UPDATE: This concert originally scheduled for Feb. 18-21 was postponed due to the winter storm. New concert dates have been added below.
What: Awakened, a University of North Texas faculty dance concert
When: 8 p.m. March 4-6 (Thursday-Saturday); 2 p.m. March 7 (Sunday)
How to view: Reserve free tickets at unt.universitytickets.com. Ticketholders will receive an email with a link to the performance prior to their selected showtime.
BACKGROUND:
UNT Dance will host its faculty dance concert March 4-7 featuring works choreographed by guest artist Azaria Hogans, UNT Dance faculty and American College Dance Association student selections.
Awakened will include eight works ranging in styles from contemporary and hip-hop to traditional Afro aesthetic movement styles and new school Afrobeat. Three original music compositions from area artists will be included among the works. The pieces will be performed mostly by UNT dance majors and minors, with one work featuring a UNT Dance and Theatre alumna.
For the virtual concert, dance works were filmed on location throughout the Dallas-Fort Worth area among nature, by bodies of water and in immersive open halls — all chosen to enhance each piece. In screen dance, the dancers and the camera work together. The camera becomes part of the choreography and allows the viewer a more intimate relationship with the moving subject.
“In the past year, we have all experienced the overwhelming impacts of the pandemic, sociopolitical climate and global movements. We have been ‘Awakened’ with a new sense of clarity, purpose and community. Each choreographer had the opportunity to explore personal and physical perspectives of moving together through such a profound shift. In the processes of these projects, our students are learning valuable lessons of perseverance and resiliency, and how arts continue to find ways to connect people throughout it all,” said Whitney Geldon, assistant artistic director for Awakened and adjunct professor in the UNT Department of Dance and Theatre.
The 2 p.m. March 7 performance will be followed by a live artist talkback with choreographers, giving viewers an opportunity to hear about the creative process and ask questions about the works.