Visiting professor performs solo dance

An independent choreographer and member of the New York-based Creach/Koester Dance Company will give a solo dance performance at Bates College at 7:30 p.m. Feb. 6 in the Olin Arts Center Concert Hall. The public is invited to attend free of charge.

Lionel Popkin, a visiting member of the Bates College dance faculty, will perform two pieces in an informal 40-minute presentation titled Lionel At-Large. His performance will include “Are You Done Yet?,” set in an absurdist and humorous world housed with furniture made entirely from newspapers, and “Lost Verses,” a scored improvisation that investigates the adaptation of movement when things spiral out of control.

Currently a master of fine arts candidate and teaching assistant at Bennington College, Popkin holds a bachelor of arts in dance from Oberlin College. From 1992-96, he performed as a member of the Seattle-based Stephanie Skura Dance Company and also served as its administrative director.

Popkin’s own work was nominated for a Seattle dance and performance award in 1996. He has performed throughout Seattle, including the On the Boards Northwest New Works Festival. A certified teacher of the Skinner releasing technique, he was a member of the faculty of the 1997 Annual Summer Releasing Intensive in Seattle.