HILLSBOROUGH: Designing lighting for upcoming Rider dance show allows Hillsborough man artistic freedom

By Paul Vacchiano, Special Writer
   Michael Hollinshead, of Hillsborough, will be the lighting designer for the “Rider Dances for All Ages” concert, March 7 and 8.
   The benefit concert will be feature performances by two outreach programs, Dance Power and The Trenton Education Dance Institute (TEDI). Dance Power, directed by Nicole Amadeo, provides students of the New Brunswick area with 20 weeks of dance instruction, collaborating with professionals and college dance students. TEDI is the Trenton division of the National Dance Institute, a program formed by New York City ballet star Jacques d’Amboise who felt that, “the arts have a unique power to engage children and motivate them toward excellence.”
   A portion of the proceeds will be donated to the scholarship funds which allows the featured under-privileged children the availability to a higher education in dance.
   The production is under the direction of the American Repertory Ballet’s Laney Engelhard, and Princeton Ballet School’s Cheryl Whitney.
   Hometown performer and theatrical technician, Mr. Hollinshead joins the project fairly new to the lighting aspect of the arts. He has been passionate about theater since in middle school, but it wasn’t until his freshman year of college that he became interested in lighting. Son of a building contractor, and Hewlett- Packard Compensation Manager for the East Coast, he could not have chosen such a different field of study from his parents.
   ”The big difference between dance and theatrical lighting is that when I light dance, I can be more creative,” he said. “For example, when I light theater, I have to stick more to realistic lighting, where as when I light dance, I focus on what accentuates the dances.”
   To him, “dance is more free artistically.”
   The performances will be 7:30 p.m. March 7 and 3 p.m. March 8 at Rider University’s Yvonne Theater on the Lawrenceville campus. Tickets are $10 for the general public, $5 for students, staff, and faculty.
   For tickets, call 609-896-5353.