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"Renovations and Innovation" in Fall Concert of Dance

Oct. 5, 2005

KALAMAZOO--Western Michigan University's Department of Dance presents its Fall Concert of Dance, "Renovations and Innovations: Old Favorites and New Perspectives in Dance" for five performances, Thursday through Sunday, Oct. 13-16.

Performances in Dance Studio B of the Dalton Center begin at 8 p.m. Thursday through Saturday, Oct. 13-15, and at 2 p.m. Saturday and Sunday, Oct. 15-16.

Admission is $16 for adults; $12 for senior citizens, Partners in Dance members and WMU faculty and staff; and $7 for students. Tickets are available in advance by calling the Gilmore Theatre Ticket Office at (269) 387-6222, and are available at the door before each performance.

This fall's concert features two reprisals of past "favorite dances" by faculty members Jane Baas and Nina Nelson. Baas will present "Sweet Diana Suite" (1999), a work inspired by the vocal stylings of Diana Krall and celebrating the innocence of first infatuation. Nelson's piece, "and down will come baby", originally premiered in 1998 and chronicles the surreal journey of a young woman's trip into motherhood.

"Hey Pachuco!," the award-winning dance by of the late Lindsey Thomas, is a high energy jazz dance that is being restaged by one of her former students. A graduate of WMU and 24-year member of the dance faculty, Thomas died in October 2003 at age 51.

In addition to some old favorites, several new dance works will be presented. Faculty member Carolyn Pavlik will premiere her new modern dance work, "I'm coming back for my wings," a concept dance about personal growth and the small deaths along the road of life.

Associate Professor David Curwen will have two ballets in the concert, "The Rapture" and "Inevitable." "Inevitable" was originally commissioned by the Kalamazoo Ballet, and was also presented at the Regional Dance America Midstates Festival on May 20 in St. Louis. It uses two separate pieces of music within one dance to portray bright optimism that turns to loss and desperation. "The Rapture" features video animation by digital media artist Kevin Abbott and explores fundamentalist views of the Rapture.

New faculty member Natalie Marrone choreographed and will perform her solo, "Debarkation." Originally created as one part of an evening-length work, "Debarkation" reflects the struggle of Marrone's grandfather's immigration from Italy in 1947.

This concert is the first program staged in the newly renovated Dance Studio B. The space has been transformed with new flooring, comfortable seating and theatrical curtains. For more information, call the Department of Dance at (269) 387-5830.

Media contact: Nina Nelson, (269) 387-5830, nina.nelson@wmich.edu

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