MFA Dance Concert 2023

Northampton, MA – The Smith College Department of Dance presents the 2023 MFA Dance Concert, a performance of thesis research by the department's MFA candidates on February 9, 10, and 11 at 7:30 PM in Theatre 14 featuring work by Alexander Davis and Chloe London. Full details and tickets are available at SmithArts.booktix.com.

Chloe London’s piece for five dancers begins where a dance solo ends. Framed by a prologue and epilogue, the work is an indulgent and abstract fairytale with no agenda. The audience is guided through a whimsical landscape of oddly virtuosic movement and powerful sound. The dance is a wilderness of physicalized imagination, colors, ephemeral paint, physical maximalism and visual endurance set on an all-white stage. London characterizes her work as “non-narrative with an emphasis on spatial patterns and abstract virtuosity.” She choreographs with a visual art aesthetic guiding her process. “I hope the audience embraces the opportunity to use their own imagination to weave, understand, and interpret the world I have created on stage.”

The culmination of his MFA research, Alexander Davis is proud to present This Dance is Available for Touring: A MFA Thesis That is Also Available for Touring. This comedic solo (with 25 back up dancers) features the collaborative contributions of musicians, composers, visual artists, filmmakers, community health advocates, circus performers, bartenders and a licensed EMT from the state of Pennsylvania. Davis hopes that the audience “likes it” or that he “at least doesn’t disappoint anyone.” Davis’ performances illuminate the innate theatricality of everyday life, drawing from pop culture, memes, reality television, improvisational techniques, community building and lists.

Alexander Davis is a homosexual, maker and performer. He is a graduate of Keene State College where he received a B.A. in English: writing, and a B.A. in Theatre and Dance: choreography and performance. Alex has worked, performed and presented with organizations across Boston including Ryan Landry’s Gold Dust Orphans, Boston Lyric Opera, Boston Children's Chorus, World Music/CRASHarts, Urbanity Dance and Improv Asylum/Laugh Boston. As a choreographer and fiber artist Alex has received grant and residency support from The Studios at Mass MoCA, The Boston Foundation, Urbanity Dance and The Theatre Offensive. Alex has performed works by Doug Varone, Carl Flink, Andy Noble, Monica Bill Barnes, Larry Keigwin, Rebecca Stenn and Lorraine Chapman, and is currently a guest artist with Peter DiMuro/Public Displays of Motion. Alex and collaborator Joy Davis (The Davis Sisters) named 2018 Schoenberg (Boston) Fellowship Residency at The Yard where they developed a new evening length work entitled “Junk Drawer.” Alex assisted choreographer Monica Bill Barnes on Writer/Director Greta Gerwig’s 2019 adaptation of Louisa May Alcott’s Little Women, in which he was also a Principal Dancer. Learn more at alexanderdavis.dance or thedavissisters.com.

Chloe London is a dance choreographer and performer from New York City. As a freelance performer, London has danced for Stefanie Nelson, Martha Tornay, Tammy Sugden-Carrasco, John Zullo, Elizabeth Furman, Lexie Thrash, Madeline Kurtz and Justin Bass. She has performed in multiple Merce Cunningham works for The Cunningham Trust. Her choreography has been presented by East Village Dance Project/La MaMa Theatre, Split Bill Series at Triskelion Arts, Dixon Place, WestFest, Composers Concordance and Battery Park Dance Festival. She was a 2019/20 Triskelion Presents Artist and created an evening length show for their Muriel Schulman Theatre. She is currently pursuing her M.F.A. in Performance and Choreography at Smith College.

The 2023 MFA Thesis Dance Concert is open to the public. Masks are welcome in Theatre 14, part of the Mendenhall Center for the Performing Arts. The reserved seating tickets are $10 for adults and $5 for students and seniors 65+. People can find more details and purchase tickets online at SmithArts.Booktix.com. Email boxoffice@smith.edu with any questions. Be aware that this event is subject to change. Please check smith.edu/dance for updates.