It is my honor to welcome you to the Coronado Performing Arts Center for this evening’s production of Distant Realities. After two digital dance concerts last year, we are thrilled to be back in the theater and performing live for you. Among many things gained from a year-and-a-half of living through a pandemic is a newfound appreciation for both normalcy and absurdity.
When I proposed the idea of using the Surrealist movement in the visual arts as a springboard for our creative work back in June, the students were eager to take on the challenge. Faculty and student choreographers began their creative process by selecting a piece of Surrealist visual art and researched the artist’s background and oeuvre. Choreographers then developed movement and contexts for performance as they dove into their selected work’s images and themes. This wild philosophical experiment has become a source of fresh artistic creativity, just as the Surrealists believed it could. Tonight, we are thrilled to take you on a journey through dreamlike visions, rich imagery, and strange worlds.
Along with our dances, we are pleased to present a slide show of Surrealist works by students in CoSA’s Conservatory of Visual Art. Thank you to CoSA’s Conservatory of Visual Art Director Karrie Jackson for exploring surrealism this semester with us.
We invite you to stay for 10 minutes after the show to enjoy a Q & A Discussion with student choreographers and visual artists featured in the program. Please sit back, relax, and be transported and inspired by some of Coronado’s finest young artists.
Gina Bolles Sorensen
Conservatory Chair, Classical & Contemporary Dance