, working intensively with our casts, faculty advisor, and fellow majors. The works are both a culmination of the knowledge and training we’ve received within the UVM dance program, and a representation of our individual embodied histories.

The choreographers would like to thank the UVM Office of Fellowships, Opportunities, and Undergraduate Research for their support.

This event will be presented April 14 & 15 at 7:30PM each evening in the Cohen Center for the Integrated Arts, see map.
This event is free and open to the public. Seating is limited and on a first come, first serve basis.
 
 

Master Class with Tracy Broyles

What the heck is energy anyway?

Master Class with Tracy Boyles - What the heck is energy anyway?

When: Monday, April 3, 2023
Time: 2:20PM to 3:50PM
Where: 110 Cohen Hall
 
What the heck is energy anyway?
We are living within a vibrational world. Our thoughts, feelings, and desires have energy… as do our blood, organs, and bones. These unseen vibrations affect our physical reality at all times.
How do the currents, blockages, leaks, and flows of the energy body mold, shape, inform and change your dancing?
Part information sharing, part embodied meditation, and part movement class, we will explore the anatomy of energy and the way it informs your body and movement. Leaning into learning through experience and play, this class is creative and informative, inviting you to question what you thought to be true.
 
Tracy Broyles is an energy healer, embodiment facilitator, dancer, writer, and artist. Her lifelong research is how the psychological, energetic, and spiritual braid into our tangible reality. Tracy has been creating, teaching, and performing for over 25 years in the Pacific Northwest. More info at tracybroyles.com
 
 
 

Master Class in Symbology of Orixas

When: Friday 03/24/2023
Time: 6pm-7:30pm (doors open at 5:30pm
Where: 110 Cohen Hall
 
All are welcome! Capacity is limited. Participation is by registration only. Register by emailing DanceProgram@uvm.edu
 
This class process, offers possibilities, to dive into an open channel that allow one the ability to experience the expression that we have innate access to; the body presence in connection with the Elements of Nature - Earth, Water, Air, Fire - inspired with the Symbology of Movements, History and Archetypes of Orixa as also Ancestries Memories in Brazil.
Allow yourself to discover how sacred symbolism inspires the body to express its own memory, the activation of symbols and Codes of Movements as traditional foundation in artistic expression and interpretation.
 
The Artist: Rosangela Silvestre is a choreographer, instructor, dancer, and creator of the Silvestre Dance Technique. Silvestre, a native of Salvador, Bahia, Brazil, graduated with a bachelor's and post-graduate degree in dance from the Federal University of Bahia (UFBA). She has researched dance and music in Brazil, India, Egypt, Senegal, and Cuba as part of her ever evolving and eclectic repertoire of movement. She trained in diverse techniques like Martha Graham, Limón, Horton, Floor Bar, Classic Ballet, Dunham Technique, and has performed and choreographed for several companies such as Germany Theater Dance.  Silvestre has traveled internationally teaching, training dancers, performing, facilitating lectures and demonstrations, consulting, attending seminars and residencies at universities and dance festivals in Contemporary, Folkloric, as well as traditional dances of Africa and other continents. In 2011, Silvestre completed an album called, "Voices of Nature." She continues to use her voice as an integral part of her work in dance.
 
 

Dancing Uphill 2023 

UVM Program in Theatre and Dance presents "Dancing Uphill 2023"

Dancing Uphill 2023 explores the play, rigor, and collaboration that goes into dancing, dance-making, design, and creative research at the UVM Dance Program. Highlighting UVM dance student performers, Dancing Uphill 2023 includes choreography by guest choreographers Jennifer Nugent and Maree ReMalia, UVM dance faculty Julian Barnett, Paul Besaw, Millie Heckler, and Lois Trombley, as well as featured UVM student work. The concert is directed by Julian Barnett, with technical direction and design coordination by Bert Crosby.

Dancing Uphill 2023 will be presented February 1 thru February 4 at 7:30PM. The event will take place at the Cohen Center for the Integrated Creative Arts. See Map. Seating is general admission and we recommend you arrive at least 15 minutes prior to the start of the performance.

 

Spring 2022 Presentations

Illuminate - Senior Capstone Showcase

"Illuminate" is the culmination of this year's senior dance majors' experience within the major. Featuring a cast of over twenty different dancers in seven works, "Illuminate" has works from the seniors (Emma Askew, Katie Corkum, Emma DiBacco, Katie Henry, Mary Kate Kennedy, and Jordan Officer; Josh Huffman will be staging a site-specific work outside of "Illuminate") as well as Visiting Artist Millie Heckler. This scope of the concert is in part due to funding given by UVM FOUR, which made it possible for the guest choreographer piece, videography, printing, and costumes to happen.

"Illuminate" will be presented April 29 and April 30 at 7:30PM. The event will take place at the Cohen Center for the Integrated Creative Arts. See Map.

Tickets for the event are $10 and seating is general admission. Tickets can be purchased online 24/7 by following this link. Tickets can also be purchased at the box office in the Cohen Center beginning 90 minutes prior to the start of the event. Tickets purchased in person at the box office are Cash or Check ONLY.

Dancing Uphill 2022

 

When:
Wednesday, February 9 at 7:30PM
Thursday, February 10 at 7:30PM
Friday, February 11 at 7:30PM
Saturday, February 121 at 7:30PM

Where:
Cohen Hall for the Integrated Creative Arts
14 South Williams Street, Burlington, VT

 

Dancing Uphill attempts to capture a glimpse into the rigor, play, and creative research that goes into dancing, dance-making, design, and production here at UVM. Dancing Uphill has been an annual UVM Dance Program tradition since 2008. Highlighting UVM dance student performers, Dancing Uphill 2022 includes choreography by UVM dance faculty and guest dance artists. The show will include work by dance faculty Julian Barnett, Paul Besaw & Selene Colburn , as well as featuring work by UVM students Emma Askew, Katie Corkum, Jordan Officer & Sarah Wasserman, and guest choreographers Bernard Brown & Hye-Won Hwang. The concert is directed by Paul Besaw with technical direction and design coordination by Bert Crosby.

Ticket Prices
General Public - $15
UVM Students - $10

Tickets can be purchased online 24/7 HERE. Tickets can also be purchased the night of the performances beginning 90 minutes prior to the start of the performance. In-person ticket purchases are Cash or Check ONLY.

For more information go to uvm.edu/cas/theatreanddance or email RTTTickets@uvm.edu

Fall 2021 Production

Dancing Uphill - On Site

Dancing Uphill - On Site

Directed by Paula Higa
Choreographed by the students
PLEASE NOTE: Due to an inclimate weather forecast for Oct. 16 & 17 the performances for Dancing Uphill - On Site have been RESCHEDULED forOctober 23 & 24 at 2PM each day.
Location: UVM Medical Center Hillside facing Colchester Avenue and the Trinity Campus

Inspired by Samuel Beckett's Theater of the Absurd, Dancing Uphill - On-site examines power-hungry and social hierarchy through competitiveness. The performance revisits past choreographies from the UVM Dance Program annual concert, Dancing Uphill while tackling non-sense logic. Like in Beckett's plays, what seems meaningless and absurd will come to a conscious end.
And if you think the performance is too “absurdist” for your mindset, we hope you enjoy the selected covers playlist!

The running time for the event is approximately 30 minutes. Parking at UVM Medical Center is not available.

Spring 2021 Production

Dancing Uphill 2021

 
Dancing Uphill attempts to capture a glimpse into the rigor, play, and creative research that goes into dancing, dance-making, design, and production here at UVM. Dancing Uphill has been an annual UVM Dance Program tradition since 2008. Since its inception, the goal of Dancing Uphill has been to feature original UVM student choreography, as well as student performances in the context of professional faculty and guest artist work. The show also highlights collaboration with designers and, depending on the work itself, additional collaborations with musicians, composers, writers, digital artists, etc.
This year, Dancing Uphill also features student senior projects as part of the new major in Dance at UVM. We are only into our second year of this new major, and we are proud to showcase the work our incredibly smart and creative bunch continues to generate.

Dancing Uphill 2021 will be presented on April 16 and 17 at 7:30PM in the Cohen Center for the Intergrated Arts. Due to our need to adhere to protocols around the Covid-19 pandemic we will not be able to perform in front of an in-person audience. However, we are thrilled to be able to present this years performances as a FREE Live-Streamed event. The link below will enable you to view the performances either evening - no password needed. We hope you can join us for an exciting evening of dance as we present Dancing Uphill 2021. 

Support UVM Theatre and Dance

Fall 2020 Production

Annual Site Performance Project

Moving Through the Flood

Moving Through the Flood is a site-specific outdoor performance that brings together the power of dance, theatre, and live music to transcend beyond the current circumstances that are keeping us apart. The performance will take place in the heart of the campus, in front of the Fleming Museum, unfolding at an intersection where art (Fleming), medicine (UVM Medical Center), and science (Innovation Hall) converge. Directed by UVM Theatre and Dance faculty Julian Barnett, and including artistic work from fellow faculty and students, the performance explores the metaphorical possibility of water, as it floods, washes, wakes, and ripples, to create new possibilities and rituals of live performance in the era of social distancing.

Director: Julian Barnett
Scenic Design: Sara Nelson
Lighting Design: Bert Crosby
 
WHEN
Friday, October 9, 2020 at 4:30PM and 6:00PM
 
The Fleming Green – this green space is located between the Fleming Museum, Central Campus Residence Hall and Innovation Hall

 

HOW TO ATTEND THE EVENT

  •     Attendance is limited to UVM ID holders only. You must register in advance to attend.
  •     Register by emailing RTTTickets@uvm.edu. Indicate which date/time you would like to attend.
  •     As per UVM and State guidelines, when registering you must provide your name and a phone number where you can be reached.
  •     When registering please indicate any special requests and/or accommodations.
  •     You will receive an email confirming your request to attend within 24 hours. This time frame may be longer if you submit your request on a weekend.

GUIDELINES FOR ATTENDEES

  •     Everyone attending the event must present a valid UVM ID to gain admittance.
  •     Everyone attending the event must wear face covering and maintain a physical distance of 6 feet between attendees.
  •     Any necessary additional guidelines, including updates in the event of rain, will be included in the confirmation email.

2019-2020 PRODUCTIONS

Annual Site Performance Project

Quantum Complications

The light is the beginning of quantum. The smallest particles of energy travel through empty spaces.
The lines confine the spaces. Pulsating energy collides and shapes the unknown.
The paper is the macro lenses of quantum complications.
 
Working in the new Discovery Hall, this site-specific performance intends to bring art and science together. Influenced by the work of Debra Weisberg, Tape Drawings, faculty Paula Higa and students examine quantum physics, the vast space between areas, and atomic turbulences.
 
Friday & Saturday, November 8 & 9, 2019
Discovery Hall
Two shows each night: 5:30 & 7:00 PM
Tickets: $5, general admission (cash or check only at the door)
NOTE: Limited availability. Please contact RTTTickests@uvm.edu to make a reservation

 

Dancing Uphill 2020

Wednesday-Saturday, January 22 - 25, 2020 - 7:30 PM
Mann Gymnasium (Trinity Campus)
Tickets: $10 for Students; $15 General Admission

Highlighting UVM dance student performers, the concert includes choreography by UVM dance faculty, UVM composition students, and professional guest dance artists. The show will include works by dance faculty Julian Barnett and Paul Besaw, and feature the work of guest artists Lauren Blue (UVM Class of 2012), Laurel Jenkins, and Lida Winfield. Directed by Besaw; technical direction and design coordination by Bert Crosby.

Tickets for Dancing Uphill 2020 are available for purchase at the door of the event. Dancing Uphill 2020 is being presented in Mann Gymnasium located at 208 Colchester Avenue on the trinity campus of UVM. Tickets for Dancing Uphill 2020 are $10 for UVM students and $15 for all others. Tickets can be purchased at Mann Gymnasium by cash or check only. If paying by check please make it out to the University of Vermont. Seating is General admission and the performance begins at 7:30PM.
Again, tickets for Dancing Uphill 2020 are no longer available for purchase online or at the Royall Tyler Theatre box office. They can only be purchased at Mann Gymnasium, beginning at 6:15pm Friday and Saturday, Jan. 24 and 25. Tickets are subject to availability.


2019-2020 EVENTS

UVM Dance Faculty Showcase

UVM Dance Faculty Showcase
To support the UVM Dance Program
Thursday, February 13, 2020
7:00 PM
FlynnSpace (Flynn Center for the Performing Arts)
Free/Donations accepted at the door

This first ever UVM dance faculty showcase will feature work by the professional faculty artists in the Program. Includes work by Julian Barnett, Paul Besaw, Paula Higa, Julie Peoples-Clark, Lynn Ellen Schimoler, and special guest Susan Levine Ourada from the University of Nebraska-Lincoln. All donations will directly support the UVM Dance Program..

Artist Talk – Julian Barnett

Personal Poetics, From Rupture to Transformation

Wednesday, March 4, 2020
5:30 PM
Billings Marsh Room
Free and open to the public

A performance/lecture by Julian Barnett, highlighting his most recent professional work, shedding light on multicultural processes and contexts, and examining the role vulnerability has played in his choreographic life.

American College Dance Association 2020 - New England Conference

March 25-28, 2020
Hosts: Middlebury College & the University of Vermont
Location: Middlebury College

UVM is co-hosting this major regional dance conference. We need students to help organize and work the event. Students, faculty, and staff will also participate; student work from UVM will be presented and students will take part in a whole array of master classes.

Please contact Paul.Besaw@uvm.edu if you are interested in working on or participating in the event.

Improvisation Laboratories

April 4, 2020
Cohen Hall Dance Studio

Two improvisation workshops:
Hannah Dennison will teach a workshop open to all levels from 9:00-12:00.
Susan Sgorbati will teach a workshop for experienced improvisors from 1:00-4:00.

Offered in conjunction with the Flynn Center for the Performing Arts. Limited free spots for UVM students/faculty/staff. Contact Julian.Barnett@uvm.edu to register.

Dance & Music Improvisation Showcase

April 17, 2020
7:00 PM
Billings Library
Free and open to the public.
 

An evening of fresh scores and improvisational experiments, featuring performances by UVM dance and music students. Directed by faculty Julian Barnett (dance) and Matt LaRocca (music).

Senior Project – Mackenzie Zadworny

The Women on the Walls

Wednesday, April 22, 2020
5:30 PM
Fleming Museum

Senior dance major Mickenzie Zadworny will present her capstone performance project, including original choreography inspired by the Fleming Museum’s exhibition of paintings by Wood Gaylor.

Artist Talk – Hannah Dennison

How sites create the dances. How the dances enliven the site. How the people involved are changed.
Thursday, April 23, 2020
5:00 PM
Billings Marsh Room
Free and open to the public

Hannah Dennison will discuss her large-scale, site-specific performance pieces, including The Quarry Project, set in the Wells Lamson quarry in Barre, VT. To be performed August 2020. The talk will include The Quarry Project performers Paul Besaw (UVM dance faculty) and Anna Martone (UVM dance alumnus).

End-of-Semester Dance Showing (Spring)

Friday, May 1, 2020 - 4:00 PM
Cohen Hall Dance Studio
Free and open to the public

Presentation of class projects and independent student work. Coordinated by faculty member Paula Higa. Contact phiga@uvm.edu if you would like to present something!

Street Addresses

Cohen Hall - 14 South Williams St.

Mann Hall - 208 Colchester Ave.

Music Building Recital Hall - 384 South Prospect St.