The University of Arizona School of Dance is set to put on its “Dance Springs Eternal” concert this month. It will take place in the Stevie Eller Dance Theatre from Thursday, April 11, to Sunday, April 21.
During the 2023-2024 school year, the University of Arizona School of Dance is celebrating the 20th anniversary of the Stevie Eller Dance Theatre, the space they put on dance productions. To commemorate this legacy, they are presenting works by dance legends throughout the season. During their upcoming “Dance Springs Eternal” concert, students will be performing a piece from Alvin Ailey called “Streams.”
School of Dance director Duane Cyrus said the theater is an important space for not just the dance program, but for the community to get exposed to different forms of dance.
“The school of dance is a welcoming space,” Cyrus said. “The theater is for our campus community, our local community and visitors to enjoy. It’s a beautiful space. We continue to work to make performances accessible to students who may not be able to afford the price of the ticket. We’re working with local high schools to get them into the show without cost. I want to say that the school of dance is accessible, and I continue to work to curate performances that can please a range of palettes.”
The dance program has around 160 students, including graduate-level ones. The concert will feature over 100 students at different levels in their education. Many of the students will be in multiple pieces.
Three major themes during this school year have been collaboration, engagement and legacy.
The program will also feature a piece by contemporary choreographer Annabelle Lopez Ochoa called “Sombrerismo,” cohort works created by faculty for first and fourth-year students, short “Variations” excerpts and a collaborative work called “Boléro” from Cyrus and the school’s associate director Tamara Dyke-Compton.
“Boléro” premiered in January as part of a partnership with the Tucson Symphony Orchestra. For the premiere only, live music accompanied the dance piece. Students also performed the dance work in New York City.
“‘Boléro’ is really a pivotal work for me for a number of reasons. Premiering it with a live symphony orchestra was absolutely significant,” Cyrus said.
“The feel of the music in the space was amazing. It was also significant because we also began working on it a year ago in the spring of ’23. Some of the students have been with it since then…
“It’s significant because it’s an example of how I’m helping to shape students’ understanding of professional practice, that ability to take the work outside of Eller and perform in our local community, perform all the way across the country in New York…
“It’s also significant for me to be present as a creative artist. My role is administrative, but I’m still a researcher and creative artist. And then, to collaborate with faculty because they’re very cool. I always feel like they’re all superheroes. They have amazing powers. It’s great to work with them in that way.”
Cyrus and Dyke-Compton regularly work together for the administration of the school, but this is the first time they have done a creative collaboration together.
“Doing this creative collaboration has helped to strengthen our administrative collaboration,” Cyrus said.
Cyrus has a personal connection with the Ailey piece, which he danced in while he was with the Alvin Ailey American Dance Theater.
“In terms of legacy and helping students engage with a modern dance legacy, I curated that work to share some of that experience and knowledge with them,” Cyrus said.
He said Ailey’s “classic modern work” helps to prepare students, just as learning other styles such as jazz, hip hop and ballet is important for their professional growth.
For the Lopez Ochoa piece, there will be casts of all female-identified and all male-identified students, who will perform in alternate concerts.
“It’s interesting to see how the students negotiate that, and there’s a technical challenge. It’s a physically-demanding work, and I think the students are meeting the challenge,” Cyrus said.
He said that the cohort works offer a concluding moment for the fourth-year students, while celebrating the first-year students.
The “Variations” excerpts provide a larger scope of what students learn within the dance program.
“You are going to see a tap variation, ballet, jazz, all of these styles…We don’t always touch on all that we can do in the program, so this helps give even more of a broader palette of what we are capable of… The school has a history of showing a broad range of styles. I’m doubling down on that by including these variations. The audience really gets to see a cross-section of all that the students can do,” Cyrus said.
Cyrus said from their first to fourth years, he often sees tremendous growth in the students.
“We see significant changes in how they are practicing, how they are going about studying to be dance artists. The fourth years, they are raring to go. They are ready for the professional world. They know how to be responsible. Many of them are auditioning now,” Cyrus said.
Cyrus also sees a difference in the way students work today versus how they did ten years ago.
“The students today, they are amazing. They have broad capabilities,” Cyrus said. “They can do a lot of different things… One thing that I notice as a skill for the students in this age group is they are really quick studies… What that means is that even if they don’t know the thing, they are really proficient at figuring out how to do it, at picking up the new information. They are exceptionally talented… We are preparing those students on multiple levels. Yes, they can dance different styles, but they also know how to speak about their work. They also know how to write about it. They are great on social media. They have all of these other things. They do digital work.”
To get accepted into the dance school, students have to be proficient in at least two dance forms. Students go through an audition process at the start of each school year.
“That’s how they are selected for the works,” Cyrus said. “I work with the faculty to select the cast… One important benefit of doing that is it guarantees that all students get an opportunity to perform at some point while they are here.”
University of Arizona School of Dance “Dance Springs Eternal” Concert
WHEN: Thursday, April 11, to Sunday, April 21
WHERE: Stevie Eller Dance Theatre, University of Arizona, 1737 E. University Boulevard, Tucson
COST: $38 for adults, $33 for seniors, military and UofA employees, $15 for students
INFO: bit.ly/4cB4UNt
