Thursday, April 24, 2008

UNT Dance professor and students invited to national competition

By Brooke Cowlishaw of North Texas Daily

While Shelley Cushman of the dance faculty may not think that fighting gets people anywhere, her war-themed dance piece will take her to the National College Dance Festival this summer.

The work, "En I Me" - pronounced "enemy" - is one of 29 pieces that will be performed in New York City June 4 through 6.

Cushman said 429 works were considered for the festival nationwide.

"It's a big honor," said Lorenzo Garcia, chairman of the Department of Dance and Theatre. "It's a tribute not only to her work, but for our students who dance it beautifully."

Cushman said it will cost $15,000 to take the dancers and stage manager to New York.

The students will host car washes, a garage sale and sell T-shirts, among other fundraisers, to help pay for the trip.

There will be a benefit performance on May 3 featuring "En I Me" and other works to raise money as well.

Cushman said the piece, which features 12 student dancers, is controversial and expresses her disapproval of war.

"You read the statistics every day - there are people that are killed, and not just our people," she said. "You just think about all of the movies that you watch. People like to watch the movies and like to make the films. There's a lot there."

She was inspired to choreograph the work because the subject holds a lot of meaning to her.

"It just amazes me that we continue to have these wars that destroy this beautiful body when we should be enjoying life," she said. "We don't seem to understand that it doesn't get us anywhere."

The subject is very timely, Garcia said, because of our current political situation.

"We tend to see the war as abstract because it's overseas and not impacting our daily lives," he said. "What she does in her piece is capture the emotional turmoil that we should be experiencing in a time of war. It's sort of like holding up a mirror and seeing our reflection."

Sugar Land senior Jessica Cochrane said that in one point of the show, the dancers use toy guns to symbolize the irony of kids playing with guns when actual wars are going on in the world.

"It's such a strong piece emotionally, and it makes a very strong statement throughout the piece," Cochrane said. "I've heard from people that it's intense to watch it. It's a lot to take in, and it's really powerful."

This is the first time an NT piece has made it to nationals in about 10 years, Garcia said, and the department is excited for Cushman and the students.

"I've always liked Shelley's choreography," he said. "It's always original, delightful and unpredictable, and yet has a social commentary to it."

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