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Great Works in Dance set for two Miller performances

Jan. 13, 2006

KALAMAZOO--The Department of Dance at Western Michigan University presents its Great Works in Dance and Music Gala Concert at Miller Auditorium at 8 p.m. Saturday, Feb. 4, and at 3 p.m. Sunday, Feb. 5.

Admission to the concert is $18 for adults; $14 for WMU faculty and staff, senior citizens and Partners in Dance members; and $8 for students. Seating is reserved. Tickets are available in advance by calling the Miller Auditorium Box office at (269) 387-2300 or (800) 228-9858. Tickets will also be available at the door before each performance.

The concert features the dances of four renowned and ground-breaking choreographers: George Balanchine, HelenTamiris, Loie Fuller and Lou Conte. WMU dance students will perform all of the dances, and music will be provided by ensembles from the WMU School of Music.

Featured dances are Balanchine's signature ballet, "Serenade," choreographed in 1934; "How Long, Brethren?" choreographed by Tamiris in 1937; "Fire Dance," a solo dance choreographed by Fuller, which premiered in Paris in 1896; and "The 40s" by Conte, which premiered in 1978.

Conte is the founding artistic director of Hubbard Street Dance Chicago and is a visiting artist at WMU this year. He and former HSDC dancer Claire Bataille taught "The 40s" to WMU dancers during a November 2005 residency. This is the first time the dance will be performed with live music, which will be provided by the University Jazz Orchestra. Conte returns to WMU at the end of January and will remain for the Saturday, Feb. 4, concert.

WMU's Great Works Dance Project was created in 1996 with the goal of bringing the works of world-class choreographers to WMU and the greater Kalamazoo community.

This year's concert is supported, in part, by the Chuck and Tucky Elliott Distinguished Visiting Artist Award, by Jerre Locke James and by the National College Choreography Initiative of the National Endowment for the Arts.

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

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