Rice Dance Theatre - Excerpts from the Outside

Excerpts from the Outside, the RDT fall 2006 concert, will run this week, November 15 - 18. 'Bold, unpredictable Excerpts suprises' reads the headline from the Thresher review, which gave us 4 out of 5 stars!

Crossroads
Choreograper: Natalie Weber
Music: "Future Tiger," Susumu Yokota
Dancers: Dionella Martinez, Emily Douglas, Aleah Sommers, Natália Saliés, Beth Jabinski, Heather Johnston, Sonia Kannadan, Melody Munoz, Natalie Weber

Kismet
Choreograper: Heather Johnston
Music: "Kismet," Bond
Dancers: Sabina Bharwani, Ashley Martin, Meghan Saumur, Eleanor Weaver, Natalie Weber

For a Dandelion
Choreograpers: Ruta Perzynska
Music: "Prenzlauerberg," Beirut
Dancers: Caroline Crites, Carmen Wright, Neha Deshpande, Beth Jablinski, Kathleen Shergy, Lizzie Leslie, Melody Munoz, Rene Romig

Make Me Face Me (A Tribute to Brasil)
Choreograper & Soloist: Althea Skinner
Music: "Meu Amor Meu Bem Me Ame," Zeca Baleiro
Note: My summer in Brasil leads me to celebrate the expressivity and transformative capabilities of dance, embodied poetry in motion. But this piece also explores questions of power in the socio-political context (differential lives unjustly based upon race and class): I play with acting v. being acted upon. Finally, I ask, when are we truly ourselves; when are we naked to others?

Yearnings
Choreograper: Rene Romig
Music: “Keeping the Blade,” Coheed and Cambria; “Maybe Tomorrow,” Stereophonics
Dancers: Neha Deshpande, Christian Holmes, Kathleen Shergy, Aleah Sommers, Prudence Sun, Nora Varela

Breaking the Rules
Choreograper: Jennie Wilburn
Music: "Sinnerman,” by Nina Simone
Dancers: Emily Jacob, Meghan Saumur, Jennie Wilburn

Fidelity
Choreograper: Emily Douglas
Music: "Alle Männer Müssen Kämpfen," Xavier Naidoo
Dancers: Caroline Crites, Emily Jacob, Rebecca Philips, Amy Richter, Kathleen Shergy, Prudence Sun

Get Hooked
Choreograper: Ashley Martin
Music: "He Poos Clouds," Final Fantasy
Dancers: Christian Holmes, Marie McKinnon, Amy Richter

Cinderblock
Choreograper: Amy Richter
Music: excerpts from the motion picture "Brick", Nathan Johnson
Dancers: Natalie Weber, Mac Griswold, Natália Saliés, Melody Munoz, Christian Holmes, Christine Chen, Laura Reinsvold, Amanda Hu, Sabina Bharwani

Rummaging for Answers
Choreograper: Meghan Saumur
Music: "Us," Regina Spektor
Dancers: Ashley Martin, Rebecca Philips, Natalie Weber, Jennie Wilburn

The Garden
Choreograper: Caroline Crites
Music:
i. The Ants Go Marching - "Flight of the Foobirds," The Real Group
ii. Flight of the Bumblebeats - "Based upon 'Flight of the Bumblebee'" by J-Radical
iii. The Awakening - "Summertime," artist unknown

Dancers: Beth Jablinski, Emily Douglas, Aleah Sommers, Jennie Wilburn, Christian Holmes, Rene Romig, Natalie Weber, Marie McKinnon, Carmen Wright, Ruta Perzynska

Note: Please watch your step so as not to step on any of the ants. Also, don’t touch the bees. They might sting. And for all you familiar with the native insects of Houston, please do not be alarmed. There are no cockroaches in this piece.

Caroline Crites is a Baker senior studying Linguistics and German. Though she has dabbled in the likes of ballet, jazz, and tap since she was young, Caroline has become even more passionate about dance since joining RDT her freshman year, where she has discovered both modern dance and the ability to choreograph. This is her third time choreographing for an RDT production. When not creating dances about bugs, Caroline can usually be found out swing dancing, laughing with her sister, writing limericks, or talking about herself in the third person. She would like to thank her dancers for their great patience and dedication, her friends and family for their support and love, and especially the One who gave her the ideas in the first place.

Emily Douglas is a senior French Studies and Philosophy double major. A lifelong dancer of any variety, she has been involved in RDT since her freshman year, with this semester marking her third choreographic attempt. She would like to thank her family, friends and boyfriend for their support. Most importantly, a big thank you to her dancers for being incredibly beautiful and inspiring.

Heather Johnston burst onto the dance scene in 1988 in a riveting performance as 'the one little duck' and hasn't stopped dancing since. In her fourth and final year with RDT, she has enjoyed the challenges of choreography and thanks her dancers for all their hard work. Heather is a senior Elec (trical engineer) at Jones College.

Ashley Martin started dancing at the age of 3 when here mom decided to sign her up for classes because she was always walking on her toes. She received her formal training at the Alexandra School of Ballet in St. Louis, Missouri. Before joining RDT, Ashley performed with Alexandra Ballet Company, Mid-America Dance Company, and Les Grands Ballets Canadiens. Ashley is a senior at Will Rice majoring in biochemistry as well as French. This is her fourth year in RDT and her second work of choreography. She would like to thank her family and friends for their support, Brandon for the music and general amazingness, and her wonderful dancers for their enthusiasm and willingness to try anything when she says, “So I have this idea…”

Ruta Perzynska has been with Rice Dance Theatre for 3 1/2 years. This is her third and final "choreographic experiment" at Rice. she hopes to continue dancing and creating movement after graduation this December. Thanks to her dancers for their hard work and speedy learning skills, as well as their ability to appreciate that which is "kitch" in life. 1-2-3, 1-2-3, NAZDROWIE BABUSKAS!!!

Amy Richter - This Brown senior chemistry major is honored to be a part of such an innovative dance troupe. Rehearsals are fun, the dancers are wild and the hula-hoops are plentiful. Amy has been dancing for many years and will continue to dance for many more. She aspires to become a doctor and own an ice cream parlor.

Rene Romig rediscovered dance about a year ago after taking a long break from her many childhood years of ballet training. Now she is grateful to have had the chance to experience the overwhelming yet rewarding life of a choreographer. Rene is a sophomore at Baker College pursuing a major in sociology. She would like to thank her wonderful dancers for their hard work and the RDT girls for all of their support.

Meghan Saumur is a junior biochemistry major at Martel. This is her third year with RDT and her first time choreographing. She started dancing 13 years ago at Top Hat Talent dance studio in Oklahoma City and has continued her training at the School of Ballet Oklahoma, the Oklahoma Summer Arts Institute, Debbie Allen Dance Academy in Los Angeles, and numerous dance conventions and competitions around the country. She would like to thank her amazing dancers for all their hard work and dedication this semester and for putting up with her when she tried to squeeze in 15 steps into 2 counts of music.

Althea Skinner, a senior sociology major, began dancing at the Festival School of Ballet in Buffalo, NY at age three and continued training at the Halycone Ewalt Perlman School of Ballet in Columbia, MO from ages 10 to 18. She has also studied dance at the Pennsylvania School of Ballet, Pineapple Studios in London, Stephen's College, the Louisville Ballet and the Houston Ballet. Sophomore year, she debuted professionally with the Michele Brangwen Dance Ensemble, the Sandra Organ Dance Company and Chrysalis. With the support of the Parish Summer Fellowship, she spent the summer in Salvador da Bahia, Brasil where she studied dance and social change, particularly through capoeira angola and Silvestre, an afro-Brasilian contemporary technique. This is her fourth semester working with Rice Dance Theatre and her second time choreographing.

Natalie Weber dances. She dances in studios, on the streets, and on the social dance floor. To be honest, it's an addiction, but one she's glad of and has embraced seemingly since birth. She owes any actual talent she might have to her wonderful teachers, Amanda Dalton and Densil Adams, whom she danced with for seven years at Preston Center Dance in Dallas, TX. She has been a part of RDT since her second semester at Rice, and has danced with the Chrysalis Dance Company in Houston. She is now a junior at Will Rice College and a linguistics major, who -- as her voice mail message will tell you -- loves blue skies and cats. A million hugs go to her dancers, who have all been infinitely patient with this rookie choreographer, and Natália, for sacrificing sleep for sewing. Thanks also to her friends and family for their digitally-sent support and love (and scathing criticisms).

Jennie Wilburn was born and raised in Savannah, Georgia where she began taking dance at the age of 6. She trained primarily at the Gretchen Greene School of Dance but has also danced with Ballet South and the Savannah Danse Theatre. She is currently a sophomore at Brown College majoring in Hispanic Studies. This is her second year with RDT (although her first choreographic attempt) and she also dances on the Rice Owls Dance Team. She would like to thank her parents for their continuous support, her roommate for listening to her talk about dance all the time, and her dancers for all their hard work and amazing abilities!