On April 3 and 4 at 8 p.m. and April 5 at 2 p.m., Kent State University’s School of Theatre and Dance will proudly present theKent Dance
Ensemble’s 18th annual main stage concert, Ardent Spirits,in the E. Turner Stump Theatre, Music and Speech Center. This year the Kent Dance Ensemble (KDE) celebrates the unique, independent spirit of each of our dancers and the collective passion of our nation to persevere in a time of great struggle. Thirteen young women representing the Bachelor of Fine Arts programs in dance performance and dance education will perform a stimulating repertory of new and revitalized dances by faculty members and three guest artists. 

This season’s concert opens with artistic director Kimberly Karpanty’s clever trio “Go on, then,” a collaboration with composer/musician Claudia Howard Queen. With text by the choreographer, the dance explores unusual ways the three words of the title can be used in contemporary language. “Drift in, Drop Out,” choreographed by visiting assistant professor Joan Meggitt, pairs an evocative sound score by Philip Glass and Allen Ginsberg with a gracefully awkward dance for four women. Like Ginsberg’s poetry, the dance challenges the viewer to let the movement wash over them and to then swim with it as it moves through the space and travels from dancer to dancer.

Choreographed by dance division artist-in-residence Alicia Díaz and New York guest artist Matthew Thornton, with an original sound score by Bill Sallak, “Grain of Sand” is a piece that deals with a journey through time and change. Two additional guest artists set work in intensive residencies this season. Dr. Darwin Prioleau, professor and chair of the Department of Dance at SUNY, The College at Brockport, created an original jazz piece, “Beggar for the Blues,” which was inspired by the words of her great grand aunt: "Girl, you ain't the only one with the blues, we all got the blues." This piece explores that human malady, the blues, through the lens of jazz dance and the music of vocalist Patti Drew and organist Lonnie Smith. Cleveland dance artist Lisa K. Lock set her dark and evocative “Close to Silence,” creating a new third section specifically for the KDE cast. "Close to Silence" looks at the strength and beauty of women of various backgrounds connecting in an unknown and new situation. It is accompanied by the spectacular voice of counter tenor Thomas Otten. The piece was created originally in Los Angeles, as a commission byMoorpark College for their Spring Dance Concert in 2004.

The concert closes with all 13 women of the ensemble in “Broken Voices,” choreographed by assistant professor Barbara Allegra Verlezza. “Broken Voices” is an exploration of “the relentless inner dialogue” that plagues us during times of heartbreak and sorrow. The haunting text of Leonard Cohen’s “Hallelujah” provides the musical backdrop for the work, inspiring suggestions of dark metaphors, the external investigation of individual suffering versus collective grief and the internal pursuit to quiet the “broken voices.”

To confirm your date of attendance for Ardent Spirits and reserve your tickets, please call the School of Theatre and Dance Box Office at 330-672-2497 between noon and 5 p.m. Monday through Friday. General admission is $16; $12 for seniors, KSU faculty, staff and alumni; $8 for students with a valid ID.  In addition to repertory concerts, the Kent Dance Ensemble also conducts lecture-demonstration performances and movement workshops in schools and community centers in the region.

Media Contact: Kimberly Karpanty, 330-672-0127, kkarpant@kent.edu