Spring MaDaCol Performances Feature Alumni and MA Thesis Work

Photo of CWRU dancers

The Department of Dance at Case Western Reserve University is pleased to announce this Spring’s production of MaDaCol (Mather Dance Collective). Performances are April 19 & 20 at 8 p.m., and April 21 at 7 p.m. and 8:30 p.m.

MaDaCol, one of the university’s oldest and largest undergraduate student organizations, offers an important creative outlet for CWRU graduate and undergraduate students, faculty, staff and greater Cleveland community members. This years performance will feature new dance works by second-year graduate students Xiaomeng Zhao and Yizhen Hu, and MFA alumna, Karina Browne. In addition, Xiaomeng Zhao will present her Master of Arts thesis work. More than fifty dancers from a diverse range of performance backgrounds will perform in the production.

Yizhen Hu’s piece, Steal the Thunder, demonstrates that two opposing groups can each have a commitment to their cause or ideals with a fearless zeal to fulfill their goals while also being respectful of differing positions of the opposing group.

Go, choreographed by Xiaomeng Zhao, takes its inspiration from the ancient game of the same name. Go is a journey through a fantasy world where the dancers are entangled in a real-life challenge pitting one group against another.  Zhao’s gaming strategy unfolds through the work leaving the question of which group will succeed or if there can be any winner at all.

Pounding the Pavement, by alumna Karina Browne, follows a day in the life of individuals walking the streets of NYC: auditioning for the next big musical, on their way to work, and other various daily activities. They are the dreamers, the artists, the go-getters and the hopefuls. Exploring the interaction and relationships between these individuals, this work is reminiscent of an old Hollywood musical theater number.

Also presented on this concert is MA candidate Xiaomeng Zhao’s Metamophosis, a journey of struggle, re-birth, growth, longing for a return to the familiar only to finally realize that growth is the only forward option.  With music by Lie Zhang, the dance makes use of a gauze-like cocoon, which is drawn, stretched, shed and ultimately discarded so as to be able to start the new journey.

All performances take place at Mather Dance Center located at 11201 Bellflower Road, on the Case Western Reserve University campus. All tickets are $7 and may be purchased at Mather Dance Center prior to each performance. Early arrival is suggested due to limited seating. No reservations and no advance sales will be made.