Thesis Findings on Marimba/Currulao Music and Dance of Ecuador and Colombia
PERFORMANCE, THESIS PRESENTATION, AND DISCUSSION
by Giselle Mejia
Wednesday, April 12, 2017 at 11:45am
Pangea World Theater Studio | 711 W. Lake St. #101, Minneapolis, MN 55408
11:45 am - Open house and Thesis report available (online and physical copies)
12:00 pm - Performance and Slideshow Presentation
12:30 pm - Discussion
GISELLE MEJIA, dancer/choreographer returns to the Pangea World Theater to present her thesis entitled Moving Narratives of Marimba Music and Dance of the Pacific Coast. Soon to earn her Masters in Dance degree from the Peck School of the Arts, University of Wisconsin-Milwaukee, Giselle will present dance, documentation, music and photos from her recent travel/study to her families birthplaces; Tumaco, Colombia and Esmeraldas, Ecuador. Her study is a quintessential investigation of a folk tradition of the African Diaspora, marimba, which has led to discovery of ties to a Cultures’ past, the routes of a people’s ethnicity, their status in political structures, the birth of new artistry, and the importance of withholding and preserving traditional social expressions.
This project is guided by the UWM Department of Dance Faculty in partial fulfillment of work towards an MFA in Performing Arts: Dance.
Pangea welcomes Giselle's performance as part of the Lake Street Arts! Midday Theater Hour series, because sometimes you need more than food to feed you in the middle of the day.
Giselle Mejia
Artistic Director of Curio Dance & School producing seven signature shows for Drop the Mic! performed at the Guthrie Theater and Cowles Center for Performing Arts since 2010. Trained in dance at SUNY Purchase Conservatory of Dance. Danced with Luna Negra Dance Theater of Chicago, iLuminate on Broadway (as seen on America’s Got Talent). Education: BFA, currently completing MFA, University of Wisconsin-Milwaukee, with a concentration on contemporary dance and dances of the African Diaspora. Performed on stages: Radio City Music Hall, MGM Grand, Disney Theme Park, On Cue Ball, NASA Space Center in Houston, and The Fox Theater. Television appearances include America’s Got Talent, The Today Show, Good Morning America, The Ellen Show, Univision, Telemundo, and The Greatest Cabaret in the World. Currently performing as Teresita at the Ordway Center for the Performing Arts West Side Story.