Under the artistic direction of Visiting Assistant Professor Joel Smith, seventeen undergraduate dance majors and minors will present original choreography that reflects five quarters of study in dance composition. The students have been working with distinguished faculty members Susan Rose and Wendy Rogers since the fall of 2010, and will be guided to the stage with LA-based choreographer and director Joel Smith.

Each student choreographer has created a project based on a variety of choreographic structures and methods, and each dance makes clear a problem that needs to be solved.  Some dances focus on rhythmical dynamism while others concentrate on space, time and energy.  Some dances focus on partnering to create relationships while others attempt to deconstruct their own movement vocabularies to illuminate their choreographic choices.  Each choreographer is responsible for creating work that reflects the dance department’s mission of supporting experimental and unconventional performance.

UCR IS DANCING allows the viewer to gain insight into the labor and dedication required to compose dances and is a forum to educate and entertain students and members of the Riverside community.

Alyssa Burton, Belgica Del Rio, Jessica Finkelstein, Irvin Gonzalez, Lauren Harnitchek, Delicia McKinney, Christina Park, Ivy Rivas, Maria Romero, Ally Sanchez, Edwin Siguenza, Ariel Stern, Dyanna Uribe, Kimberly Washington, Cydney Watson, Mynesha Whyte, and Hannah Zisman

Artistic Director Joel Smith received his Master of Fine Arts degree in experimental choreography from UC Riverside in 2004.  Based in Los Angeles, he is the co-artistic director of casebolt and smith, a duet dance theater company, with artistic partner Liz Casebolt.  With casebolt and smith his performances around the country and abroad include: Joyce SoHo New York City, Contemporary Art Forum Santa Barbara, Southern Theater Minneapolis, Vancouver International Dance Festival Canada, Cathedral Quarter Arts Festival Belfast, Northern Ireland, Dance Theater of Ireland Dublin, Museum of Contemporary Art San Diego, CounterPulse San Francisco, and at the Actors Company Theatre in Los Angeles. Joel has danced on film and television, worked with pop stars Ricky Martin and Thalia, and appeared in two national commercials. He is also on faculty at Scripps College, UCLA, Rio Hondo College and El Camino College.