Summer Jazz Institute Features Free Public Concert Series

Battleworks Dance Company, widely acclaimed for its explosively energetic style of contemporary dance, will present two performances at the Dance Theater beginning at 8 p.m. Friday and Saturday, Feb. 10 and 11.

Concert admission is $10 ($8 for students and senior citizens). Tickets are available at the Dance Theater box office 45 minutes prior to each performance; reservations are not accepted. Seating is first come, first served.

The program both evenings will feature the eight-dancer company performing recent works by Battleworks founder and choreographer Robert Battle, who is making a return visit to campus. The works will include "Overture" (2005), set to the music of J.S. Bach; "Strange Humors" (1998) and "Promenade" (2005), both performed to music by contemporary composer John Mackey; "Flock" (2004); and "Unfold" (2005), a work for two dancers.

Originally from Miami, Fla., Battle earned a B.F.A. degree in dance from the Juilliard School, where he received the Princess Grace Dance Scholarship and the Martha Hill Prize. From 1994 to 2001, Battle performed with the Parsons Dance Company; in 1998, he began setting original dance works on that company, developing "an abstract signature style that is highly dramatic and electrifying," said The New York Times.

Since Battle started his own company in 2002, his dancers have performed across the United States and in Germany and South America. His work has been commissioned by the Hubbard Street Repertory Ensemble, Ailey II, and the Dallas Black Dance Theater, among others.

The public performances are part of a two-week residency at Skidmore by Battleworks. The residency includes the following master classes, which are open to observers:

Feb. 6-Feb. 12

Monday and Wednesday:

12:20-2:20 p.m. - Modern II, Low Intermediate

2:30-3:50 - Ballet III High, Intermediate

4-5:50 - Modern III, High Intermediate

6-8 - Advanced Dancers, rehearsal to set a work by Robert Battle

Wednesday, 6-7:30 p.m. - Jazz Master Class

Tuesday and Thursday:

9-11 a.m. - Ballet IV, Advanced

3:40-5:30 p.m. - Modern IV, Advanced

3:40-5:30 - Workshop Class, rehearsal to set a work by Robert Battle

Friday, 2:30-5 p.m. - Rehearsal to set a work by Robert Battle

Saturday and Sunday, 11:30 a.m. to 2:30 p.m. - Rehearsal to set a work by Robert Battle

Feb. 13-Feb. 19

Monday and Wednesday:

12:20-2:20 p.m. - Modern II, Low Intermediate

4-5:50 - Modern III, High Intermediate

6-8 - Advanced Dancers, rehearsal to set a work by Robert Battle

Tuesday and Thursday:

2:10-3:30 p.m. - Choreography I

3:40-5 - Modern IV, advanced & workshop Class

5-6:30 - Workshop Class, rehearsal to set a work by Robert Battle

Friday, 2:30-5 p.m. - Rehearsal to set a work by Robert Battle

Saturday and Sunday, 11:30 a.m. to 4 p.m. - Rehearsal to set a work by Robert Battle

For more information, call the Skidmore College Dance Theater box office at 580-5392.