SEMO presents Fall for Dance production

The Southeast Missouri State University Dobbins Conservatory of Theatre and Dance production of Fall for Dance will present multiple pieces in a variety of styles beginning Thursday, Nov. 16, in Bedell Performance Hall at the River Campus in Cape Girardeau.

Phillip Edgecombe, a dance instructor at SEMO, said the performance will be a "very athletic show."

"The dancers are working very hard sweating everything that they have up there." Edgecombe said.

He said the production will feature contemporary, jazz and ballet numbers, as well as a student-directed piece in the style of African Zimbabwe dance.

"Anesu Taruona is an exchange student and she wanted to use some of the dances that she did growing up and that were part of her community in Zimbabwe and teach them to her fellow students," Edgecombe said.

Guest choreographer Joshua Blake Carter, artistic director of Dance Kaleidoscope in Indianapolis, worked with students to present a piece he created called "Fever Dream".

"Josh uses a very contemporary style, but you can definitely see the influence that classical jazz dance has on his choreography," Edgecombe said. "There's a strong sense of the ensemble and ripples and cannons happening throughout the work."

Edgecombe said he choreographed a contemporary piece called "Waters of Hellespont" that was inspired by the Greek myth of Hero and Leander, which was an inspiration for Shakespeare's Romeo and Juliet.

Performances will start at 7:30 p.m. Nov. 16, through Saturday, Nov. 18, and at 2 p.m. Sunday, Nov. 19.

For more information and to purchase tickets, contact the River Campus box office at (573) 651-2265 or online at www.semo.edu/river-campus-events.