University of Oklahoma School of Dance

Reynolds Performing Arts Center

April 6 – May 1, 2016

Choreographed by:  Austin Hartel

Costume Designer:  Lloyd Cracknell

 

Pictures at an Exhibition is a music piece composed by Mussorgsky.  Each movement was composed based on art pieces at an art exhibition.  It is considered a very challenging composition to perform on piano.  Austin Hartel created a contemporary dance piece based on selections from this musical work.

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When starting the approach for this piece, I listened to the entire musical work, and looked at the art which had served as its inspiration.  Some of the pieces are frozen moments in time, and others are moments from famous stories.  After having meetings with the choreographer to get his approach, I started researching ideas of texture and color that would best express these pieces.

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The piece was played live, so the piano needed to have some lit representation despite its location in the upper corner of the stage.  Expressive color and texture became the tools I used for the different pieces of this dance.

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