DancEstrella, Estrella Mountain Community College’s student company under the artistic direction of Professor Janaea Lyn McAlee, will present Pull Me Through. This will be the final four performances of the EMCC dance program which is being discontinued at the end of the academic year. This production is a celebration of ten years of EMCC dance and features Practicum projects by graduating majors; collaborative choreography by students in Dance Performance classes; a new dance by Guest Choreographer and program graduate Eva Patricia Rincón with Lawrence Fung; and a final dance created and performed by the full company with guest dance program graduates.

Presented by the Arts and Composition Division, performances will take place at the EMCC Performing Arts Center (PAC) in Avondale on Friday, April 28 and Saturday, April 29, 2023. Shows are at 3:00pm and 7:00pm both days and general admission is free. Audience members will have the opportunity to participate in a Q & A session with the dancers at the end of each show. Masks are recommended but optional.

Professor McAlee explains the theme of the dances choreographed for this production. “There are many ways we deal, accept, and move through challenges, adversity and loss. We wanted to honor all the forms of positive support we have from the people in our lives; through dance and art-making; and with each other in the community we have created here.” She describes the final group dance, The Ties That Bind, as “an homage to the community of students and productions that have graced the Performing Arts stage. Dancers with diverse movement styles and life experience have come back to honor our time together and mourn the loss of the program by celebrating the enduring bond which lives on in our hearts.”

Practicum Projects are group dances choreographed by graduating dance majors. In My Unfolding is by John Austin Boston who explains that “This dance looks at all of the many different identities a single person has within themselves. It explores ideas of dissonance, harmony, and acceptance, all with the ultimate goal of forgiving ourselves.” In Chronicle Article, Mya Fallon explains that she is interested in “the ways in which sharing global and cultural traditions, including generational trauma, can lead to unexpected community with others through a deeper understanding of our shared humanity.” Kindred is by Ryleigh Richards which she describes as “all about the people who provide you support, and who you support throughout your life. Whether you know you need them or not, they are there and your life is better because of it.”

Guest artists Eva Patricia Rincón and Lawrence Fung created Raíces. Raíces reimages life after death with a dance film and live performance pairing. This work explores ancestry and the notion that no one ever really dies.

The rest of the program includes solos by Practicum students; Always There, choreographed by McAlee for guest alumni, duets and group dances choreographed collaboratively by students in the EMCC dance performance classes which include both dance majors and general interest students.

Information:

ude.niatnuomallertsenull@stnevE

Janaea Lyn McAlee, Residential Dance Faculty

ude.niatnuomallertsenull@ecnad

Photo by Linda Keyes
Dancers: Angel Bejarano Acuna, Mia Suarez

###