Faculty and Guest Artist Dance Concert September 9, 2021 Sophia Gordon Center for Creative and Performing Arts
WELCOME BACK! We are excited to finally return to presenting live performance to an in-person audience. We have missed the energy a live audience brings to the performing experience. The pandemic has created great challenges for us all. As artists, we rethought the ways in which work could be created and presented. While there were many things we could not do, we flourished in the innovation and resourcefulness these limitations brought us. This welcome back concert is a joining together not only of audience and performers, but also a bridging across art forms. The performances tonight include collaborations between dance, music, visual arts, and poetry, featuring work by our colleagues Cathy Fahey, Ken Reker, Philip Swanson, J.D. Scrimgeour, and Elisabeth Weiss. We also welcome back SSU dance program alumni Samantha Aucello (’18), Angelina Benitez (’18), Jackie Bowden (’15), Jake Crawford (’17), Marissa Doyle (’17), Lindsey McGovern (’15), Olivia Owen (’20), and Jasmine Senn (’19). If you feel moved and inspired by the work you see tonight, please consider showing your support through a gift. Cash donations for the Salem Dance Ensemble will be accepted in the lobby. Online donations can also be made to support the arts at Salem State by going to salemstate.edu/campus-life/arts/support-arts. Thank you for your support!
Professor Meghan McLyman Dance Program Coordinator
DANCE The Salem State University music and dance department presents
Faculty and Guest Artist Dance Concert
September 9, 2021 Sophia Gordon Center for Creative and Performing Arts
This concert is presented in conjunction with Salem State’s Center for Creative and Performing Arts.
PROGRAM A Social Construct / What Matters Most? Directed by: Meghan McLyman Choreography and Performance: Angelina Benitez, Jackie Bowden, Lindsey McGovern, Jasmine Senn Pianist: Karen Gahagan Music: Selections from “Children’s Songs” by Chick Corea Visual Structure: Ken Reker When asked to collaborate on a work for todays’ event, I knew I wanted to create a visual form that would integrate and be open to the ideas and forms of my colleagues. I also wanted the sculpture to operate as a container for the immediate thoughts of the participants at the event. Along the open frame corridor, post-it notes are displayed, expressing individual thoughts and concerns for public viewing. The physical structure consists of an architectural corridor that is open at either end. Depending upon your entry, the structure converges or diverges as one moves through. The four independent units that make up the structure can be arranged to create a straight or curved corridor. Upon reflection, the dimensions of the sculpture suggested a pre and post pandemic space; isolation vs. a re-acquaintance with one another. — Ken Reker
To the Young Girl in the Torn Dress Poem: Cathy Fahey Choreography and Performance: Jake Crawford Music: Patrick Beckman Camera: Eric Fisher, edited by Betsy Miller This film premiered in May 2021 as part of the Mass Poetry Festival.
In the Museum Sculpture Garden Choreography and Performance: Lindsey McGovern Poem: Elisabeth Weiss, read by Lindsey McGovern Music: “Moon,” Sleeping at Last This piece premiered in May 2021 as part of the Mass Poetry Festival.
The Years are Short Choreography and Performance: Michelle Deane Music: “Home,” Dominik Houser, “Your Goodness is Your Greatness,” P&G. Music mix by Shawn Deane
Crosscurrents 1- Restless Seas Choreography: Betsy Miller, in collaboration with the cast Performance: Samantha Aucello, Angelina Benitez, Jackie Bowden, Marissa Doyle, Lindsey McGovern, Olivia Owen Music: Philip Swanson 2- Telephone Call with an Exquisite Corpse* Created and Performed by Betsy Miller, J.D. Scrimgeour, and Philip Swanson *this section was created via structure inspired by two games: telephone game: the first player comes up with a message and whispers it to the ear of the second person. The second player repeats the message to the third player, and so on. exquisite corpse: a method by which a collection of words or images is collectively assembled. Each collaborator adds to a composition in sequence, either by following a rule or by being allowed to see only the end of what the previous person contributed.
Making my entrance again with my usual flair (work in progress) Choreography and Performance: Laila J. Franklin Music: Stephen Sondheim, Barbra Streisand, “Send in the Clowns”
DANCE PROGRAM FACULTY Meghan McLyman, Professor of Dance/Dance Program Coordinator Betsy Miller, Assistant Professor of Dance/CCPA Dance Liaison Michelle Deane, Adjunct Faculty Joanne Caidor, Adjunct Faculty Laila Franklin, Adjunct Faculty
TECHNICAL CREW Lighting Designer and Stage Manager: Harrison Pearse Burke Master Electrician: Paul Marr Electrics Assistants: Alecia DiCicco and Maddie Dustin Dance Program Associates: Vasia Fotopoulos, Savannah Kimber, Abrianna McCollim, Kaija Schram
Tremendous thanks to Michael Harvey, Stu Grieve, and Karen Gahagan for their support and guidance, without which this production would not be possible.
The Salem State University dance program is a proud member of the Massachusetts Dance Education Organization the state affiliate of the National Dance Education Organization.
This program is made possible, in part, by the support of Bernie and Sophia Gordon and the Gordon Foundation.
TONIGHT’S ARTISTS Samantha Aucello graduated in 2018 with a BA in dance. She is currently the director of dance at the Hayden Recreation Centre in Lexington, MA as well as an instructor at Melrose Dance Academy and Beverly Richards Dance Center. Angelina Benitez graduated from Salem State University with a BA in Modern/Contemporary Dance and has since studied at Bates Dance Festival and continues to study with local Boston-based artists. Angie has immersed herself in teaching dance in the Greater Boston area at local studios, schools, and residencies. Connect with her art-making and follow her at @shemovesandmakes on Instagram. Harrison Pearse Burke is a Boston-based Lighting Designer and Production Manager. Locally, Harrison is the Assistant Lighting Director of the Boston Ballet and the Dance Production Manager of the Celebrity Series of Boston. Boston credits include designs and collaborations with The Davis Sisters, Danza Organica, The Wondertwins, Reciprocity Collaborative, Fresh Ink Theater, Heather Stewart Dance, Subject:Matter, The Bang Group, Bonnie Duncan & The Gottabees and Betsy Miller Dance Projects. Harrison is also the Resident Lighting Designer and Production Manager for The Yard, on Martha's Vineyard, where he has designed for Rosie Herrera, Amirah Sackett, Lida Winfield, Ragamala Dance Company, Ruth Childs, Raphael Xavier, Caleb Teicher, and their own company, Dance The Yard. Harrison is a graduate of the Boston University School of Design & Production, BFA in Lighting Design, Magna Cum Laude. harrisonpearseburke.com Michelle Deane started her dance training in Southern California, where she studied ballet at Desert Ballet Centre. She graduated with a BFA in Dance from the University of Massachusetts Amherst, and continued her education at Cambridge College, receiving her MEd. Michelle has been a company member for Adrienne T. Hawkins “Day Job Dancers,” in addition to teaching at Impulse Dance Studio in Boston. She was a member of many dance companies, including Six One Seven Dance Collective, Rainbow Tribe Dance Company, Triiiple Threat Entertainment, and Synergy Dance Company and was also Co-founder and choreographer for Amara Dance Company, performing and choreographing for many
summer dance festivals, including Built on Stilts on Martha’s Vineyard. For over ten years, she was principle dancer and client liaison for Upside Entertainment and KLASS Universal Entertainment, both premier Boston Entertainment DJ/Band Companies. Currently, Michelle is in her fifth year as a member of the Beantown Lockers, a street dance company focused on the dance form of locking, founded by Artistic Directors Carl Alleyne and Kenzie Illnest. This is also Michelle’s fifth year teaching in the Music and Dance Department at SSU. Michelle has enjoyed working with the dedicated and talented students and faculty here at Salem State. Marissa Doyle is a North Shore based creator and caregiver. She graduated from Salem State University with a BS in Sociology in 2017, where she also moved and created with Repertory Dance Theatre and Salem Dance Ensemble. When she is not dancing, you can find Marissa snuggling with her two sweet animals, or creating colorful makeup looks and taking photos with Espy Creative. Catherine Fahey is a poet and librarian from Salem, Massachusetts. When she’s not reading and writing, she’s knitting or dancing. Her debut chapbook The Roses that Bloom at the End of the World is available from Boston Accent Lit. You can read more of her work at magpiepoems.com Laila J. Franklin is a Boston-based (unceded Massachusett and Pawtucket Land) dance artist and movement researcher from the Washington, DC area (unceded Nacotchtonk and Pistacatoway Land). She is a current dancer and collaborator with little house dance company (ME), under the direction of Heather Stewart. She has worked as a collaborator and performer in projects with Ruckus Dance (MA) and Haus of Pvmnt (NY), as well as performance projects with Dr. ChristopherRasheem McMillan, Jennifer Kayle, Melinda Jean Myers, and Stephanie Miracle. Laila’s choreography has been presented at Third Life Studios (MA), Public Space One (IA), the Boston Conservatory, and the University of Iowa. She is a co-founder of Dance Farm Collective, alongside collaborators Michael Landez, Mariko Ishikawa, and Juliet Remmers. She holds an MFA in Dance from the University of Iowa and a BFA in Contemporary Dance Performance from The Boston Conservatory.
Karen Gahagan is an arts administrator and musician based on the North Shore. Tonight’s performance gives her the opportunity to return to an early love, accompanying and collaborating with dance. Her musical work has covered the gamut from classical chamber music to orchestral performances to musical theatre to choral directing. She has worked with numerous theatre companies, educational institutions and musical organizations in the greater Boston area. She is a proud alum of the Jacobs School of Music at Indiana University and Simmons University’s School of Library and Information Science. By day, she is the director of Salem State’s Center for Creative and Performing Arts. Lindsey McGovern graduated from Salem State University’s dance program in 2015. She is the owner/director of Enchanted Dance Academy (Winchester, MA), co-founder of Vitality Dance Project, and choreographer for Venturing Studios. Meghan McLyman is a professor of dance at Salem State University and Dance Program Coordinator. The University recognized her passion for teaching with the 2017 Distinguished Teaching Award, and in 2018, she received the Arts Learning Distinguished Teaching and Arts Advocacy Award. She is also a 2020 Whiting Fellowship recipient. Meghan, along with Kristen Duffy Young, directs Accumulation Dance (accumulationdance.org). They have received support for their choreography from the New England Foundation for the Arts, Next Steps for Boston Dance, the Boston Center for the Arts, Crash Arts/World Music, The Somatics Dance Conference, The Museum of Fine Arts, The Southern Vermont Dance Festival, Salem Arts Festival, Trident Art Gallery, Art Beat/Somerville Arts Council, Dance for World Community, The Dance Complex, Green Street Studios, Across the Ages Dance Project, Tufts University, College of the Holy Cross, Salem State University, and Hollins University. Meghan graduated with a BA in dance from Point Park University, received an MA in dance and arts management from American University, and an MFA from Hollins University in partnership with the American Dance Festival. She serves on the board of Massachusetts Dance Education Organization, is a Moving For Life Certified Instructor under Martha Eddy, and is in the process of becoming a Certified Evans Teacher under Bill Evans.
Born and raised in rural Ohio, Betsy Miller is a dance artist, educator, and facilitator now based in Salem, Massachusetts. Her choreography blends improvisational practice, ritual, athleticism, and theatricality through collaborative practices. She has performed with Lostwax Multimedia Dance and Fusionworks, and has recently appeared in works by Kathleen Hermesdorf, Heidi Henderson, and Audrey MacLean, and in collaborations with Matthew Cumbie, Lida Winfield, and Shawn Hove. Miller was a 2017 Bates Dance Festival Emerging Artist, a 2016 Rhode Island State Council on the Arts Choreography Fellow, and a 2019 Next Steps for Boston Dance Awardee. Currently serving as Assistant Professor of Dance at Salem State University, Miller has been on faculty at Providence College, Connecticut College, Dean College, and AS220 (Providence, RI), and regularly teaches and performs as a guest artist throughout New England and beyond. She holds an MFA in Dance from The Ohio State University and a BA in Dance from Connecticut College. More info at: betsymillerdanceprojects.com. Olivia Owen graduated from Salem State University in 2020 with a major in dance and a minor in theatre. Originally from Winthrop, MA, Olivia now works in Revere as a paraprofessional in an elementary school, where she has been given the opportunity to create a free dance program for lowincome students. Ken Reker, Professor in the Art + Design department and director of the Winfisky Gallery at Salem State University, received his MFA in sculpture from the School of the Art Institute of Chicago and a BFA in drawing and printmaking from the University of Louisville. His public commission for the Boston Children’s Museum was an assemblage of objects from the museum’s Chinese collection into a large window installation that represented a three-dimensional Chinese landscape painting. In 2016, DOUBLE TROUBLE was commissioned by the Fort Point Arts Community in Boston. The sculpture examines our titanic love affair with plastic and petroleum-based products. Reker’s public sculpture installations include Sculpture Key West, FL, FLOATILLO Festival, Chicago, Ill., WATERWORKS Savannah, GA, Gloucester New Arts Festival, Gloucester, MA, TWIST & SHOUT, Cambridge River Arts Festival, Cambridge, MA, ART in the PARK, Elm Park, MA, OUTDOOR SCULPTURE at Maudslay State Park, Newburyport, MA and FLYING HORSE Outdoor Sculpture at Pingree School, Hamilton, MA.
Jasmine Senn graduated SSU in 2019 with a BA in dance. She currently resides in Peabody. Jasmine shares her passion for dance through teaching at several local studios throughout New England. J.D. Scrimgeour has published four books of poetry and two books of nonfiction. Banana Bread: a Mandarin Pandemic Diary, a bilingual collection of poetry, will be published by Nixes Mate Press in Fall 2021. His second book of nonfiction, Themes for English B: A Professor's Education In & Out of Class won the Association of Writers and Writing Program's Award (AWP). He is Chair of English at Salem State University and lives in Salem, Massachusetts, a city where one ancestor was killed for being a witch and another sat on the jury that found her guilty. More at jdscrimgeour.com. Philip Swanson has had a wide-ranging career as a trombonist, pianist, composer, organist, conductor, and teacher. He received a Doctor of Musical Arts from New England Conservatory, Master of Music from the Eastman School, and did his undergraduate study at Oberlin Conservatory and the University of Miami. As a trombonist, he has performed with the Miami Philharmonic, where he served as principal for five years, the Boston Symphony Orchestra, Boston Pops, Opera Boston, Boston Modern Orchestra Project, Boston Ballet Orchestra, and numerous other orchestral and chamber ensembles. He has performed with numerous small group and big band jazz ensembles, including Chamber Jazz, which he founded with guitarist Anthony Weller and The Bob Nieske 10. Swanson is Professor of Music at Salem State University where he teaches music theory, composition, trombone and piano. Since 1991 he has been Music Director of the First Congregational Church of Rockport where he serves as organist and choir director. Swanson has written and published numerous works in both instrumental and vocal genres. He can be heard on a wide range of recordings. For more information visit: swansonmusic.com. Elisabeth Weiss teaches writing at Salem State University. She’s taught poetry in preschools, prisons, and nursing homes, as well as to the intellectually disabled. She’s published poems in London’s Poetry Review, Porch, Crazyhorse, the Birmingham Poetry Review, the Paterson Literary Review and many other journals. Lis won the Talking Writing Hybrid Poetry Prize for 2016 and was a runner up in the 2013 Boston Review poetry contest. Her chapbook, The Caretaker’s Lament, was published by Finishing Line Press in 2016.
Get up to date information about our Fall Arts Event calendar at salemstate.edu/arts