September 29, 2010
Heidi Gilpin, Associate Professor of German
413-542-8503
hgilpin@amherst.edu

AMHERST, Mass.—On Tuesday, Oct. 5, at 4 p.m. and 7 p.m., the Mead Art Museum at Amherst College will host SOLO and TRIO dance performances choreographed by the award-winning, Berlin-based Friederike Plafki.

The pieces make visible a process of development connected by the perception of time and bodily states, as well as precise observation of subtle changes within a movement sequence. In both works, Plafki approaches this subject through the juxtaposition of slowness and speed. She also works with types of repeating, copying and developing movement, thereby allowing choreography to be modified, and at times to emerge completely anew, through various improvisational tools. Fragments of movement remain in the space, are picked up by another dancer and are developed further. 

The Mead’s Bassett Gallery will provide a fitting setting for the performances, which will feature SOLO, Kühlkuhgenese / Coolcowgeneses, danced by Plafki, and TRIO, Dialogues – Trio Variation for a Square, danced by Plafki, Catherine Jodoin and Maria Francesca Scaroni, both with a live, interactive sound installation by Claude Chassevent.

Space for this production is limited. Reservations are required. For reservations, call 413-542-2335.

The performing artists are on campus for a week-long residency, during which they will also teach classes and meet with students at Amherst, Hampshire and Mount Holyoke Colleges. The residency is supported by the Goethe-Institut Munich; the Goethe-Institut Boston; the Amherst College President’s Office; Five Colleges, Inc.; the Georges Lurcy Lecture Series Fund and the Eastman Fund at Amherst College; the Amherst College Program in European Studies and Departments of German, Music and Theater and Dance; the Hampshire College Humanities Program and Department of Dance; and the Mount Holyoke College Departments of Dance and German. At the Mead Art Museum, the performance is made possible by the Wise Fund for Fine Arts, the David W. Mesker (Class of 1953) Fund and the Hall and Kate Peterson Fund.

The Mead Art Museum houses the art collection of Amherst College, totaling more than 16,000 works. An accredited member of the American Association of Museums, the Mead participates in Museums10, a regional cultural collaboration. For more information, please visit the museum’s website, www.amherst/museums/mead, or call 413/542-2335. 

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