University Park, Pa. -- Merce Cunningham Dance Company teaching artist Kevin Taylor will conduct a free movement workshop for elementary-aged children at 1 p.m. Saturday, Feb. 12, in Penn State’s HUB-Robeson Center. The Center for the Performing Arts at Penn State is holding the hourlong workshop in conjunction with its presentation of the Merce Cunningham Dance Company at 7:30 p.m. Feb. 12 in Eisenhower Auditorium.
In the workshop, at HUB-Robeson Center’s Heritage Hall, Taylor will use an animal theme to guide participants in creating dances based on their observations of movement, time and surroundings. After the workshop, participants may tour the HUB Gallery exhibition Storytellers, which features animal-themed paintings by Pennsylvania artist Patricia A. Griffin.
The workshop is open to a maximum of 25 elementary-age children. A parent or guardian must accompany each child. To register for the workshop, e-mail Medora Ebersole, Center for the Performing Arts education programs manager, at mde13@psu.edu no later than Feb. 10.
Workshop participants should wear comfortable street clothes and athletic shoes.
Merce Cunningham, who died at age 90 in 2009, was a giant figure in American modern dance -- both as a choreographer and a dancer. The Merce Cunningham Dance Company’s final tour showcases seminal works from Cunningham’s career and provides the last chance to see his choreography performed by the company he trained. The scheduled program for the Feb. 12 evening performance will include "Duets," "Second Hand" and "Sounddance."
Go to http://www.cpa.psu.edu/events/merce.html for more information about the dance company and its performance at Penn State.
HUB is on Pollock Road, just west of Shortlidge Road, on the University Park campus. Both the HUB Gallery and Heritage Hall are on the first floor.
The Glenn and Nancy Gamble Endowment provides support, in part, for Merce Cunningham Family Day. Penn State International Dance Ensemble Endowment underwrites dance presentations at the Center for the Performing Arts.