The Lewis Center for the Arts’ Program in Dance at Princeton University presents Roots, an evening of two distinctive dance works by Princeton seniors Naomi Benenson and Mandy Qua. These pieces both explore and challenge traditional ways of connecting with oneself and one’s community. Performances are March 2, 3 and 4 at 8:30 p.m. at the Hearst Dance Theater in the Lewis Arts complex on the Princeton campus. The Hearst Dance Theater is an accessible venue with wheelchair and companion seating in the front row. The March 3 performance will be open-captioned. An assistive listening system is available. Guests in need of other access accommodations are invited to contact the Lewis Center at least one week in advance at LewisCenter@princeton.edu.
Dancers rehearse Roots, a performance featuring original works by Princeton seniors Naomi Benenson and Mandy Qua. Photo by Abe Jacobs
“Inextricably Linked,” choreographed by Benenson, explores the collective effort to combat the act of self-imposed isolation through the use of a bench, non-binary partnering, and the intricate relationship between the dancers and the musicians. The work opposes the traditional connectivity between dance and music by challenging the musicians to compose a musical score shaped by the movement of the dancers. Rather than the structuring of physical movement to a solidified musical soundscape, each evening the live musicians will craft a distinctive work informed by the dancers’ physicality within the space. Benenson’s dancer cast includes senior Leah Emanuel, juniors Olivia Buckhorn and Natalia Lalin, and sophomore Adam Davis. Her musician cast includes seniors Benny Rosenzweig on the tenor saxophone, Christien Ayers on the electric guitar, and Rachel Hsu on the violin, and juniors Alex Egol on the piano and Konstantin Howard on the tenor saxophone.
Dancers rehearse Roots, a performance featuring original works by Princeton seniors Naomi Benenson and Mandy Qua. Photo by Abe Jacobs
“Pamana,” the Tagalog word for “heritage” or “legacy,” is choreographed by Qua and features an all-Filipino cast. The piece explores the themes of agriculture, faith, and community rooted in friendship and “seed stories.” Seed stories are stories about seeds that are personally significant to individuals and aim to capture the rich cultures, histories, and connections between people that are embedded in the seeds. Through this work audience members are encouraged to reflect on their own seed stories. Qua’s cast includes senior Marissa Mejia, juniors Eudan Mojados and Kirsten Pardo, sophomores Cassie Eng and Martina Qua, and first-year student Maddy Mejia.
Benenson is a senior in the Economics Department pursuing certificates in applied and computational mathematics, optimization, and quantitative decision science, and in dance. She was the former business and strategy manager of the student group diSiac Dance Company, the performance manager of Princeton’s Performing Arts Council, and she currently serves on the board of directors of TigerLaunch, a Princeton-based international student startup competition. She has been a recipient of Lewis Center summer funding to attend performances and participate in dance programs and creation projects in New York City, London, Vienna, Milan, Moncalvo, and Tel Aviv, all of which, she notes, had profound impacts on her the process to develop her new piece. She plans to continue dancing after she graduates.
Qua is a senior in the Sociology Department pursuing a certificate in dance. She grew up in the Philippines and has been dancing since she was three years old. At Princeton, she is a member of eXpressions Dance Company and Princeton University Ballet and has performed works by Rebecca Lazier, Germaine Acogny (staged by Samantha Speis), and Michael J. Love as part of the annual Princeton Dance Festival. Outside of dance, Qua is a student intern at the Seed Farm@Princeton and is an academic life and learning strategies consultant with Princeton’s McGraw Center for Teaching and Learning. After graduation, she plans to pursue both dance and farming.
Benenson and Qua are being advised by faculty member Aynsley Vandenbroucke with lighting by professional designer Cat Tate Starmer and music direction by Vince di Mura.
The Program in Dance, now in its 52nd year, and has grown to include five full-time and nine adjunct faculty and offers 23 different courses serving more than 400 students each year and a curriculum that includes introductory courses, courses suited for dancers at the pre-professional level, as well as courses in dance studies and interdisciplinary contemporary practices. Seniors earning a certificate in dance undertake a course of study and performance, co-curricular classes, technical hours, and an independent project such as choreographing a new work, performing a new or repertory work by a professional guest choreographer or faculty member, or a work of dance scholarship.
Per Princeton University policy, all visitors are expected to be either fully vaccinated, have recently received and prepared to show proof of a negative COVID test (via PCR within 72 hours or via rapid antigen within 8 hours of the scheduled visit), or agree to wear a face covering when indoors and around others.
Visit the Lewis Center website to learn more about the Program in Dance and the more than 100 performances, exhibitions, readings, screenings, concerts and lectures presented each year by the Lewis Center for the Arts.
