March 11, 2003 — Performing Dance Company’s 2003 spring concert features work by two guest choreographers and four new works by University of Utah faculty. Performances are March 27-29 and April 3-5 at 7:30 p.m. at the Marriott Center for Dance on the University of Utah campus.
New York choreographer Ronald K. Brown has created a new work for PDC. “Come Ye” is a call for a new kind of army: soldiers dedicated to prayer. More broadly, it is a call for all people who are focused on life, survival, overcoming fears, and rejuvenating hope and the spirit of humankind. Inspired by the music of Nina Simone and Fela Kuti, “Come Ye” includes dance vocabulary from Senegal, the Ivory Coast, Guinea, Cuba, and the USA providing a journey and sense of ceremony.
Meghan Cooley’s new work, “Missing Bodies and Lost Persons,” is inspired by the verbal imagery of Margaret Atwood’s poetry. Composer Gavin Bryars provides the sound score for this septet as it investigates the layers of identity within community. The work explores how we, as social creatures, relentlessly engage as we reveal/conceal ourselves to others and ourselves.
Tandy Beal’s “Palimpsest” is a delicate, dreamlike work in a magical world layered with fey and surreal images. It features a richly textured original score by Jon Scoville, her longtime accomplice and co-conspirator.
Charlotte Boye-Christiansen, artistic director of Ririe-Woodbury, originally created “Stirrings” for the Singapore Dance Theatre in 1998 for four men and four women. She has restaged the dance for eight women in PDC. Highly influenced and inspired by “The Shakers,” John Adams’ minimalist score and its narrative, the dance creates a dynamically charged environment with a forward striving energy, almost ritualistic in its form.
Donna White has created “Stone, Metal, Water,” a new trio for women. It is an abstract movement piece inspired by experiences, colors, textures, and impressions of her trip to Beijing last summer. Music is by contemporary Chinese composers Tan Dun and Liu Xing.
Pamela Geber will premiere “Preludes,” a series of vignettes illuminating the passing relationships among three dancers. Set to the elegantly reflective and impressionistic piano work of Spanish composer Federico Mompou, the dance has a naked quality, void of excessive ornamentation.
Tickets are $8 general admission and $5.50 for University of Utah students, faculty, and staff and are available at the door one hour prior to the performance. Tickets are also available at ArtTix locations on campus in Kingsbury Hall and the Student Union or by phone at 581-7100 or 355-ARTS. An ArtTix service fee will be added to all tickets.