The Brigham Young University Dancers' Company, the university's premier modern dance ensemble, will celebrate 30 years with a concert of old favorites and new works during "Dance in Concert" Thursday through Saturday, Jan. 27-29 at 7:30 p.m. in the Pardoe Drama Theatre of the Harris Fine Arts Center.
Tickets are $10 with $2 off with a student or faculty ID and are available at the Fine Arts Ticket Office, (801) 378-4322, or at performances.byu.edu.
"We are excited to celebrate three decades of dance, and we'll be presenting favorites performed in the '70s, '80s and '90s," said artistic director Rebecca Wright Phillips.
Some of these include "In Our Own Image," where dancers use blue balls and PVC pipe to create delightful images of man, as well as the hilarious mattress dance, "Do Not Remove Under Penalty of Law" by Pat Debenham, and the national award-winning spiritual work, "From Our Valleys."
Other more recent works on the program include "Disintegration" by guest artist Jennifer Backhaus-McIvor, and "Steppin' 2005" by guest choreographer Natosha Washington.
"'Steppin' 2005' features stomping, clapping and driving syncopation and will be performed a cappella," said Phillips.
Other dances include "Come Away," a romantic duet performed to music by contemporary singer Norah Jones; "Genesis" choreographed by Marin Leggat; "Rim and Riddle" by Caroline Prohosky, and a premiere work in which blue silk fabric is used in the style of Louie Fuller to create beauty and color.
"'Affectionate Infirmities,' choreographed in the '70s by Ririe Woodbury Dance Company's Joan Woodbury, is danced entirely on crutches!" said Phillips.
"This year the dancers will perform in Taiwan, Cambodia and Thailand," said Phillips. "Their goal is to 'share light' and they are working hard to do just that in their concert. They rehearse 15 hours a week. This is the most hard-working, positive and spiritually prepared group of students I have ever worked with."
"As a company, we will continue to work toward being prepared in every way-physically, artistically, spiritually -to share light and beauty," she said.
For more information, contact Rebecca Wright Phillips at (801) 422-8022 or Kerina Espinosa at (801) 422-1644.
Writer: Cecelia Fielding
