Diversity is composed of many different perspectives, experiences and backgrounds. By introducing choreographers from around the world in “Collective Trust,” the UCCS dance program will share diversity with an audience.
Chorographers in “Collective Trust” bring their own artistic style to the stage as they share their backgrounds and perspectives with the audience through dance.
Tiffany Tinsley, senior instructor in the VAPA theatre and dance program, shared her perspective on the performance and how “Collective Trust” fosters and encourages a community of diversity at UCCS.
“’Collective Trust’ is the first dance repertory concert ever at UCCS. The major is a few years old. It just seemed like it was the right time to start producing work that the students were doing with guest artists, to come to UCCS and work on intensive, week-long studies with the dance students in the program,” Tinsley said.
Tinsley began teaching dance at UCCS 11 years ago but has had a passion for dance since childhood. “Our director right now, it’s his first year at UCCS, he wanted to have a theatre and dance program. I began teaching a beginner’s class as a trial, and then we ended up building the dance minor and dance major,” she said.
Each choreographer in “Collective Trust” works with the students for one week in an intensive setting. The program will feature artists from an array of diverse backgrounds.
“The first main thing is that all of the choreographers are women,” Tinsley said. “Choreography is male-dominant, so I really wanted to bring three female choreographers to campus. Each of those choreographers are from a different background.
“Dallo Fall is from Senegal. She taught West African dance and drum to the students. Eiko Otake is an immigrant from Japan who studied Butoh and also does a lot of political activism. Her art is a foundation of Butoh and Japan and activism and her own experience. The things that she grieved in the world, she brings to her art. [KT Nelson] is from San Francisco, and her approach comes from a contemporary dance background,” Tinsley said.
Not only will the choreographers present their own styles in this performance, but each dancer also has their own personal style which they bring to “Collective Trust.” Tinsley is most looking forward to sharing with the UCCS community the variety of styles that dance can take on.
“I think the audience will probably have a broader understanding of what dance is. There’s a lot of commercial entertainment dance on television and movies, and we think that dance looks like what happens on the Halftime show. But this concert has three very different examples of what dance can be,” she said.
“Collective Trust” will take place in the Osborne Studio Theater at the Ent Center for the Arts. Shows are Feb. 10 and 12 starting at 7:30 p.m. and Feb. 13 starting at 4 p.m.
UCCS students receive free admission by contacting the Box Office for their complimentary ticket. General admission is $7. For more information or to purchase tickets, visit the “Collective Trust” page here.