Site Dance at Bryn Du Mansion
Seven Denison students and members of the Site Dance: Body & Environment course will present their final project on Sunday, Dec.16, at 2 p.m. in the Bryn Du Mansion. A work that is inspired by the mansion’s history, architecture and cultural significance, ‘Beyond the Doors’ a site dance performance will take place on the 3rd floor of the Bryn Du Mansion at 537 Jones Rd NE, Granville. Parking is available at Bryn Du Mansion and transportation from Denison can be reserved by contacting dance@denison.edu.
The dance performance will feature collaborative and solo works by Alex Rivera ’20, Reed Patrick ’19, Vaval Victor ’20, Nayeli Hernandez ’20, Jordan Kea ’20, Sultan Idris ’21, Tianying Zhang ’20, and Ambar Deleon ’20.
After historical research and numerous hours spent at Bryn Du, each dancer used their own individual creative process to inspire their work.
In the ‘trunk’ room of the third floor, Rivera, Hernandez and Deleon will perform works inspired by the unique architecture of the space.Rivera is fascinated by the long and changing history of the mansion, reflecting on the fact that the Mansion was built with money obtained from a coal company and how that affects some present matters of the world.
Val’s Room, performed by Victor, is a solo work accompanied by classical violin music embodying Sally Jones Sexton the previous owner of the house. Meanwhile, Patrick will be giving a ‘blind’ tour to the audience where participants volunteer to be blindfolded and escorted through the space. In Mirror Room, Kea along with her dance partners Zhang and Idris will perform their trio incorporating mirroring movements and playing with three dimensional attributes.
The Site Dance: Body and Environment course taught by Professor Sandra Mathern- Smith, Chair of the Department of Dance, has focused on creating dance works in unfamiliar and open spaces including; Sugarloaf Park, Denison Art Space in Newark, as well as indoor and outdoor spaces on the Denison academic quad. The Bryn Du Mansion is the site of their last Site Dance and performance.
