OXFORD, Miss – Love is in the air, and the University of
Mississippi’s student dance group, Mississippi: The Dance
Company, offers a concert that examines nine different
answers to the question and title of the show: “What’s Love
Got to Do with It?”
The show opened Wednesday (Feb. 13) and runs through
Saturday. Performances in Meek Hall Auditorium begin at 8
p.m. each day, plus a 2 p.m. matinee Saturday.
Tickets are $10.50 for adults, $8.50 for children and
seniors, and $7 for UM students. They can be purchased at
the UM Box Office, online at
or by calling 662- 915-7411. “‘What’s Love Got to Do with
It?’ is a great big, giant, moving Valentine’s Day card,
examining love from all angles,” said Jennifer Mizenko,
artistic director of the dance company and associate
professor of theatre arts. “(There’s) something for
everyone’s taste, from partner swing dancing to ballet, to
modern.”
The performances examine the many different sides of
relationships, such as friendship, love of self and
spiritual love, Mizenko said.
The show also features the choreography of senior theatre
arts major Derek Barham of Monticello, junior English major
Lydia Siniard of Cartersville, Ga., and senior theatre arts
major Lauren Wakefield of Jackson. Barham choreographed two
pieces, and Siniard and Wakefield each choreographed one.
The students have been working on the pieces since a dance
composition class last spring.
“It’s the most fulfilling thing to see your work onstage on
someone else,” said Wakefield, whose dance represents
relationships between video game characters. “This, and
directing and design, it all kind of goes together in a
final product that you can see.”
Students have been choreographing company dances for about
10 years, but this production showcases “the most student
works we’ve ever presented in one concert,” Mizenko said.
Barham said his dance “Crush” represents falling in love
with a best friend, and his second piece, “(There is No)
Modern Romance,” takes a look into relationships that
appear to be going well but are actually flawed.
Siniard applied a personal experience to her dance, which
explores how a close-knit group of friends cope when one of
them must go away. “‘What’s Love Got to Do with It?’
really is sort of a roller coaster ride, just like a
relationship is,” Barham said. “It’s got a lot of ups and
downs. As with any good dance show, there’s a little bit of
everything.”
The show’s other choreographers are Mizenko, Rene Pulliam,
associate professor of theatre arts, and Genevieve Fortner
and Jimmyle Listenbee, both adjunct instructors of theatre
arts. Performers include the 25 students in the company,
Mizenko, Listenbee and Laura Johnson, assistant professor
of psychology, as well as guest performer Ellie Williams.
For assistance related to a disability, call 662-915-7411.
For more information on the Department of Theatre Arts, go
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