DCC Dancers Perform New Works by Professional and Student Choreographers

Release Date April 20, 2007

Poughkeepsie, N.Y. – Dutchess Community College dance students will perform new works – including a recent world premier – at the DCC Annual Spring Concert. Performances will be held on Thursday, April 26 at 12:30 p.m. and on Saturday, April 28 at 8 p.m. in the James and Betty Hall Theatre, Dutchess Hall, at the DCC main campus in Poughkeepsie. Both concerts are free. For information, contact the Department of Health, Physical Education, Athletics, and Dance at (845) 431-8460.

Under the direction of Adjunct Instructor of Dance and Choreographer Anne-Marie Zanchetti, DCC dancers have worked for two semesters in the College’s Applied Dance class to develop pieces for the performance. The program takes place during National Dance Week, which runs April 20 through 29, and features both professional and student-choreographed works in a variety of dance techniques, including ballet, modern, tap, and jazz, as well as ethnic and cultural dance ranging from belly dance to hip hop.

The students will perform two works by Zanchetti. “I try to build pieces based on the students themselves, rather than coming in with something already choreographed. The dancers are all very different, with different techniques and previous training,” said Zanchetti. They are primarily college age students, she noted, but the class is open to students of all ages, backgrounds, and dance experience. Many of the performers are majoring in DCC Performing Arts Program, which offers the opportunity to specialize in dance, music, or theater, but requires students to take courses in all three disciplines.

Zanchetti has choreographed the work “The Other Side” to a Shostakovich sonata. “It’s a commentary on war and loss,” said Zanchetti. She said the reference to “the other side” could refer to death, but that it also is meant to make people reflect on the people and issues in “the other side” of a conflict. Her other work is choreographed to “snake dance” music by Värttinä, a Finnish ensemble which has invented a roots-based vocal/instrumental style combining traditional Finno-Ugric vocal elements with original compositions and dynamic performance.

The dancers also worked with guest choreographers Julie Manna and Lynn Barr. Barr’s piece, which was premiered by Barr’s own dance company in New York City in March, is a humorous work called “Modern Dancers Behaving Badly.” Manna has choreographed a jazz work to a Count Basie tune.

Two students will showcase works they developed in class, said Zanchetti, and other will perform their own choreography selected through an audition process. In addition to dances featuring the entire ensemble, the concert will also feature solos, duets, and small groups.

Anne Marie Zanchetti grew up in Arizona and received her BFA in dance from University of Arizona. After moving to New York, she became a soloist with the Paul Sanasardo Dance Company. She also danced with Manuel Alum and Lynn Barr, and has performed in Italy and Prague as part of the SUNY New Paltz Summer Study Abroad Dance Program. She has taught dance in New York City and upstate New York.

Lynn Barr has performed and taught extensively in the U.S. and in Europe. She has performed many roles as a principal dancer with the Paul Sanasardo Dance Company and as a soloist with the New York City Opera Company at Lincoln Center and the Philadelphia Lyric Opera. Her own company has presented many evening-length pieces, including The Women, Il Circo Della Vita, and Mystis in theaters throughout the U.S. For 12 years, her work has been presented in Italy and most recently in Prague. She has been a guest instructor for the Polish Dance Theater in Poznan, Poland, and for Ismael Ivo at the Deutsches National Program. She continues to choreograph and teach in New York and in Europe.

Julie Manna has been teaching dance for more than 25 years, currently with the Saugerties Ballet Center. She continues to perform with the Ulster Ballet Company and other groups. Her choreography has been performed at UPAC, Dutchess Community College, the Annual Choreographer’s Showcase at Birdcliffe, Hudson Valley Arts Cooperative, Arts for Peace, Colony Café, and other venues.

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