Dance troupe gives fall studio concert

The African-American Dance Company and special guests will be holding its annual Fall Studio Concert at 7:30 p.m. tonight in Alumni Hall in the Indiana Memorial Union. The dance concert was scheduled for Dec. 5, but it was postponed because of a flooding problem in Willkie Auditorium. \nDespite the delay, Iris Rosa, director of the African-American Dance Company, said this year promises to be an especially exciting and emotional joyride for all who attend. \n"What makes this year so special is that there are new people, new energy, new choreography and guest artists," Rosa said. "It's fresh." \nThis year, Rosa worked in cooperation with professor Valerie Grim in order to create a unique concept piece. The piece, entitled "Once Upon a Rural South," is a dance representation of the lives of southern sharecroppers in the early 1900s performed by the dance company. \n"As an artistic director and choreographer, it is important to find new material," Rosa said.\nShe discussed with Grim how to go about mixing history with dance effectively and has been documenting and videorecording each step in the process. First, the dance company members were to read documented experiences of sharecroppers. \n"We wanted the dancers to internalize and intellectualize the experiences," Rosa said.\nThe first of the piece's three movements, in which the dancers expressed the grueling work and utter despair of sharecrop life, was first presented Nov. 1 at the Potpourri Concert at the Buskirk-Chumley Theater as a piece in progress. Since then, Rosa said she has added on the section in which the characters move from the work to the "bluesy" juke-joint where anything goes. \n"The transition had to be very creative," said dance company member and sophomore Raven Akram. "It had to show the people moving from the weekday work to the juke-joint atmosphere where there are no inhibitions and you can enjoy life." \nThe piece will be presented in its entirety at the AADC's annual spring concert. \n"Once Upon A Rural South" will be one of 13 choreographed pieces presented at the concert. The other dances presented will be in the modern, lyrical and jazz styles choreographed by Rosa and dance assistant Lori Madl. There will also be collaborative pieces choreographed by AADC members themselves. Akram said the process of collaboration for the group members was pretty complicated. \n"We had to come up with a theme for the entire company for the year, then come up with a theme for our group, then come up with our music and then choreograph the piece," Akram said.\nThe AADC will be joined by the A102 class, Introduction to Black Dance Styles, and special guests who will be presenting dances in the jazz and lyrical styles. \nSenior Sumer Hall said audience members can expect to not only enjoy technically good dancing, but also learn a little something along the way.\n"Our goal in presenting a piece like this was to introduce black dance styles to those who have never seen it before," Hall said. \nRosa said she encourages the dancers to find and clearly express the meaning behind their dancing each time they step onto the dance floor.\n"We want the audience to recognize that dance is multifaceted and multilayered," Rosa said.