Dance students to present annual winter concert

KALAMAZOO--Three commissioned dances and two works from the Western Michigan University Great Works Dance Project highlight the Department of Dance's Winter Gala Dance Concert, running Feb. 2-12 in Williams Theatre at the Gilmore Theatre Complex.

Winter Gala Dance Concert performances

• Thursday, Feb. 2, at 8 p.m.
• Friday, Feb. 3, at 8 p.m.
• Saturday, Feb. 4, at 2 and 8 p.m.
• Friday, Feb. 10, at 8 p.m.
• Saturday, Feb. 11, at 8 p.m.
• Sunday, Feb. 12, at 2 p.m.

Admission is $18 for adults; $14 for faculty, staff, seniors and Partners in Dance members; and $8 for students. Tickets are available in advance by calling the Gilmore Ticket Office at (269) 387-6222 or at the door before each performance.

Dancers will perform Antony Tudor's "Fandango," a ballet on pointe for five women that had its premiere in 1963 at the Metropolitan Opera Ballet Studio. The setting is a public square in southern Spain. The five women, each with distinctive personalities, vie for each other's attention and engage in friendly rivalry.

The evening's program also includes:

• Loïe Fuller's "La Mer," reconstructed by WMU faculty member Megan Slayter and her research partner Jessica Lindberg Coxe.
• "Foreground," by Lauren Edson, winner of the Great Works Dance Project National Choreography Competition.
• Nelly van Bommel's "Addio Amore," a 22-minute tour de force that captures the playful and communal spirit of traditional European and Middle Eastern folk music.
• Chicago-based choreographer Eddy Ocampo's "PiDgeon," created for members of the Western Dance Project, WMU's touring ensemble.
• "JInsha," a multi-dimensional, interdisciplinary dance work that is a reflection of a visit to the Chinese archeological site of the same name by David Curwen, choreographer and associate professor of dance at WMU.
• "Black Iris," a jazz dance created by Kirsten Harvey, WMU associate professor of dance.
• "Like a Butterfly," choreographed by junior dance major Katie Mattar.

For more information, call the WMU Department of Dance at (269) 387-5830.