NOTE FROM THE ARTISTIC DIRECTORS

Creating dance is a rigorous form of imagination. We are imagining new worlds, new relationships and new ways of communicating. We ask hard questions and grow our capacity for complex feelings. The works on this program do this by looking at the past – a tender childhood memory or the literal dark ages– and by imagining our future – hopeful and in harmony with technology and wondering whether our Renaissance is yet to come. We invite you into these worlds to question, sense and imagine with us.

Embedded in the sweat of this production is the memory of our own dancer, Haruka Weiser, who was violently taken from us in 2016. EMERGE marks the return of the Haruka Weiser Memorial Commission afer a three-year pandemic pause. We hope you sense her presence and celebrate the life dance brings to you in ways large and small.

Haruka Weiser Memorial Commission

The Haruka Weiser Memorial Commission celebrates the life and art of Haruka Weiser. This commission has been made possible through the Haruka Weiser Endowed Excellence Fund in Choreography, an endowment created by students, alumni and friends to honor her in perpetuity. This annual commission brings dance artists from around the world to campus to create a new work of dance art in honor of Haruka. The first commission, choreographed by Rennie Harris, was performed as part of Transcendence in 2018.

Haruka Weiser was a B.F.A. in Dance major at The University of Texas at Austin at the time of her death in 2016.

Live as ONE

Choreography: Ido Tadmor

Costume Designer: Aaron Kubacak

Lighting Designer: Gavin Strawnato

Sound Designer: Elias Merlo

Assistant Lighting Designer: Reese Herndon

Assistant Sound Designer: Georgia Beckham

Cast: Evan Carlson, Faith Davis, Catherine Dishington, Elizabeth Garza, Jordan Gilbertson, Sheila Jackson, Gabriela Machado, Isabella Mao, Emma Ofelia Valdez

From the Choreographer

Imagine a world where we can live as one, live in peace, and love much more…

"Imagine there's no heaven

You may say I'm a dreamer It's easy if you try But I'm not the only one No hell below us I hope someday you'll join us Above us, only sky And the world will live as one”

Imagine all the people Livin' for today why they are the way that they are (Draft 2)

–John Lennon

Choreography: Anya and Mitsuko Clarke-Verdery (MICHIYAYA) in collaboration with the dance artists

Music: Composed by Dillon James

Costume Designer: Aaron Kubacak

Lighting Designer: Sarah “Selliott” Elliott

Sound Designer: Elias Merlo

Projection Designer: Benjamin Randall

Scenic Designer: Ana Lara

Choreographic Assistant: Bree Breeden

Assistant Lighting Designer: Reese Herndon

Assistant Projection Designer: Amber Huchton

Assistant Sound Designer: Georgia Beckham

Rehearsal Assistant: Camille Wiltz

Cast: Daniela Mendes Albert, Venese Alcantar, Mia Blitz, Megan Davidson, Aída Hernandez-Reyes, Hayley Jeansonne, Ellie Newton, Andrea Orta, IvyCamille Sampson, Makenna Wallace

From the Choreographer

This work embodies Anya's childhood self. Stuck in a land of dreams and ambition. What they see isn't real. We would like to thank the dance artists for their openness and willingness in bringing Anya's imagination to life. This work would not be what it is without all of you.

Blue, Contrapposto, Blue

Choreography: Venese Alcantar

Music: Composed and performed by Dillon James, Dillon Harger and Tito Rovner

Costume Designer: Aaron Kubacak

Lighting Designer: Gavin Strawnato

Sound Designer: Elias Merlo

Projection Designer: Benjamin Randall

Scenic Designer: Ana Lara

Assistant Lighting Designer: Reese Herndon

Assistant Projection Designer: Amber Huchton

Assistant Sound Designer: Georgia Beckham

Cast: London Lack, Lorna Luciano, Victoria Angelina Montemayor, Makaila Natividad

From the Choreographer

“I make a low, guttural, animal sound, a sound so clearly biological in its design to elicit attention and sympathy from my fellow animals, and yet my fellow animals—my father, my brother—do nothing but talk over me. They talk over me because we are safe, in a small, rented house in Alabama, not stranded in a dark and dangerous rainforest… So the sound is a nonsense sound, a misplaced sound…this itself was the disaster I foresaw... I was a baby, born cute, loud, needy, wild, but the conditions of the wilderness have changed." – Yaa Gyasi

Renaissance Futura

Choreography: Gesel Mason in collaboration with the dance artists

Costume Designer: Aaron Kubacak

Lighting Designer: Sarah “Selliott” Elliott

Sound Designer: Elias Merlo

Scenic Designer: Ana Lara

Assistant Lighting Designer: Reese Herndon

Assistant Sound Designer: Georgia Beckham

Rhythmic Dramaturg: Ryan K. Johnson

Cast: Sabrina Blackwelder, Rebecca Carrillo, Emily Figueroa, Alejandro Frederickson, Noemie Gschwendtner, Sarah Matney, Lexie Nelson, Arianna Puente, RyAnne Rovelo, Moria Joy Small

From the Choreographer

Renaissance Futura asks us to consider if we are once again in the "Dark Ages" and imagines what a 21st century renaissance might look like.

Venese Alcantar (Choreographer – Blue, Contrapposto, Blue; Dancer – why they are the way that they are) is an educator, storyteller and movement practitioner. Alcantar’s work challenges fixed notions of gender and sexuality, the female archetype within the family and the body as landscape. Her work has shown at the Ohr-O’Keefe Museum of Art, the Colorado Springs Fine Arts Center, the UCCS Galleries of Contemporary Art, The Mesa House, the Ent Center for the Arts at UCCS, Cossitt Hall at Colorado College and the Terri Goodhue Gallery.

Bree Breeden (Choreographic Assistant – why they are the way that they are) is a freelance performance and media artist. They were born in Cheraw, South Carolina, raised in New Jersey and now reside in Brooklyn, New York with their wife and son. They graduated from Montclair State University and are currently the managing director and artist with Proteo Media + Performance and are a dance artist with Kyle Marshall Choreography, Michiyaya Dance and Von Howard Project. Breeden works primarily in collaboration with project-based artists including Jessie Young, Janessa Clark, Jordan Demetrius Lloyd, Kinesis Project, Pioneers Go East Collective, Kendra Portier and Beth Graczyk.

Sarah “Selliott” Elliott (Lighting Designer – why they are the way that they are; Renaissance Futura) is a M.F.A. in Theatre (lighting design) candidate with a B.A. in Theatre from the University of Tennessee, Knoxville. Credits include Bakersfield Mist (Riverside Theatre, 2023); Fishing For Stars (The Cohen New Works Festival, 2023); Nutcracker on the Indian River (Ballet Vero Beach, 2022); The Elaborate Entrance of Chad Deity (ZACH Theatre, 2022); Liminal Traces (chuthis, 2022) and In Sisters We Trust, or My F*cked Up American Girl Doll Play (2022), Witchcraf (Fall For Dance, 2022) and PIVOT (2022) with Texas Theatre and Dance.

Erica “EG” Gionfriddo (Producing Artistic Director) is a dance artist and educator who believes in the intelligent body each of us occupies. They are co-founder of the transdisciplinary group ARCOS, which has presented work across the country including for the American Dance Festival, UNESCO, The Ammerman Center Symposium on Arts and Technology, Engagement Symposium of Philosophy and Dance, Currents New Media Festival and Edinburgh Festival Fringe. EG considers their creative processes and projects as rehearsals for survival in a complex world.

Amber Huchton (Assistant Projection Designer –why they are the way that they are; Blue, Contrapposto, Blue) is a B.A. in Theatre and Dance candidate with an emphasis in design and technology at The University of Texas at Austin. Recent credits with Texas Theatre and Dance include Fall For Dance (2022) and Jinkies! or The Dog Play (2022). She looks forward to working on projects in the Cohen New Works festival this spring.

Jason Lee Huerta (Technical Director) is the Operations Manager, Fabrication for Texas Performing Arts at The University of Texas at Austin. He has a M.F.A. in Scenic Technology from the University of Illinois Urbana-Champaign. Recent credits with Texas Theatre and Dance include The Tasters (2021), Anon(ymous) (2017) and The Drowsy Chaperone (2017). Prior to coming to Austin, he worked at various theatres including Goodman Theatre, Illinois Shakespeare Festival, South Texas College and the University of Texas Rio Grande Valley.

Dillon James (Composer – why they are the way that they are; Blue, Contrapposto, Blue) is a B.S. in Arts and Entertainment Technologies major at The University of Texas at Austin. James has had an aptitude for music and sound in the digital realm since childhood. Past credits with Texas Theatre and Dance include Year of the Tiger (2021) and “Kimmy” (2021). He has also worked on projects for The Department of Radio-Television-Film and the School of Design and Creative Technologies.

Ryan K. Johnson (Rhythmic Dramaturg – Renaissance Futura) is a M.F.A. in Dance candidate at The University of Texas at Austin and founding executive artistic director of SOLE Defined Percussive Dance Company. Johnson’s performance