Since 1998, "Vertical Dance at Vedauwoo" has been an end-of-summer favorite with local audiences at the University of Wyoming's Snowy Range Summer Theatre and Dance Festival. The natural-granite rock formations at Vedauwoo offer a spectacular setting for the dance, which covers the entire performance area and connects the land to the sky. Vertical dance is a unique blend of modern dance and rappelling that allows free-flowing aerial movement. Created by UW faculty members Margaret Wilson and Neil Humphrey, the site-specific vertical dance choreography features UW students dancing on rocks both near to and far away from the audience.
Humphrey, professor in the UW Department of Geology and Geophysics and adjunct professor in the UW Department of Theatre and Dance, says, "Performing at Vedauwoo offers dancers the opportunity to experience free-flowing movement in all three dimensions."
Each new performance at Vedauwoo introduces a theme or storyline. In 2009, award-winning Australian performance artist Paul Taylor presented his original aboriginal story "Vedauwoo: A Dreamtime Tale," in which he introduced Rainbow Serpent, Sky Boss and the Turtle Lady as he described the creation of Vedauwoo. The tale continues in this year's performance as Rainbow travels across Wyoming, stopping at Arlington, the Red Desert, Yellowstone and the Tetons, and then back to the Red Desert via the Wind River Range.
This year's performance entitled "Vertical Dance at Vedauwoo: Rainbow Snake and the Red Desert" will feature live music performed by Marty Camino, Rod Garnett, Peter Queal, Mark Rabideau, David Romtvedt, and Peter Shive, with live music and storytelling by Paul Taylor.
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