Theater & Dance Performance Project

The Amherst College Department of Theater and Dance is proud to present Performance Project, an evening of original dance and theater works created by Five College students as part of their work in "Performance Studio," taught by Professor Wendy Woodson. Costume designs are by students in "Costume Design," taught by Visiting Professor Nikki Delhomme. Lighting designs are by students in "Lighting Design," taught by Resident Lighting Designer Kathy Couch.

The performance features a variety of pieces, including Bryce Monroe's (Amherst College) "The Battle Royal," a solo monologue and dance commentary on the social injustices caused by enduring institutional systems that have muted the voices, camouflaged the bodies, and denigrated the lives of the black community in the United States.

"Pants Becoming Kites," by Ellen Oliver (Hampshire College), measures the space between waiting and performing in an unusual yet familiar duet. As pants become kites, we learn to find pleasure in the most practical of places: bus stops. It will leave you asking, "What am I waiting for today?"

In "Callbacks," written and directed by Daniel Rendon (Amherst College), four strangers meet in a waiting room for a hip-hop talent show that could potentially change their lives forever.

"Penumbra," a multimedia-movement piece by Francesco Passalacqua (Hampshire College), summons to space the flesh of ambiguous and intersecting identities: the frail auras around dreams that are erased in the light. It seeks to follow syllable back to sensation, and back again, to retrieve and resurrect what is forgotten in translation and "illumination."

In "Echo Sum," Elena Marione (Amherst College) traces the mosaic of fault lines where past, present and imagined selves collide. Through a constellation of text and image, she explores the restless landscape of a history in the endless (re)making.