inspireDANCE Festival

The inspireDANCE Festival grew out of a simple idea to find a way to connect student dancers with each other, with the Program of Dance and Movement and with the larger dance community in the Rochester area. The festival is designed to encourage you to try out as many new dance and movement forms as you desire, and to experience dance as art, expression, performance, community building, and the celebration of diverse cultures. The inspireDANCE festival was conceived in January 2010 by KEY student Arielle Friedlander Tannenbaum ’10 and Missy Pfohl Smith, then the new Director of the UR Program of Dance and Movement. The inspireJAM was conceived in 2013 by student Smon Cheewapansri ‘13, sharing hip-hop culture and breaking with the UR community. Bboys and bgirls and all styles of dancers gather from across NYS and Toronto, to battle for a cash prize, and to defend the inspireJAM title.

(To attend classes and workshops, you must register online and complete a health waiver.)

Events:

Celebrate Nowruz: Persian New Year - Saturday, March 18 @ 3pm – Memorial Art Gallery Auditorium - In collaboration with International Culture and Arts Network (ICAN)/Shahin Monshipour. Live music and dance, lecture, poetry, language, culture, Haft seen, Persian sweets and more! Free and open to all.

The Weight of Water - Sunday, March 19 @ 6pm – Smith Theater, Sloan Performing Arts Center - A multimedia dance project from collaborators Rose Pasquarello Beauchamp, Andrea Gluckman, Paul Leary and Soma Mei Sheng Frazier, featuring dance, video projection, poetry, live interactive electronic music and Leary's seven-foot musical wheel.

Inspire Student Showcase - Thursday, March 23 @ 8pm – Smith Theater, Sloan Performing Arts Center - In collaboration with the Dance Council, featuring University of Rochester’s diverse student dance groups. Free to all!

inspireJAM 2v2 All-Styles Hip Hop Battle - Friday, March 24 @7pm – Leibner-Cooper Room in Goergen Athletic Center

RESPONSE - Wednesday, March 29-31 @Time and location TBA - Improvisational dance performance responses to visual artwork. Visit https://www.sageart.center/response for details.

Spring Explorations and Experimental Dances (S.E.E.D.) - Friday, March 31 & Saturday, April 1 @ 8pm; Sunday, April 2 @ 2pm - Smith Theater, Sloan Performing Arts Center - Featuring faculty and student choreography and performance.

Host or Publisher The Program of Dance and Movement