2011-2012 Season @ Ririe-Woodbury Dance Company

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
August 2, 2011
CONTACT:
Dennis Busch
Director of Marketing & PR
(801) 297-4213
info@ririewoodbury.com

Something for everyone in Ririe-Woodbury Dance Company’s 2011-2012 Season

Ririe-Woodbury Dance Company strives to keep contemporary dance an accessible and valued art in Salt Lake City, as well as throughout the state, country and world by bringing the excellence of nationally recognized artists to choreograph exquisite dances for the company to perform. This 48th Season offers something for everyone from the experienced modern dance lover to families with young children.
The season includes works by New York choreographer Brook Notary, the always-popular Larry Keigwin, the legendary social activist Bill T. Jones, Tony Award winner Karole Armitage, former Ririe-Woodbury dancer Keith Johnson, Ririe-Woodbury Artistic Director Charlotte Boye-Christensen and a Family and Children’s show of works by Alwin Nikolais.
Season tickets are now on sale at ririewoodbury.com for just $85 for general audience (nearly 30% off the regular ticket price) and just $52 for students with ID. Individual tickets will be on sale for all four shows starting September 1, 2011 on ririewoodbury.com or by calling 355-ARTS.
POLYCHROMATIC
September 22-24, 2011 | 7:30pm | $30 General Public, $15 Students/Seniors
Jeanne Wagner Theatre | Rose Wagner Performing Arts Center | 138 West Broadway
“Grid” (Premiere), Brook Notary’s visually mesmerizing and physically charged work, brilliantly juxtaposes complex dance structures and a strikingly simple stage setting. The New York Times has raved about Notary’s “choreographic magic” and proclaimed her “adept at theatrical conjuration.”
“Happiness” (Premiere), an intriguing new work by Ririe-Woodbury’s Artistic Director Charlotte Boye-Christensen, explores the mental state of well-being characterized by positive emotions ranging from contentment to intense joy.
Larry Keigwin’s “80’s Night” (2007), is an entertaining look at popular culture in the 1980s. In this work the dancers lead us on a journey back in time that revisits everything from music and movement to questionable fashion choices.
In contrast, “Spurts of Activity before the Emptiness of Late Afternoon” (2010) by John Jasperse, is a reflective exploration of time and accidental behavior and is marked by the interplay between Jasperse’ tightly conceived structures and his elusive movement style."
PRISM
December 8-10, 2011 | 7:30pm | 2pm Saturday Matinee | $30, $15 Students/Seniors
Leona Wagner Black Box Theatre | Rose Wagner Performing Arts Center
The evocative choreography of Charlotte Boye-Christensen, the insightful writing of David Kranes, and the innovative set design of Architect Nathan Webster come together again in a new collaborative work. Set in the intimacy of the Black Box Theatre, “Stand Up and Dance” will explore stand-up comedians as the jesters of our time – making us laugh while reflecting back our biases, prejudices, foibles, and inadequacies.
By popular demand, we will fan the flames of last year’s successful collaboration and revive “Touching Fire” in a new context.
City Weekly wrote, “It’s hard to find words that will do justice to ‘Touching Fire.’ The moments that took my breath away were so many…Kranes’ word choice was thought-provoking, Webster’s set design put a new perspective on performance and what the space means, and Boye-Christensen’s choreography made the impossible, possible.”

KALEIDOSCOPE
February 3-4, 2012 | 7pm | 2pm Sat. Matinee | $30, $15 Students/Seniors, $45 family of 5
Capitol Theatre | 50 West 200 South
For our Family and Children’s show we revisit the magical choreography of Alwin Nikolais. Performed on the stage of the beautiful Capitol Theatre, the dances are selected from among Nikolais’ most delightful works.
Giant elastic bands that define space like a huge cat’s cradle give form to the exciting work “Tensile Involvement.” “Noumenon” fascinates us with dancers moving in strict unison, creating dynamic forms while completely enshrouded in silver bags. Garish clowns, frolicking in a black light filled arcade, set the stage to entertain us in excerpts from “Gallery” (Premiere). “Kaleidoscope” brings strange-footed dancers balancing on discs, men hanging precariously out in space, a pair of dancers on a journey while balancing a long pole between their feet, and dancers making a statement on fashion, changing outlandish costumes on a whim by the characters on stage. This exciting collection of Nikolais’ works is presented here for the child in all of us!
Performed under the direction of Alberto del Saz, Artistic Director of the Nikolais/Louis Foundation for Dance.
IRIDESCENCE
April 26-28, 2012 | 7:30pm | $30 General Public, $15 Students/Seniors
Jeanne Wagner Theatre | Rose Wagner Performing Arts Center | 138 West Broadway
“Secret Dark World” (Premiere), by former Ririe-Woodbury dancer Keith Johnson, is a timely and thought provoking work inspired by the secret languages of children, the brutality of childhood/adolescence, and how these formative experiences shape our lives.
“West” (Premiere), by Charlotte Boye-Christensen explores the sociopolitical and physical landscape of a land marked by contrasts, tension, freedom, and violence – a place of endless vistas, spaces untouched by civilization, and a land of refuge for the free-spirited.
“It’s Gonna Get Loud,” by Tony Award winning Karole Armitage (coined the “Punk-ballerina” by Vanity Fair), is a work that was created for the company in 2009 drawing inspiration from the rawness and directness of the Punk-era and set to an original score by Rhys Chatham.

CABARET OF FOOLS
March 31, 2012 | 6:30pm | $85 individual tickets | $75 for season ticket holders
Rose Wagner Performing Arts Center | 138 West Broadway
Join us at this classy, charmingly flamboyant affair as Ririe-Woodbury celebrates its legacy of exceptional dance performance and education. Brilliant entertainment, stunning floral designs, fabulous food—it all harmonically converges on the eve of April Fool’s Day. Our provocative auction items will tantalize and inspire you. It’s all for a great cause as we gather to raise funds for the Company’s celebrated educational outreach and artistic programming.

So, don your best hat and most debonair evening wear to see and be seen at what the Salt Lake Tribune has called “The Party of the Year.”


QUOTES:
“As a dance enthusiasts myself, I’m excited by the 2011-12 season,” says Managing Director Jena Woodbury. “Patrons should expect to see dances by premier choreographers performed by an incredibly talented group of dancers. The season has something for everyone from intellectual insightfulness to total entertainment. These are the elements of a truly great modern dance company that just happens to be based in Utah.”

“This Season provides our audiences with an opportunity to watch contemporary dance of the highest caliber,” says Artistic Director Charlotte Boye-Christensen. “Dance that is innovative, invigorating, engaging and moving, choreographed by artists who are fearlessly pushing the boundaries of the art form. Come and be amazed by the physical and artistic virtuosity of our dancers and by work that stretches ones perception of what contemporary dance can be.”

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Tickets: www.ririewoodbury.com