Tickets: $20 adults; $10 students/seniors $5 Rider University StudentsBox Office: 609-896-7775 Online: www.rider.edu/arts

THE SCHOOL OF FINE AND PERFORMING ARTS PRESENTS

Rider University2038 Lawrenceville RoadLawrenceville, N.J.

2 Rider Dances 2015: Collaborate and Innovate

Theatrical productions are always collaborations that depend on teamwork from a wide variety of artists and technicians. Music and dance are often integral partners. Still this year’s “Rider Dances 2015: Collaborate and Innovate” celebrates unique combinations of faculty from both of our campuses, choreographers joining their talents, students working with students, and dancers with visual artists. With the exception of the Thomas/Ortiz classic Undamely all of the works are premieres. And Undamely is new to us! Ted Thomas and Francis Ortiz’s choreography was the panelists’ top choice at the 2014 Emerging Choreographers Competition and chosen to be set on our students. We are thrilled to have this opportunity to collaborate with a professional company.

Ronald Hemmel of Westminster Choir College’s Music Composition Department composed a new ballet that has been interpreted by local dance artist Dawn Cargiulo Berman. The dance and music invoke images of the anxieties, thoughts, rituals and preparations that happen before rest.

While Janelle Byrne and Jennifer Gladney have worked closely together, this is their first time co-creating for Rider Dances. Laney Engelhard choreographed a new work to original music by Luis Andrei Cobo. Rider junior Dance major Ashley Alvarez worked with Kim Chandler Vac-caro and Popular Music Culture major Madeline Prentice who composed digital music.

Also premiering is a new dance by Christine Colosimo with international visual artist Eva Flastcher. Ms. Flastcher is peerless in using technology to create live, dancing visual images. We are thrilled to be presenting this, and all of the artists’ work, this evening.

Please only use cell phones and other magic devices in the lobby. Please also note that unau-thorized use of any recording device, either audio or video, and the taking of photographs, either with or without flash, is strictly prohibited to protect the property rights of the artists.

And PLEASE enjoy the dance. - Kim Chandler Vaccaro

Kim Chandler Vaccaro, artistic director

Collaborations by:

Laney Engelhard with Luis Andrei CoboJanell Bryne and Jennifer Gladney

Christine Colosimo with Eva FlatscherRonald Hemmel with Dawn Cargiulo Berman

Ashley Alvarez and Kim Chandler Vaccarowith Madeline Prentice

Ted Thomas and Francis Ortizand Rider Dancers

Artistic Director’s Note

Program 3

Demeter

Choreography: Laney EngelhardMusic: Demeter by Luis Andrei Cobo

Dancers:Ashley Alvarez, Alexandria Barna, Felicia Catney, Sarah Colon,

Taylor Miller, Melissa Rasimowicz, Rachel Roman, Miranda Rosene

Racing Thoughts

Choreography: Ashley Alvarez with Kim Chandler VaccaroMusic: The Mind Speaks by Madeline Prentice

Dancers:Courtney Booker, Brianna Colwell, Amira Davis, Julia Hall,

Amanda Page, Samantha Pantalone, Miranda Rosene

Pentagon Task (Five Points of Opposition)

Choreography: Janell Bryne and Jennifer GladneyMusic: By The Lake by Steven Price; Hammer and Chisel by John Adams;

Mombasa by Hans Zimmer rearranged and performed by Luka Sulic and Stjepan HauserDancers:

Stephanie Lewis, Ashley Miller, Taylor Miller, Jacquelyn Oathout, Rachel Romane

5-MINUTE PAUSE

Seek

Choreography: Christine Colosimo with visual artist Eva FlastcherMusic: The Love for Three Oranges, Op. 33 by Sergey ProkofievSymphony No. 5 in D Minor, Op. 47 by Dmitry Shostakovich

Dancers:Kaleen Butterfield, Christine DiBrita, Mariah Lopez,

Jamie Misegades, Melissa Rasimowicz, Angela Sandoukas, Julia Weiss e

10-MINUTE INTERMISSION

Shadows of Despondence

Choreography: Dawn Cargiulo BermanMusic: Sahkotin by Pan Sonic

Dancers:Jennifer Andreini, Aleah Broach, Jen Cabrera, Meredith Eger,

Sabrina Iacobellis, Alyson Lamson-Reiners, Syndie Levy, Marie McVeigh, Julia Weisse

ASHLEY ALVAREZ is a double major in Arts Administra-tion and Dance Performance at Rider University, where she works as an administrative assistant for both departments, and serves as the vice president of two student organizations: Rider Dance Ensemble and Arts Management Association. In the past year she completed an internship with 10 Hairy Legs dance company and was a dancer for the Trenton Freedom’s Xtreme Dance Team. Ms. Alvarez’s most recent choreography has been featured in Rider Dance Ensemble productions and in Rider University’s Emerging Choreographers Competition in 2014. She has also choreographed for McCarter Theatre Center’s First Stage Program. She was a co-recipient of the 2014 Mildred C. Hawkins Fine Arts Scholarship.

DAWN CARGIULO BERMAN studied at the University of the Arts and the Laban Centre for Dance and Movement in London, England, where she received a Bachelor of Arts, with honors, in Dance Theatre in 1993. She first worked in a London-based collaborative group called Exit and then with Transitions Dance Company, where she had the privilege of performing and teaching throughout Europe, Japan and Tai-wan. In 1995 Ms. Berman began work with MOMIX dance company, performing such works as Baseball and Passion throughout the United States and Europe. From 1997 to 1999, she performed with several New York City-based companies

including Neo Labos Dance Theater, Shoestring and Isadora’s Dance Legacy. Additionally, she collaborated with Vienna-based Blue Moon Productions, performing in Vienna as well as in Belgium and New York City. From September 2000 to June 2002, Ms. Berman created and directed a dance program at Mainland Regional High School in Linwood, N.J. She also directed the dance program at Middlesex Vocational and Tech-nical High School from 2002 to 2003. At the same time, she worked with Philadelphia-based JUNK dance company and SCRAP Performance Group, creating and performing dance works throughout the Philadelphia area and South America. Currently, she teaches dance at Princeton Ballet School and The Lawrenceville School, and is phasing into artistic director at Gallery of Dance in Freehold, N.J.

JANELL BYRNE, a native of California, studied with Stan-ley Holden and Margaret Hills in Los Angeles. A graduate of the Juilliard School, where she studied with Alfredo Corvino, Ms. Byrne has taught at Princeton University, The College of New Jersey and The Lawrenceville School. She has performed with DanceWorks and Teamwork Dance, and is director of Mercer Dance Ensemble at Mercer County Community Col-lege, where she has taught for over 20 years.

LUIS ANDREI COBO, a native of New York City, was born

4 Program

Nightmoves

Choreography: Dawn Cargiulo Berman Music: Night Moves: Introduction, Waltz, Passacaglia, Rest (2015) by Ronald Hemmel

Dancers:Ashley Alvarez, Christy Box, Felicia Catney, Victoria Cruz, Christine DiBrita,

Ashley Miller, Danielle Minichino, Heather Neto, Jacquelyn Oathoute

Undamely

Choreography: Ted Thomas and Francis OrtizRehearsed by: Kim Chandler Vaccaro

Music: Concerto for 3 Violins in F Major, RV 551, II. AndanteConcerto for 2 Cellos in G Minor, RV 531, II. Largo and Allegro by Antonio Vivaldi

Dancers:Ashley Alvarez, Christy Box, Victoria Cruz, Danielle Minichino, Audrey Yeager

Special thank-you to Mia Bowyer

About the Artists

in 1972, and has had a passion for music since he saw the movie Star Wars. At age 4, he started taking piano lessons, and has been composing music since the age of 12. In 1990 he was admitted to Manhattan School of Music as a composi-tion student and won the Absolut Vodka Composers Award. Completing both his Bachelor of Music and Master of Music, he studied with David Noon, Aaron Jay Kernis, Richard Dan-ielpour and Giampaolo Bracali. Bracali’s sudden passing in 2006 inspired the work The Disarrange for soprano, cello and piano, with poetry of Jennifer Michael Hecht, which was per-formed at his memorial concert in New York City. He gained a profound understanding of technology while studying elec-tronic music with the late Elias Tanenbaum. In 1996 he was the recipient of the Concert Artists Guild Composers Award, which resulted in the commissioning of three chamber works: Prelude and Millennium for oboe and string quartet; Postlude for baritone, flute, cello and piano; and Personal Demons for piano trio. Since 2005, he has set five of Jennifer Michael Hecht’s poems, one of which was part of a commission for a work for chorus, oboe and piano titled Fall In Time. Three of those songs will be released on a Composers Concordance Records produced album called Cycles in late 2015/early 2016. He most recently completed his first symphony subtitled Sym-phonie Nostalgique, which was commissioned by the Seniors Orchestral Society of New York. Current plans include his first opera with playwright August Schulenburg of the Flux Theatre Ensemble, a piano quintet for Tamami Honma and a work for Absolute Ensemble. By day he works as a software engineer.

CHRISTINE COLOSIMO is a dancer, choreographer, dance administrator, dance educator and artist-in-resident, who works and lives in the Princeton area as a dance artist. Ms. Colosimo’s area of expertise is dance education and inte-grated arts projects that unite the art of dance/movement and K-5 curriculum to enhance students’ learning. A graduate of Teachers College, Columbia University, in Dance Education, she trained in New York City with prominent modern dance choreographer Erick Hawkins, where she served as administra-tive assistant and understudy to the company. She is a certi-fied Laban Movement Analyst, and trained in jazz, tap, ballet, point, modern, Pilates and Alexander Technique.

LANEY ENGELHARD was born and raised in Ellensburg, Washington, and graduated from the Washington Academy of Performing Arts in Redmond. She spent summers training at Pacific Northwest Ballet School and The Rock School of Pennsylvania Ballet. Upon graduation, Ms. Engelhard joined Oregon Ballet Theatre and worked with choreographer Trey McIntyre on Michael Curry’s production of Spirits. She has

been a guest artist with Hubbard Street Dance Company II; performed in Radio City’s Christmas Spectacular; and danced with Terpsicorps Theatre of Dance in Asheville, N.C. For sev-en seasons she danced with American Repertory Ballet under the direction of Graham Lustig. As a choreographer she cre-ated many works for schools in New Jersey including Princ-eton’s BodyHype Ensemble, Rider Dances, The Outlet Dance Project, Collaborative Arts Motion New Dance Works and Lustigdancetheatre (LDT).

Born in Vienna, Austria, EVA FLATSCHER studied free and applied painting at the School of Arts. Since 1992, she has worked as a freelance visual artist. In 2002 she brought the concept of Seek to the public realm, and since then she has practiced her art in concert halls, at international festi-vals and in public venues both in Europe and in the United States. With Seek, the Austrian performer unites the art forms of music, painting, dance and text in a unique and electrify-ing manner. As dancers move on stage and music sounds, she directs them both, the musicians and the dancers, through her painting. In this way, she seeks not to produce a backdrop to the stage but to bring her painting together on the same level with the other art forms. www.evaflatscher.com

JENNIFER GLADNEY graduated from Rider University in 2006, summa cum laude, with a double major in Elementary Education/Dance and Early Childhood Education. She has been part of Rider Dances since its inception in 2005 and was the first senior honors student to choreograph for the show Cross Phases. Since graduation she has created six other works on Rider students, as an alumna. Ms. Gladney was a company dancer with American Repertory Ballet and has been on the faculty at Princeton Ballet School since 2005. She continues to be a freelance dancer, choreographer and teacher.

RONALD HEMMEL is professor of Music Theory and Composition at Westminster Choir College of Rider Uni-versity, where he also serves as artistic director of the Music Computing Center. He holds degrees from Westminster Choir College, James Madison University and Rutgers, The State University of New Jersey. He is the recipient of the Excellence in Composition award from the Brass Chamber Music Forum and several awards from Rider University and American So-ciety of Composers, Authors and Publishers (ASCAP). His works are published by Yelton Rhodes Music and Transcon-tinental Music.

Melding his urban athleticism with her Latin sensuality, and their combined choreographic and musical sensibilities,

About the Artists 5

KRISTY ALEXANDER is currently working toward a Bach-elor of Arts in Elementary Education and Dance Studies. She will graduate, summa cum laude, this May. Ms. Alexander is a member of Kappa Delta Pi and the National Dance Educa-tion Organization. She is also the 2014-2015 president of the Rider Dance Ensemble, and has been a choreographer for the organization since 2013. This semester, she is student teaching in a third grade general education classroom in West Windsor-Plainsboro Regional School District.

FELICIA CATNEY is a Dance Performance major with a minor in Popular Music Culture, and will graduate in De-cember. Ms. Catney is also an active member of Rider Dance Ensemble, Alpha Psi Omega and the Fine Arts Mentor Pro-gram, as well as the Freshman Seminar Mentor Program. She has choreographed and danced in festivals such as the Biomor-phic Dance Festival in New York City in spring of 2014, and the Philadelphia Fringe Festival in fall of 2014. She was asked back to the Biomorphic Dance Festival for spring of 2015.

NICOLE COLOSSI will graduate in May with a double ma-jor in Biology and Dance Performance. For the past four years, Ms. Colossi has worked in a vertebrate physiology laboratory under the supervision of Todd Weber. She is actively involved in both the science and dance departments, and has served on the executive board of the Rider Dance Ensemble for the past two years. She is also a member of the National Dance Educa-tion Organization, as well as other societies, and enjoys teach-

ing ballet to aspiring dancers. This year she was awarded the Dance Merit Scholarship. Ms. Colossi hopes to attend New York University's College of Dentistry in the fall.

BRIANNA COLWELL of Point Pleasant, N.J., will graduate from Rider University in May 2015 with a Bachelor of Arts in Dance Performance and a minor in Arts Administration. Ms. Colwell has been on the Dean’s List since freshman year, maintaining a 3.7 GPA or higher. She started dancing at the age of three at Dance For Joy in Brielle, N.J. She was trained in many different dance genres including ballet, tap, contempo-rary, lyrical, jazz and hip-hop. She continued her dance studies at Rider University in fall of 2011, taking classes at the Princ-eton Ballet School. In January 2014, Ms. Colwell joined the Trenton Freedom’s Xtreme Dance Team. In June 2014, she made it to the final auditions of the Philadelphia 76ers’ Dream Team. She plans to one day dance for either the NFL or NBA, and own and run her own dance studio.

JULIA HALL will graduate in May with a degree in Graphic Design Communications and a minor in Dance. She spent the majority of her college career working at Sesame Place in Langhorne, Pa., as a character performer, where she performs in and out of costume in shows and parades in the park. She is currently a resident advisor at Rider, and spends time sub-stituting for different dance classes in studios in the area. Ms. Hall is a part of the Rider Dance Ensemble where she has per-formed and choreographed throughout her four years.

6 About the Artists

TED THOMAS and FRANCES ORTIZ founded Thomas/Ortiz Dance in 2001. The company of 12 dancers from cultur-ally diverse backgrounds performs repertoire which explores a multitude of thought-provoking and socially-relevant themes. Thomas/Ortiz Dance made its debut at The Bronx Academy of Art and Dance (BAAD!) in 2001. The company has since performed at The Joyce Theater, The Puffin Room, Clune Center for the Arts, Conn., and Stevens DeBaun Performing Arts Center, N.J., as well as performances at Bridge for Dance, Dance Space Raw Materials, DanceNOW Festival, “The Re-member Project” for Dancers Responding to AIDS at St. Marks Church, and Dance for Life in Bryant Park, N.Y. Its 2005 presentation at the Merce Cunningham Studios was singled out as a “critic’s pick” in Show Business Weekly. The company

went on to perform its 2006-2007 New York season at Dance Theater Workshop; performed “Dancing at the Crossroads” with Time Square Alliance and Dancers Responding to AIDS (N.Y.) in 2007; its 2008 season at Alvin Ailey Studio and the American Dance Guild Festival at Dance New Amsterdam (N.Y.) in 2008; a performance titled “John Prinz and Friends” at the Alvin Ailey Studios (N.Y.), the Dance New York Festival at Lincoln Center (N.Y.) and Master Dance Series (Fla.) in 2009; a performance with Nazareth College Rochester (N.Y.) in 2010; the Latin Choreographer Festival in 2008, 2009 and 2010 (N.Y.); and in 2010 was commissioned to create choreog-raphy for Connecticut Ballet (Conn.). In May 2014 Undamely was chosen as the top pick by panelists at Rider University’s first Emerging Choreographers Competition.

About the Senior Class

STEPHANIE LEWIS will graduate in December with a dou-ble major in Elementary Education and Dance Studies with a minor in Early Childhood Education. She is also sister of Phi Sigma Sigma. Since transferring to Rider University in fall of 2013 she gained information that she will take with her thought her life. In her final semesters, she has worked closely with Kim Chandler Vaccaro to bring dance and elementary education together.

ASHLEY MILLER is currently working towards a Bachelor of Arts in Elementary Education and Dance Studies with a minor in Early Childhood Education. She will graduate, mag-na cum laude, in May. Ms. Miller is a member of Kappa Delta Pi, Omicron Delta Kappa and the National Dance Education Organization. During her junior year, she was the president of Rider Dance Ensemble and has been a choreographer for the organization since her sophomore year. She also teaches a variety of dance styles at Pennington Dance in Pennington, N.J. This year, Ms. Miller was the recipient of the Mildred C. Hawkins Fine Arts Scholarship. She is currently student teach-ing in a kindergarten classroom in Hamilton, N.J.

DANIELLE MINICHINO grew up in Brick, N.J., and has been dancing since she was the age of seven. She will graduate, summa cum laude, with a Bachelor of Science in Behavioral Neuroscience and a minor in Dance. For the past four years, she conducted and presented original research in Kelly Bidle's microbial genetics laboratory. Ms. Minichino has also been an

active member of Rider Dance Ensemble and was inducted into the National Dance Education Organization, among many other honor societies. She was also fortunate enough to study abroad in Australia for one semester. She currently dances for Trenton Freedom’s Xtreme Dance Team and was recently accepted into the Ph.D. program in Cell and Molecu-lar Biology at the University of Pennsylvania.

JACQUELYN OATHOUT is a Dance Performance and Psy-chology double major at Rider University. She is also a mem-ber of the Rider Dance Team and Rider Dance Ensemble. She has choreographed for the Ensemble since her sophomore year, and in her junior year was featured on MTV’s “Dancing with Miley” dance challenge with the Rider Dance Team. Ms. Oathout also teaches hip-hop and acro at Glen Roc Dance Shoppe in Ewing, N.J. She is working toward auditioning for NBA dance teams upon graduation and going back to school to be a dance/movement therapist.

ALYSSA ZARA is graduating with majors in Elementary Education and Psychology, and minors in Special Education and Dance. Ms. Zara currently teaches dance classes at a local studio and wishes to continue teaching in her future. Addi-tionally, she hopes to begin teaching elementary and/or spe-cial education students following graduation. Throughout her years at Rider she has been involved in many education and dance organizations which have enriched her experiences.

Artistic Director Kim Chandler VaccaroLighting Design Todd LloydTechnical Director Buck LintonProduction Director Ivan FullerCostume Coordinator Robin Shane with Felicia CatneyProduction Stage Manager Lauren ReitanoStage Manager Lydia ShirleyAssistant Stage Managers Paige Morgans, Hayley FaheyLight Board Operator Emily LiebSound Ashley AlvarezFront of House Manager/Box Office Kristen RogersSocial Media Amanda PageRider News/Press Mariah LopezPoster Design Julia HallProgram Mia Bowyer

About the Senior Class 7

Production Team

8 About Us

Rider University’s WESTMINSTER COLLEGE OF THE ARTS educates and trains aspiring performers, artists, teach-ers and students with artistic interests to pursue professional, scholarly and lifelong personal opportunities in art, dance, music and theatre. The College consists of three divisions: Westminster Choir College, the School of Fine and Perform-ing Arts and Westminster Conservatory. WESTMINSTER CHOIR COLLEGE is a college of music and graduate school located on Rider’s Princeton campus. Renowned for its tra-dition of choral excellence, Westminster offers programs in music education; music theory and composition; sacred mu-sic; voice, organ, and piano performance and pedagogy; cho-

ral conducting; and piano accompanying and coaching. The SCHOOL OF FINE AND PERFORMING ARTS is lo-cated on Rider’s Lawrenceville campus. Its programs include arts administration, musical theatre and fine arts with tracks in dance, music, theatre and art. WESTMINSTER CON-SERVATORY OF MUSIC is a community music school that serves the Central New Jersey/Eastern Pennsylvania area with on-campus and community-based music instruction as well as community choral, orchestral and theatre ensembles. RIDER UNIVERSITY is a private co-educational, student-centered university that emphasizes purposeful connections between academic study and education for the professions.

2083 Lawrenceville RoadLawrenceville, NJ 08648

609-896-5000www.rider.edu/wca

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Emerging Choreographers Showcase

Saturday May 1, 2015, 7:30 p.m.

Bart Luedeke Center TheaterRider University

Lawrenceville, NJ

For more information, visit www.rider.edu/arts