Photo courtesy of University Dance Company
Photo courtesy of University Dance Company Candice Franklin, St. Louis, junior, right, will be featured in the upcoming University Dance Company performance, "Cajun Annunciation." With Franklin are Paggie Lai, Lawrence sophomore, far left, and Barbara Smith, Lawrence junior.
The University Dance Company and the Cohen/Suzeau Duet Company are spreading the season's cheer through music, diversity and
A dose of holiday dance
Kansan staff writer
By Sara Bennett
Forget The Nutcracker. This year, dance fans won't have to drive to Kansas City for their annual dose of holiday dance entertainment. This year, the University Dance Company and the Cohen/Suzaue Duet Company will present a holiday dance concert right here in Lawrence.
Janet Hamburg, associate professor of music and dance and producer of the concert, said the show was ideal for those seeking holiday entertainment.
"It's a very festive concert," she said. "People are getting ready for the semester to end, and this will help them get into the holiday spirit."
Dancing elves, a New Year's Eve outing and a depiction of the Virgin Mary's encounter with the angel Gabriel are only a few of the offerings in the University Dance Company's first holiday production. All pieces are choreographed by the KU Dance Division faculty and performed by the 29-member company of KU students.
"The Night Before the Night Before..." a ballet choreographed by JEREL Hilding, assistant professor of dance, portrays elves preparing toys for delivery to deserving children. "Steppin," choreographed by dance lecturer Willie Lenoir, is set to big band music by Gene Kupra, Jimmie Lunceford and Cab Calloway, and depicts what happens when four young ladies "step out" on New Year's Eve.
"Cajun Annunciation," choreographed by dance historian Joan Stone, portrays Mary's realization that she will bear the Christ child through ritualistic gestures taken directly from 14th and 15th century paintings. The piece is set to traditional Cajun music, and features Candice Franklin, St. Louis, Mo., junior, in the role of Mary.
Franklin was recently selected to study at the Alvin Alley American Dance Center in New York City during the spring semester. A Crimson Girl and honor student double majoring in dance and business, Franklin was selected for the Alley program through open auditions held in Kansas City last spring. Franklin, who hopes someday to own a dance company in Georgia, said portraying Mary in "Cajun Annunciation" was daunting at first.
"My teachers thought it was a crazy idea for me to play Mary because they know me," she said. "So, it's been challenging. The piece is very cerebral."
did not portray Christian themes. Patrick Suzeau and Muriel Cohan of the Cohen/Suzueau Duet Company were inspired to choreograph "Tikkun Olam" after a trip to Israel. "Tikkun Olam," Hebrew for "the healing and repair of the wounded world," is a two-part workset to contemporary Estonian music.
Hamburg said other pieces on the concert
"Primordius," also choreographed by Cohen and Suzeau, depicts the stirring of new life accompanied by an original score by Edward Matilla, KU professor of music theory and composition. A piece entitled "Thillana" features Suzeau in a traditional East Indian dance.
"It's all inclusive," she said. "We have a one- world view, and I think people will appreciate that. There's so much variety in the music and dances."
Hamburg said the diversity of the concert made it appealing to all audiences.
Performances of the holiday dance concert are at 8 p.m. Friday and Saturday, Dec. 3-4, and at 2 p.m. Sunday Dec. 4 in the Crafton-Preyer Theater in Murphy Hall. Tickets are $6 for the general public, $3 for students and $5 for senior citizens, and are available through the KU box offices and SUA office in the Kansas Union.
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THE UNIVERSITY DAILY KANSAN
Arts and Craft Bazaar will be through Thursday in the gallery on level four of the Kansas Union, free
Tour du jour by David Cateforis, assistant professor of art history, on abstract expressionist work in the collection from 12:15 to 12:45 p.m. Thursday at the South Balcony Gallery, free
Exhibition — "Always There: The African-American Presence in American Quilts" will be on display through Dec. 19 in the Kress Gallery of the Spencer Museum of Art, free
Exhibition — "NAMES Project AIDS Memorial Quilt" and Photographs from the Bonham Project" will be on display through Dec. 12 in the Spencer Museum of Art, free
People and places at the University of Kansas.
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EXHIBITIONS & LECTURES
Exhibition — "A Survey of the History of Photography from the Collection" will be on display through Jan. 9 in the Spencer Museum of Art, free
Exhibition — "Aspects of Modern Life: 19th Century French Prints and Drawings" will be on display through Jan. 9 in the Spencer Museum of Art, free
Exhibition — Spencer "Preseplo" and Holiday Tree will be on display through Dec. 30 in the Spencer Museum of Art, free
Exhibition — "Abstract Expressionist Works from the Spencer Museum Collection" will be on display through Jan. 9 in the Spencer Museum of Art, free
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