March 4, 2022 – For the first time since 2019, Dance Theatre of Santa Fe will perform “Elements of Style” for live audiences at 7:30 p.m. Friday and Saturday, March 25-26, 2022, in the Jackson N. Sasser Fine Arts Hall at the Northwest Campus of Santa Fe College (SF), 3000 NW 83 Street, Gainesville.
Seating is limited and tickets are $15 for adults; $9 for seniors, students, military service members and children under 12; and free for SF students, faculty and staff with college ID cards. Tickets are available from the Fine Arts Hall box office at 352-395-4181 or online from Showpass at showpass.com/elements-of-style.
“These performances will be celebrations of the dance styles our students trained in all year,” explained Dance Professor Sarah Harkness, who co-directs the Dance Theatre of Santa Fe (DTSF) with Dance Professor Melissa Brenner. “Some of our students have not had the chance to dance on stage yet, and it’s essential for graduating students in the performing arts to have that opportunity. In live performances, students learn how to adjust to unexpected events, to take a breath and keep dancing. Those coping skills serve them well, not only in the arts but also in other areas of their lives.”
“This live performance is the piece our dancers and audiences have been missing during the pandemic,” Brenner continued. “It’s the first time in over two years that the energies of the dancers and the audiences can connect, and that our audiences can be reminded of how the arts evoke emotion and are essential to our lives.”
Live performances such as “Elements of Style” also enable students to learn the skills they need to collaborate successfully with other people. Members of DTSF work with their instructors, choreographers, each other, and with Fine Arts Hall Technical Theatre staff members Elizabeth A. Reynolds, lighting designer; Kevin Terry, sound engineer; and Lisa Cook, stage manager.
The full program of nine dances includes a West African dance choreographed by Mohamed DaCosta; a hip-hop piece choreographed by Herman Ramos; a musical theatre montage from “Mamma Mia!” choreographed by Harkness; a contemporary modern dance choreographed by Brenner; a contemporary modern dance choreographed by Fall 2021 Guest Artist Nathaniel Hunt; a contemporary ballet choreographed by Fall 2021 Guest Artist Michael Menghini; two student works; and a solo performance by Harkness. DTSF will perform Hunt’s dance and the two student-choreographed dances at the upcoming American College Dance Association’s Southeast Regional Conference at Florida State University.
“Elements of Style” is organized and sponsored by the Santa Fe College Fine Arts and Entertainment Media Department. For ticket information, call 352-395-4181.