[172] MTSU Slates Annual Fall Dance Concert For Dec. 3-5

MTSU SLATES ANNUAL FALL DANCE CONCERT FOR DEC. 3-5
Director Says ’09 Concert ‘Truly Highlights All MTSU Dance Theatre Has to Offer’

(MURFREESBORO)—MTSU Dance Theatre will present its annual Fall Dance Concert at 7:30 nightly Dec. 3-5 in the Boutwell Dramatic Arts Building’s Tucker Theatre.
Kim Nofsinger, director of MTSU Dance Theatre, said the concert—which will feature a total of eight works—was designed to showcase a wide variety of styles, from ballet and modern, to tap and jazz.
“Be prepared for an evening full of emotion and engaging movement, from the moment the curtain rises to the final bow,” Nofsinger remarked. “This performance brings new faces to the dance theater as well as groundbreaking choreography … (and it is) sure to be one of the strongest concerts yet.”
Additionally, he added, “This semester we are pleased to bring two new choreographic styles to our repertoire, with artists Wendy Allen and Erin Rehberg.”
Allen serves as chairwoman of the Somatic Counseling Psychology Department and core faculty at Naropa University in Boulder, Colo. She has presented works at the American Dance Therapy Association Annual Conference and continues to consult and teach at local colleges.
She was a guest artist for the MTSU’s Dance Theatre during the fall semester and set her piece, In the Pecking Order, with 11 students. Nofsinger described the work, which is centered around hate crimes and bullying, as a piece that “is hauntingly beautiful.”
Rehberg, meanwhile, is a new adjunct faculty member who attended Western Illinois University. During that time, Nofsinger said, she performed in1998 and 2000 American College Dance Festival Association dance festivals. She earned her Master of Fine Arts degree in interdisciplinary arts and media at Columbia College Chicago in 2009.
“Ms. Rehberg has set a laugh-out-loud jazz piece for this semester’s concert,” Nofsinger said. “The theme takes you back to the days of ‘80s prom, with all the typical high-school stereotypes represented.”
• TICKET INFO: Tickets are available in advance by calling 615-494-8810 or by visiting the Tucker Theater lobby box office11 a.m.-4:00 p.m. Monday through Friday. Tickets are also available at the door prior to the performance.
Tickets are $10 for general admission and $5 for MTSU staff and K-12 students. MTSU students will receive free admission with a valid MTSU ID.
For more information, please access www.mtsu.edu/theatre.

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ATTENTION, MEDIA: To secure a color jpeg of MTSU dance student Ashley Strickland of Lebanon, Tenn., for editorial use, or to request interviews with dance faculty, please e-mail Lisa L. Rollins at lrollins@mtsu.edu. (Photo credit: Martin O’ Connor)

With three Nobel Prize winners among its alumni and former faculty, Middle Tennessee State University confers master’s degrees in 10 areas, the Specialist in Education degree, the Doctor of Arts degree and the Doctor of Philosophy degree. MTSU is ranked among the top 100 public universities in the nation in the Forbes “America’s Best Colleges” 2009 survey.