“ROTAtion,” an evening of dance in Rodey Theatre, UNM Center for the Arts, March 7-9, showcases the choreography of UNM dance faculty and highlights the talents of the students in the dance program. The featured work is a restaging of Hanya Holm’s “Rota” led by distinguished guest artist Don Redlich and UNM’s own Mary Anne Santos Newhall.
The concert also includes works in various styles – modern, ballet, flameno and African dance – by faculty choreographers Laryea Addy, Melissa Briggs, Marisol Encinias, Suzanne Johnston, Jennifer Predock-Linnell and Donna Jewell.
The UNM dance program and Assistant Professor Santos Newhall have been awarded a grant from the American Masterpieces Program of the National Endowment for the Arts to reconstruct Holm’s “Rota,” which she choreographed for the Don Redlich Dance Company in 1975.
Well-known as a dance pioneer in the United States, Holm is also a link between the historic German Ausdruckstanz and American dance modernism. She was director of the American Wigman School established in New York in 1931 and the acclaimed Broadway choreographer of “Kiss Me Kate,” “My Fair Lady” and “Camelot.” The NEA grant that enabled UNM to reconstruct “Rota” is a first for New Mexico.
“Rota” has yet to be performed by any dance group other than the Redlich Company and has yet to be restaged using the original notation documented in 1975. It is essentially a lost work and appears a vital link to Holm’s early modernist roots. The sound score is by American composer George Crumb.
Santos Newhall has served as project director and facilitator for the reconstruction of “Rota.” She is research director for the American Dance Legacy Institute at Brown University and is dedicated to the preservation and access for students of American modern dance.
Performances are Friday and Saturday, March 7 and 8, at 7:30 p.m. and Sunday, March 9, at 2 and 6 p.m. Ticket prices are $15 general admission, $10 faculty and seniors, $8 UNM staff and students. Tickets are available at UNM Ticket Offices, unmtickets.com or 925-5858.