Sweet Briar College
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P.O. Box 1056
Sweet Briar, VA 24595
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Senior dance majors Emily Brown, Nikki Pham and Mary Susan Sinclair-Kuenning will perform at 8 p.m. Friday and Saturday, Feb. 13 and 14 in the Upper Dance Studio in Babcock Fine Arts Center.
Admission is free, and according to dance professor Mark Magruder, seating is BYOP or “bring your own pillow.”
Senior dancers (from left) Nikki Pham, Mary Susan Sinclair-Kuenning and Emily Brown say they plan to leave the audience “not knowing which way is up.”Magruder spoke highly of the trio, calling them “fantastic dancers,” “great students” and “the real backbone of the department” during their years at Sweet Briar.
“They’re all certainly graduate [Master of Fine Arts] material in dance,” he said. “It would be great if they would go to grad school [but] I think these three really want to go to New York and audition, and try to get into a company.”
Last semester at Sweet Briar, Sinclair-Kuenning, a dance and theater double major, starred in the musical “Little Women” and directed a second play, “Big Love,” for her senior project. “[She is an] amazing singer,” Magruder said. “Everyone talks about the ‘triple threat’ and that’s not usually true, but with Mary Susan, if there was a legitimate triple threat, she’s the one.
“The other two are terrific dancers and great on stage. … [Each] has a distinct style. Each of their styles is very strong, and they’re all good at what they do. It should be a fantastic concert.”
Sinclair-Kuenning said she, Brown and Pham will each choreograph their own pieces and “work together on piecing them together in a way that will be both interesting and hopefully shocking. We intend to make a concert that will be a different kind of experience.”
As Magruder put it, the students plan to “break up the space” in the dance studio.
“We want to change the stage so that the audience is in space that is utilized by the dancers and performers,” Sinclair-Kuenning said. “Also, there will be usage of the windows in the studio as well. … We want the audience to leave not knowing which way is up.”
For more information, contact Magruder at mmagruder@sbc.edu or (434) 381-6150.
