Residency by dance group

AMEBA, an acrobatic and aerial dance company, will present two workshops and a public performance during an upcoming residency, April 27 through May 2, at Knox College, Galesburg, Illinois.

The group will present a free, public performance at 7 p.m., Sunday, April 27, in Studio Theatre, Ford Center for the Arts. Workshops in aerial dance and flying dance technique will be held April 28 through May 2. Due to limited space, workshop participants must register by April 23 with assistant professor Jennifer Smith at jlsmith@knox.edu

Based in Chicago, AMEBA is a non-profit dance company that focuses on acrobatic and aerial dance. Its co-directors and co-founders are Chloe Jensen and Kip Conwell. A 2005 review in the Chicago Tribune said that AMEBA's "modern dancers are also acrobats, aerialists and clowns suggestive of a small-scale Cirque du Soleil. ...AMEBA expands the idea of a gymnastics floor routine to concert dance and makes circus equipment, such as trapezes and harnesses, a component in its conceptual choreography."

Jensen is a choreographer and former national champion acrobat. She studied dance at Northern Illinois University, Arizona State University and the International Aerial Dance Festival in Boulder, Colorado. In 2005 she received a grant from the City of Chicago to create an aerial dance work "Lifelines." She also has performed with The Lyric Opera of Chicago and Cirque du Soleil choreographer Debra Brown. A 1998 Knox graduate, Conwell co-founded AMEBA with Jensen in 1999. His work also encompasses trampolines, trapezes, snowboards and stunt kites. In 2001 he choreographed "Windy City," a performance that brought stunt kite flying indoors.

In addition to performing, AMEBA offers classes and workshops for children, teenagers and adults, including a Young Dancers Company for dancers ages 14 through 18.

The AMEBA residency at Knox College is supported in part by a grant from the Illinois Arts Council, a state agency, with additional funding from the offices of the Dean of the College, the Dean of Students, Cultural Events Committee and the Department of Theatre and Dance, and two student organizations, Union Board and Terpsichore Dance Collective.

AMEBA co-director Kip Conwell and peformer Alison Conwell practice an acrobatic dance move on Chicago's lakefront. Photo by Tim Quirk.