Spring Dance Concert

SALISBURY, MD -- Guest artist choreography by Thom Cobb of Slippery Rock University and Ruben Graciani, formerly of the Mark Morris Dance Group, is featured when the Salisbury University Dance Company presents its annual Spring Concert on Wednesday, April 24, and Friday-Saturday, April 26-27, in celebration of National Dance Week.

The program premieres two works by former company members, the fast and athletic jazz dance "Flava" by Carolyn Hitchcock-Evans and the contemporary lyric ballet "Solemnity" by Kate Downes. Hitchcock-Evans teaches dance in the Greater Baltimore area and directs a summer dance program. Downes danced with Delaware Regional Ballet Company and choreographed for the inauguration of Delaware Governor Ruth Ann Minner.

Cobb from Slippery Rock reconstructed "Race," an improvisational dance about life in the business world, during a two-day SU residency in April. Guest and resident modern dance faculty premiered two works. "Stand," by Graciani, formerly at Mark Morris, is a work

for five dancers and set to the music of "The Last Balkan Tango" by Boris Kovac. "Beneath Forward," by Dr. Victoria Hutchinson, SU Dance Company director, is a dramatic episodic dance dedicated to those who have been lost, forgotten, or displaced in today's world.

The featured student work is the winner of the Fall Dance Showcase adjudication, "Take a Stand," by Carlyn Keene. In addition, senior Kathryn Ferguson choreographed the all-company closing work, "Decades," which is a lively rendition of popular 20th century social dances.

All performances begin at 8 p.m. in Holloway Hall Auditorium. Tickets are $8 adults and $6 seniors (62+) and teens. Admission is free to children under 12 and to valid SU ID cardholders. Reservations are not required. Tickets are available, beginning at 7:30 p.m., at the door on performance evenings.

For information, contact the Department of Physical Education at 410-548-4183 or visit the SU Web site at https://www.salisbury.edu/schools/seidel/dance.