All About Light

Halestone Marks Its 45th Year With Spring Concert

Spring is here, bringing Halestone Dance Studio’s annually awaited recital concert.

For this landmark 45th production year, Halestone will celebrate its contributions as an arts education innovator with two upcoming performances of “Where the Light Gets In” on April 20 and April 21 in the Keller Theatre in Washington and Lee University’s Lenfest Center.

The theme of light - in all its forms and connotations - permeates the innovative movement of this concert.

Conceived by artistic director Kaitlin Pennington, each piece interprets a different aspect of light - its playfulness, its eeriness, the way it illuminates the valley or hides behind the clouds, emanates from within us or reflects onto us from others. The audience will enjoy a range of dance styles - from clogging to modern, ballet, contemporary, hip-hop and jazz, along with a range of emotions - and the whimsical joy of contagiously toe-tapping beats to more complex moods with theatrical pieces exploring concepts such as the pull between light and dark in the human experience.

“Where the Light Gets In” demonstrates the versatile, multi-generational community of Halestone, said a spokeswoman. The performance will feature original choreography by Halestone Studio’s 60-some ensemble of teaching artists and dancers, ages 6 to 80-plus.

A trademark of Halestone’s ensemble is to develop new work with dancers of different backgrounds, ages and skill levels who create a community in motion. Spectators will find such collaborative choreography woven throughout, showcasing Halestone dancers’ abilities to not only execute precise movement sequences across styles, but also to masterfully employ improvisational structures within collaborative choreography giving voice to artistic expression through illumined qualities of movement, said the spokeswoman.

Halestone’s annual spring concert gives studio dancers a significant opportunity to showcase their creative growth over seven months of intense training and preparation. This celebration of innate learning through dance, said the spokeswoman, also gives the Rockbridge community the opportunity to experience the artistry that is uniquely Halestone’s.

Concert times are 7 p.m. on April 20 and 2 p.m. on April 21. Tickets are available online on Halestone’s website, www.Halestone.com. Any remaining tickets will be sold at the door before each performance.