BU’s ‘Sunset Mirage’ merges theater and dance

By George Basler

In David Wynen’s native Australia, young men and women get together annually in the remote outback for a tradition called the Bachelor and Spinsters Ball, a night-long party focused on having a raucous good time.

While he never participated, the Binghamton University assistant professor of musical theater has used the event as the inspiration for Sunset Mirage, an original dance program to be performed this weekend (March 4-6) in the Watters Theater on the BU campus.

“The concept is that we start at sunset and finish at sunrise. It’s about what happens one night in a desolate town that has a party once a year,” he said.

Wynen is choreographing and directing the program with his associate, Neva Kenny, a visiting professor of dance at BU. A company of 17 dancers, all students, will perform 16 dances to pre-recorded contemporary jazz, pop and Latin music compositions.

Wynen’s vision is to create “a story-driven program” that blends dance and theatrical elements, rather than a series of separate dances. This means some of the dances will have story lines with characters relating to each other within their dances, he said.

“I call it movement theater, or dance theater, rather than just dance,” Wynen added. “I’d like the audience to see dance more than just movement.”

Both Wynen and Kenny have extensive dance backgrounds.

Wynen joined the BU faculty in 2017 after teaching at Ballarat University in Australia. His theatrical credits include the Australian tours of Broadway musicals as well as work with the Australian Opera. His choreographing and directing credits include The Addams Family, Thoroughly Modern Millie and his favorite show, 42^nd Street.

Kenny is a classically trained dance professor with 25 years of experience in contemporary dance and classical ballet. She has 20 years of teaching experience in university and private dance academy instruction as well as broad experience in program curriculum design, dance instruction and choreography across Latin America.

Kenny’s background in Latin America means that much of the music in Sunset Mirage will have a Spanish and Latin American feel, Wynen said. Dancers will perform jazz and tap numbers to the music of bandleaders Prez Prado and Xavier Cugat, as well as the musical group Gotan Project, whose music is based on the Argentine tango. Kenny has also choreographed a ballet-style dance to the love song from the movie Black Orpheus.

Putting Sunset Mirage together has been challenging, Wynen said. COVID restrictions shortened the rehearsal period to a month. While most of the students have dance backgrounds, only one is majoring in dance. Others are majoring in academic areas ranging from chemistry to psychology to management.

“Students have full schedules, and you have to gear rehearsals around their schedules,” Wynen said.

Students signed up for the program because of their love of dancing. Performing has been “a good chance to get moving again,” said Stamatia “Tia” Dimitriou, 22, who is a graduate student in the School of Management. She has been dancing since the age of two.

She added the production has also given her the chance to see other students, something that was limited when BU went to virtual learning during COVID-19.  “It’s been nice to have something to do every day and rebuild relationships,” Dimitriou said.

M-Jay He, 38, a graduate student in theater, has enjoyed the opportunity to perform many different dance styles.

At the same time, there has been some stress, other students said. “The most difficult thing is that I’ve never been part of a show with this much acting. It’s forced me to get into character,” said Haley Zaslofsky, 20, a sophomore who is majority in psychology. But she’s enjoying the challenge.

Wynen said he hopes Sunset Mirage will give audience members an immersive experience. In a blurb on the theater department’s web page, he noted: “We create a mirage as we start with nothing at sunset as the piece comes to life moment by moment from restlessness to the unstoppable impulse to celebrate and let loose.”

IF YOU GO: Sunset Mirage will be performed at 8 p.m. Friday and Saturday (March 4-5) and at 2 p.m. Saturday and Sunday (March 5-6) in the Watters Theater of Binghamton University’s Fine Arts Building. Tickets range in price from $10 to $20. Buy tickets online on the Binghamton University Department of Theatre’s webpage, by phone (607-777-2787) or at the Anderson Center’s box office.