Carlisle Gym is going through a rebirth of sorts this weekend.
Last semester, the gym, which was used as a basketball court until 1986, went through serious renovations in support of UNM's Department of Theatre and Dance new MFA offering.
The venue has been transformed into a multifunctional, 200-seat, state-of-the-art dance-performance space equipped with new lighting, sound systems and new seats. The large gym was split into two studios and a large new video screen was installed. Since the fall semester it has been used for lecture and studio classes. According to a news release, more student performances are being planned, and students are being trained to use the new audiovisual equipment through classes offered by the Theatre and Dance Department.
Because of the efforts of the Friends of Theatre, the Carlisle Performance Space will celebrate its inaugural event Friday, Saturday and Sunday with the PanoramaDance performance.
"Every semester we present an evening of student choreography," said Donna Jewell, Panorama's artistic director. "These are not necessarily projects they were working on in class. They are projects that the students have been working on themselves."
The performers, which include undergraduate and graduate students in the dance program, had to go through an audition process where about half of them were chosen.
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"The performance is kind of a large overview of the dancers we have in the program right now," Jewell said.
Panorama's 12 pieces will be a range of solos, duos and ensemble works ranging from a piece based on Nijinsky's famous "Rite of Spring" to a work based on the life of Joan of Arc.
Students hope to take the audience through different approaches to dance, including the kinetic architecture of space, and atmospheric re-creation. One performance steps into a more theatrical role by involving the spoken word, according to the news release.
The dancers worked on their pieces since the beginning of the semester, which Jewell describes as mostly modern and abstract pieces.
"All students in the College of Fine Arts should want to come to this because they can see these dance students finding their voice," Jewell said. "And it's new and contemporary. It's their time to be honored for their hard work."
What: PanoramaDance Performance
When: Friday and Saturday at 8 p.m., Sunday at 6 p.m.
Where: Carlisle Performance Space
Price: Free
Ticket Info: 277-4332
