Muhlenberg College to present premiere Circus Workshop
New storytelling project showcasing actors, dancers, and aerialists debuts on April 25
Friday, April 11, 2014 04:10 PM
The circus is coming to town! A group of Muhlenberg College dancers, actors, gymnasts and aerial acrobats — 30 students in all — have pooled their talents to produce Muhlenberg's first Circus Workshop. Their work will culminate in two performances on April 25.
Noah Dach '16, a dance and business double-major, launched the project. Henry Evans '16 serves as an assistant director and performs. Paige Klibanoff '15 and MJ Hodge '16 helped to develop the script and will be performing as well.
"I've always wanted to form a dance company," Dach said. "I had experience in aerial before I came to Muhlenberg, and thought it would be interesting to combine that with the skills that students have been working on here. I approached Karen Dearborn, the head of Muhlenberg's dance program, with the idea, and she helped me get it on its feet."
The project builds on the aerial acrobatics classes that the Muhlenberg dance program began offering in spring of 2012, under the instruction of experienced aerialist and Muhlenberg alumna Madeleine Hoak.
Aerialists who had taken Hoak's class auditioned for the Circus Workshop in January. Other auditioners performed dance combinations or gymnastics skills or recited song lyrics as dramatic monologues. From those who auditioned, Dach assembled an ensemble of diverse performers and began weekly rehearsals.
"What is most fulfilling about directing this project is how my ensemble members are always surprising me with new things," Dach said. "I could never imagine this project being where it is now after setting this idea in motion last semester."
The 30-minute performance tells the story, through motion, music and circus art, of a young woman looking back on her life. The other performers represent different aspects of her life, including Joy, Love, and Temptation.
"I've always wanted to create something modern that could tell everyday stories through art," Dach said. "With this project, we have focused on creating something very true and human that cannot be captured in a grand, enormous circus setting. I think that we have found an intimate balance between the abstract and the reality."
Response on campus has been enthusiastic. Of the 70 seats available for each performance, all sold out in less than two weeks. Dach said he would hopes the project will grow from here.
"Going forward, I would love to see this project expanded and incorporated into more of Muhlenberg's productions, or even to use the members of this workshop to start forming a performance company after graduation," Dach said. "This has been a great beginning, and it would be wonderful to see the project move into a larger theater so that more audience members could see it and support it around campus."
Muhlenberg College is a liberal arts college of 2,200 students in Allentown, Pa. The college offers Bachelor of Arts degrees in theatre and dance. The Princeton Review consistently ranks Muhlenberg's production program in the top ten in the nation, and the Fiske Guide to Colleges lists both the theatre and dance programs among the top small college programs in the United States.
For more information about the Department of Theatre and Dance, visit www.muhlenberg.edu/theatre.
