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The Betsy Blackmon Dance Program at USC will present its Student Choreography Showcase, featuring original works by dance students, April 20-21 at Drayton Hall Theatre.  

Showtime is 2pm daily.  Admission is $15 for students, $20 for USC faculty/staff, military, and seniors 60+, and $22 for the public. Tickets may be purchased online at sc.universitytickets.com or at the door. Drayton Hall Theatre is located at 1214 College St., across from the historic USC Horseshoe.

Presented in both the fall and spring semesters, the Student Choreography Showcase spotlights works that have been created during the semester in a class led by instructor Eduard Forehand. The collaborative nature of the course provides opportunities for constructive dialogue between Forehand, the choreographers and the performers as the works are being developed.  

12 works representing a wide range of styles and themes will be premiered in the concert. The concert repertory include:

• Torsion by Rosie Booker, a powerful contemporary work that is an extension of Booker’s senior thesis.  “The piece ultimately reflects the pain and discomfort that comes with womanhood and the transcendence from the social norms that can free us,” Booker says.
  
  
• Galactic Lover by Beth Bryerton, described by the choreographer as “a love story of sorts. Two strangers share a moment of connection and, in a split second, fantasize an entire life together before coming back to reality.”
  
  
• Behind the Curtain by Ian Kell, which Kell says is “a feel-good contemporary piece” in which the audience gets a look behind the curtain in both a literal and figurative sense. “All performers have a sort of ‘on’ & ‘off’ switch,” Kell says, “but the audience never sees the ‘off’… In this piece, they will get to see and be a part of the entire process and get a really good show out of it.”

Also creating innovative works for the showcase are Talbott Carden, Alex Carnevale, Claire Cronin, Rain Hicks, Mikayla Radermacher, Lindsey Schultz, Lauren Smith-Powell, Marina Uliano, and Ja’lene Woods. USC Dance Senior Instructor Eric Morris is the lighting designer for the concert.  Costumer for the production is Kathleen Powers.

Talkbacks will follow each performance.  Choreographers participating April 20 are Beth Bryerton, Claire Cronin, Lindsey Schultz, Lauren Smith Powell, and Ja'lene Woods.  The April 21 talkback will feature Rosie Booker, Talbott Carden, Alex Carnevale, Rain Hicks, Ian Kell, and Mikayla Radermacher.

“There is such a beautiful range of pieces that will be presented,” says Booker about the showcase. “There are a lot of interesting approaches to movement, and pieces that are intended to make the audience walk out and feel changed!”

For more information on the Student Choreography Showcase or the Betsy Blackmon Dance Program at the University of South Carolina, contact Kevin Bush by phone at 803-777-9353 or via email at bushk@mailbox.sc.edu.