News and Events : News 05-06

NMH Dance Program Distills Drama from Daily Life

GILL, MA—The spring dance performance at Northfield Mount Hermon School, called Impetus, gathers moments from our daily lives and distills from them music and movement. The dance companies of NMH will put on three shows, May 18, 19 and 20 at 7 pm at Grandin Auditorium on the Mount Hermon campus in Gill.

Faculty Member Laurel Salvi created a dance for the Junior Dance Company inspired by the hectic challenges of our scheduled lives. The music, by a band called Dr. Didj, highlights the sound of the didgeridoo, and is upbeat, fun, fast, and playful.

NMH junior Martin Shedd has choreographed a dance about support, balance, and counterbalance to the music of Apocalyptica, a Finnish trio of classically trained cellists known for playing Metallica covers.

Sophomore Althea SullyCole has choreographed two pieces. The first is a hip-hop dance set to music by the rapper K-Os and is about finding individuality when conformity is a growing epidemic. SullyCole’s second dance is a modern piece influenced by ballet. It was inspired by the intense devotion and passion in relationships. It is a duet in which the music alternates from a pop tune by Radiohead to a nocturne performed by Arthur Rubinstein.

Gretel Schatz, the director of the dance program, has choreographed three dances. The first, a senior dance company piece, is about 12 people who share suspended time in a bus station, set to a suite of music by Booker T. and the MGs.

Schatz also choreographed a modern dance for a quintet of senior company dancers. This is a gestural and full-bodied dance that uses collage form and is set to music by Kurt Cobain, played by violinist Rachel Barton Pine.

“Parting Gifts,” by Schatz, employs a multigenerational cast made up of NMH students, campus residents, faculty, staff, and retirees, and depicts a Saturday morning yard sale. The music is by Mozart and The Shirelles.

Tickets cost $2 for NMH students, faculty and staff, and $5 for all others. Reservations can be made by calling 498-3017. For directions, go to [ http://www.nmhschool.org ]www.nmhschool.org or call 413-498-3000.

Northfield Mount Hermon is an independent coeducational boarding and day high school in Gill, MA.

CONTACT: Kate Snyder, 413-498-3357, ksnyder@nmhschool.org

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