MEDIA CONTACT: Judy Moore at (847) 491-4819 or jkm229@northwestern.edu

January 20, 2004

‘Danceworks 2004’ Opens in February

EVANSTON, Ill. --- “Danceworks 2004,” is an annual showcase of the finest choreography of Northwestern University’s Dance Program, which this season celebrates its 25th anniversary.

This year’s show features 44 dancers -- the largest cast ever assembled since the show’s inception.

“Danceworks 2004” will be performed at 7:30 p.m. Feb. 27 and Feb. 28; 2 p.m. Feb. 29; 7:30 p.m. March 4, March 5 and March 6; and 2 p.m. March 7, at the Josephine Louis Theatre, 20 Arts Circle Drive, Evanston campus.

Choreographer Billy Siegenfeld, who is artistic director of the acclaimed Jump Rhythm Jazz Project and a Northwestern dance faculty member, will direct this year’s show.

“The variety of choreography is richer and deeper than ever before with a line-up of works by dance faculty members and guests artists such as Moustapha Bangoura, a former member of Les Ballets Africains, and Bril Barrett, artistic director of M.A.D.D. Rhythms, a Chicago-based tap company,” said Siegenfeld, describing some of the highlights of the group dances in the show.

Bangoura, a native of the Republic of Guinea, has choreographed a traditional West African dance that will be performed to live drumming. Bangoura was assisted in the re-mounting of this piece by dancer Sheelah Muhammed.

In addition to being artistic director of M.A.D.D. Rhythms, Barrett also teaches intermediate tap at Northwestern. His dance “Cute, or Something Like That” will use an array of complex rhythms performed by some of Northwestern’s most talented tappers to honor past masters like Charles “Honi” Coles, Buster Brown and Gregory Hines.

Joseph Mills, the new director of Northwestern University’s Dance Program, has choreographed a work called “Float.” It is a dance that flirts with the dynamics of house music, while the performers manipulate and dance with helium balloons. Guest alumna, choreographer Jenny Shore, is a 2003 graduate of the University’s Dance Program. With wit and hard-edged rhythms, her choreography for “Big Time” captures the hysteria latent in 1950s behavior.

Siegenfeld’s contribution to the show will be excerpts from his work “Sorrows of Unison Dancing” which his own company recently premiered in its last Chicago season. “Sorrows” contrasts the tension between conventional social behaviors, as expressed through academic dance forms, and the angularities and offbeat energies of vernacular movement. Jump Rhythm Jazz Project Rehearsal Director Brandi Coleman assisted in the re-creation of this piece.

The explosive, flung movements of Laura Wade’s piece “Haunt” focus on the tormented reactions of individuals who resist the pulls of a group towards conformity.

Lisa Wymore’s “DryLand” evokes through movement, voice, scenic and video equivalents both the freedom and barrenness of America’s unpopulated Western landscapes. Wymore also serves as the associate artistic director of “Danceworks” and is the co-artistic director of her own Chicago-based company, Smith/Wymore Performance Group.

In conjunction with “Danceworks 2004,” the Northwestern University Dance Program will present a special “Children’s Introduction to the Dance” program at 10:30 a.m. Saturday, March 6, for youngsters aged 4 and up. The program will be held at the Josephine Louis Theatre and will include demonstrations and excerpts from most of the dances performed in “Danceworks 2004” performed by the show’s 44-member cast. An interactive segment will allow children to move in their seats. Dance faculty member Susan A. Lee will moderate the children’s program.

“Danceworks” is part of Northwestern University 2003-04 Mainstage season, which is generously supported by the Sara Lee Foundation.

Tickets for “Danceworks 2004” range from $9 to $17. All tickets for the March 6 “Children’s Introduction to the Dance” are $5. To order tickets by phone, call (847) 491-7282.