Event Details
Artistic Director, Gesel Mason
Producing Artistic Director, EG Gionfriddo
Award-winning student dance company, Dance Repertory Theatre, returns to the stage in a series of new works of choreography by students and guest artists. Centering around the spirit of the cypher, this unique dance performance (performed in the round) weaves through distinct dance styles including ballet, modern, hip-hop, African and ballroom to create space for a sense of community and catharsis. Choreographers include Le'Andre Douglas, Love Muwwakkil, Megan Davidson and Meredith Rainey as part of the annual Haruka Weiser Memorial Commission.
View the playbill for CYPHERS.
PERFORMANCES
November 14-16, 20, 22 at 7:30 p.m.
November 17 at 2:00 p.m.
Learn more about Dance Repertory Theatre
FEATURED WORKS AND CHOREOGRAPHERS
On and On by Le'Andre Douglas
where to go from here by Megan Davidson
Shift... by Love Muwwakkil Estes and dancers
Ode to Cicadas by Meredith Rainey (Haruka Weiser Memorial Commissioned Artist)
About the Artistic Director
Gesel Mason is Artistic Director of Gesel Mason Performance Projects and Associate Professor at The University of Texas at Austin. As a choreographer, performer and artist scholar, she uses dance and performance as a vehicle to examine the human condition and challenge the status quo. She was a member of Liz Lerman Dance Exchange and Ralph Lemon/Cross Performance Projects. Curated and performed by Mason, her solo project, NO BOUNDARIES: Dancing the Visions of Contemporary Black Choreographers, celebrates the work and legacies of ten choreographers: Kyle Abraham, Robert Battle, Rennie Harris, Dianne McIntyre, Donald McKayle, Bebe Miller, David Rousséve, Reggie Wilson, Andrea E. Woods Valdés and Jawole Willa Jo Zollar. In 2020, in collaboration with Rebecca Salzer of Dancing Digital, the “No Boundaries Archive Project” was awarded a National Endowment for the Humanities Digital Humanities Advancement grant to support its evolution into an innovative, sustainable and accessible archive. Mason utilizes dance, theater, humor and storytelling to bring visibility to voices unheard, situations neglected or perspectives deemed taboo. A 2020 recipient of a New England Foundation for the Arts National Dance Project Production Grant, Mason’s work has been presented by the John F. Kennedy Center for the Performing Arts, American Dance Festival, Bates Dance Festival and Clarice Smith Performing Arts Center.
About the Producing Artistic Director
EG Gionfriddo is a dance artist, educator and somatic researcher who believes in the intelligent body each of us occupies. They are co-founder of ARCOS Dance (arcosdance.com), whose ongoing inquiry probes the intersection of technology and humanity through rigorous interdisciplinary experimentation. ARCOS’ recent work has focused on “hacking” consumer technologies, or repurposing them outside of their intended uses, into performance and developing an embodied cyborgian movement language. ARCOS’ experiments in transmedia performance have been presented at festivals and symposia, including the award-winning piece The Warriors: A Love Story (Edinburgh Fringe, Scotland) and Domain (Symposium of Philosophy and Dance, San Marcos, Texas). Gionfriddo directs ARCOS’ professional development and training programming, which supports independent artists through multiple creative and fiscal platforms. Gionfriddo’s extensive experience with the GYROTONIC® method guides their pedagogy, which they bring in their capacity as an assistant professor of practice in the dance area at The University of Texas at Austin and as a national teaching artist. Gionfriddo holds a B.F.A. in Dance Performance and Choreography from Shenandoah Conservatory and an M.F.A. in Dance from Hollins University.
Attend an Event
Helpful links to help you plan your visit:
Tickets & Subscriptions
Purchase tickets and learn more about subscription packages and discounted student tickets.
Location, Directions, Parking
Get directions and up-to-date information about campus parking and construction impacts.
Accessibility
Accessible viewing options are available by request for all our venues.
Join Our Mail List
Sign up to learn more about what's on stage at Texas Theatre and Dance.