Infinite Directions

The Department of Dance at Case Western Reserve University will continue its 2017-2018 season with Infinite Directions, a thesis concert featuring works by Master of Fine Arts candidates Carrie Langguth and Karen Opper. There also will be additional works by guest artists and CWRU alumni Karlie Budge and Ying Xu. Infinite Directions features the thesis candidates in solos, duets and ensemble works. Performances will be March 22, 23 and 24 at 8 p.m. and March 25 at 2:30 p.m. at Mather Dance Center on the Case Western Reserve University campus. Tickets are $7 for students with ID, $10 for adults 60+ and CWRU personnel, and $15 for general admission. Reservations are recommended, and may be made by calling 216.368.5246, or online at dance.case.edu/reservations.

About the concert

Langguth and Opper each perform in their own works, as well as choreograph ensemble works for the production. “Rebirth,” a solo choreographed and performed by Langguth, takes the audience through the metamorphosis of the dancer, allowing them to see the emergence of a new figure on stage, aided by costume design and music by Francesco Schweizer. Opper, with CWRU alumnus Richard Oaxaca, will premiere an original duet conveying how the love between soul mates can defy all odds, through choreographic imagery and theatrical elements—not even death can keep their characters apart. Two ensemble works will premiere during this concert, “Taut Plexus” and “In the Depths.” “Taut Plexus” is a quintet for women choreographed by Langguth. Influenced by John Adam’s composition, the dancers perform in various groupings within the work’s four sections. The movement throughout the piece is physically demanding, fast-paced and complex. Inspired by Scottish folklore, Opper’s “In the Depths” transports the audience to the dark depths of the ocean. Choreography motivated by fabric manipulation and other theatrical elements bring to life the Finfolk of the ocean deep. Rounding out the program are two works by CWRU dance department alumni Xu and Budge. Xu’s “Drifting Snowflakes” premiered in 2012. Restaged and performed by Opper, it portrays a woman whose memories of her loved one are stirred by falling snow in winter. Langguth restages “Pull, Whirl, Crescendo,” choreographed by Budge. The complete three-section work expands upon a solo section of “Pull,” which premiered in February 2015 in Knoxville, Tennesee, with the inclusion of two dynamic group sections. Learn more about the concert at dance.case.edu/2018/03/infinite-directions-opens-march-22/.