"Other Suns (A Trilogy)" Bridges Borders through Dance and Music

Commissioned Piece features Cross-Cultural Collaboration

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
CONTACT: Andrew Zender, azender@umd.edu
(301) 405-8151

September 28, 2009 — College Park, Md. — Choreographer Margaret Jenkins continues her ongoing exploration of place, communication and identity in “Other Suns,” created in collaboration with Chinese choreographer Liu Qi and the Guangdong Modern Dance Company of Guangzhou, China. Margaret Jenkins Dance Company and the Guangdong Modern Dance Company will perform “Other Suns” at the Clarice Smith Performing Arts Center’s Ina and Jack Kay Theatre Thursday – Friday, Oct. 29 and 30, 2009 at 8 p.m. Co-commissioned by the Center, “Other Suns” features music by internationally renowned composers Paul Dresher and Bun Ching-Lam.

Two free engagement events will offer insights into the cultural context and creative process of the work. At a masterclass/demonstration on Tuesday, Oct. 27 at 7 p.m. in the Dance Theatre, Jenkins and Qui will work with select dancers from the University of Maryland Department of Dance to demonstrate the dance vocabulary the two companies utilized to overcome language barriers. On Friday, Oct. 30 at 7 p.m. in the Leah M. Smith Lecture Hall (Rm. 2200), University of Maryland Department of Dance alumnus Ling Tang will lead a pre-performance lecture/exploration of the history of dance in China, from Chinese classical and folk dance to modern dance.

“Other Suns” is the result of Jenkins’ company’s five-week rehearsal and performance residency with the Guangdong company in China. The work resulting from their collaboration transcends national and cultural borders and contains what dance critic Allen Ullrich calls a “current of sensuality that simmers on the surface.” Adding to the cross-cultural nature of the work is music by composer Paul Dresher, a frequent collaborator with Margaret Jenkins whose compositions encompass experimental opera, music theater, chamber and orchestral music and instrumental electro-acoustic music, and pianist/composer Bun Ching-Lam, who combines Chinese sensibility and contemporary Western compositional techniques.

The title “Other Suns” directly addresses the nature of perception and identity, regardless of where in the world our identities are formed. As Jenkins says, “…we all live under the same sun, regardless of continent, but we all perceive reality different from one another.” She adds: “To realize a work that has been developed across continents over two years through translation was challenging and inspiring.”

Tickets are $37 for the general public and $9 for full-time students with I.D. Tickets are available by visiting www.claricesmithcenter.umd.edu or calling (301) 405-ARTS (2787). The Clarice Smith Performing Arts Center is located at the intersection of University Boulevard (Route 193) and Stadium Drive in College Park, on the campus of the University of Maryland. A parking garage is located across the street.

This program is funded in part by the National Dance Project of the New England Foundation for the Arts, with lead funding from the Doris Duke Charitable Foundation and additional funding from the Ford Foundation, The Andrew W. Mellon Foundation, and the Community Connections Fund of the MetLife Foundation. The Clarice Smith Performing Arts Center is funded by an operating grant from the Maryland State Arts Council, an agency dedicated to cultivating a vibrant cultural community where the arts thrive. Funding for the Maryland State Arts Council is also provided by the National Endowment for the Arts, a federal agency. Additional support is generously provided by a grant from the Leading College and University Presenters Program of the Doris Duke Charitable Foundation, and by a generous grant from The Morris & Gwendolyn Cafritz Foundation.