Dance Theatre of Santa Fe Presents "Elements of Style" March 25-26, 2016

March 12, 2016

Dance Theatre of Santa Fe's spring semester performance, "Elements of Style 2016," will feature choreography by two of the college's alumni who have gone on to professional dance careers as well as a solo dance by one of those alumni, Doug Gillespie. "Elements of Style" will be presented at 2 p.m. and 7:30 p.m. Friday, March 25, and 7:30 p.m. Saturday, March 26, 2016, in the Fine Arts Hall at the Northwest Campus of Santa Fe College, 3000 NW 83 Street, Gainesville.

Tickets are $15 main floor and $12 balcony for adults; $9 for seniors, children and University of Florida students; and free for Santa Fe College faculty, staff and students with college identification cards. For ticket information, call the Box Office at 352-395-4181 or visit the Fine Arts ticket website at https://www.sfcollege.edu/finearts.

"We are very excited about this wonderful magic happening on our stage this March," said Executive Director and co-founder of Dance Theatre of Santa Fe (DTSF), Tari Kendall. "The program features many different styles of dance and no two are alike! We have ballet, contemporary modern, African, tap with a modern twist, entertaining jazz on the commercial side, a student-choreographed piece, and an excerpt from 'Sweet Charity,' this year's musical theatre production."

Doug Gillespie and Jason Macdonald, alumni of the Santa Fe College Dance Department, have choreographed two of the dances that DTSF will perform.

Gillespie is a dancer and assistant director with the 10-year-old New York City contemporary dance troupe, Kate Weare Company, where he also serves as directorial assistant for outside commissions. The student dancers will perform his piece "Diffused Caste" and Gillespie will perform solo in "Echo."

Jason Macdonald joined the 31-year-old modern dance company Parsons Dance, also based in New York City, in August 2010. He has performed with the New York City Opera, with the Alabama Ballet Company and in "Queen of the Night" at the Diamond Horseshoe in New York City. Macdonald choreographed "Humanity" for DTSF on a recent visit to SF College.

"I'm excited to have these pieces by two alumni who have gone on to bigger and better things, but who are happy to come back and work with us," Kendall said. "The 'coming home' part is really great."

The full "Elements of Style" program includes:

• "Etudes in Silver," choreographed by Alora Haynes and Melissa Brenner
• "Echo," choreographed and performed by Doug Gillespie
• "Humanity," choreographed by Jason Macdonald
• "Blue Angels," choreographed by Andy Howard
• "2 Steps Forward, 10 Steps Back," choreographed by Sarah Harkness-Sebastian
• "Tiriba" choreographed by Mohammed DaCosta
• "Diffused Caste," choreographed by Doug Gillespie
• "Rich Man's Frug," choreographed by Sarah Harkness-Sebastian
• "Holy Wine" choreographed by Charlotte Fisher
• "How Did We Get Here?," choreographed by Melissa Brenner and Sarah Harkness-Sebastian
• "Beast," choreographed by Antolino Alvarez

"Elements of Style 2016" is sponsored in part by the SF College Fine Arts Department and the State of Florida, Department of State, Division of Cultural Affairs and the Florida Council on Arts and Culture and Visit Gainesville, a Tourist Development Tax Grant from the Alachua County Board of County Commissioners in conjunction with the Alachua County Tourist Development Council.

For more information about "Elements of Style 2016," call Dance Professor Tari Kendall at 352-395-5916.

For more information about the SF College Fine Arts Department or the Fine Arts Hall, call Fine Arts Department Chairperson Alora Haynes at 352-395-5296.