Pleasing pirouettes

The University of Cincinnati College-Conservatory of Music Dance Division will present the fall Ballet Ensemble dance concert this weekend.

The performance will be broken into four premieres with different styles of dance.

"Choreography that challenges and shows the dancers in their best light while maintaining the artistic integrity of the choreographers' intent is an important goal," Dance Division head and ensemble producer Shellie Cash said.

Holberg Suite, the first piece, choreographed by Michael Telvin, is an imperial classic ballet style that will showcase the dancer's line and technique.

First-year student Ellen Bigelow will be dancing the lead along with John Francoviglia.

The second piece, Life and Death, choreographed by Ensemble director Jiang Qi, is a contemporary ballet that depicts human feelings and emotions.

It is a neoclassical-style ballet set to the music of Franz Schubert. Freshmen Kelly Yankle and Britton Spitler will be dancing lead.

Guest choreographer Daniel Simmons will present Bakaa River of Fire after the intermission.

"This ballet is in contemporary style," Qi said. It "is dedicated to the fearless women and men that have lost their lives in Iran controversy."

The final piece is a highly-energetic modern-dance showpiece created by Shellie Cash.

"In my piece... we have four musicians playing live which adds yet another element of complication and excitement to the production," Cash said.

The students have been working on this performance the entire quarter, but the ideas behind the choreography began long before that.

"Some of the moments created in my ballets, for example, have taken years to become manifest," Cash said.

The piece, Goat, Slunk, Kip and Steer, has been a long time coming according to Cash.

"I've been wanting to choreograph to live percussion for a long while," said Cash.

Casting for the ensemble took place the week before fall quarter began.

"Having talented, eager performers is the first step," Cash noted.

There are 45 dancers in the performance, 24 of them freshmen, making it the largest freshman class in CCM history.

"The lead dancers in professors Telvin and Qi's ballets are all freshman," Cash said. "which says that the standards of the program quality are on the rise."

"The dance department has been working very hard for the last three years to try to increase the quality and number of students," Qi said.

Cash believes the program has witnessed a rebirth with the new found interest in the dance program especially with male students.

"This is a faculty of the 21st century, bringing a more complex and challenging repertoire for the dancers to experience as well as a diversity of guest artists and choreographers to the mix," said Cash.

"I really wanted to attend to grow in my dancing abilities," first-year dancer Megan Vesper said. "I think it's been going really well."

"Dancers are realizing that going to college and having a career in dance is not an oxymoron," Cash said. "Moreover, dancers are realizing the benefits of getting their BFA and going for it earlier in their careers as opposed to afterwards."

In addition to the dancers, a 10-member crew, two lighting designers, one graduate-student costumer and four musicians make the performance possible.

"The production would not be able to run without this essential support consisting of a stage manager, assistant stage manager, sound designer, electrician and running crew," Cash said.

Shows are at 8 p.m. Friday Dec. 3, 3 p.m. and 8 p.m. Saturday and Sunday in the Patricia Corbett Theater.

General admission tickets are $10, students are $5 and UC student tickets are free with a valid student ID.