UW Presents Passage Dance Production Dec. 8

The University of Wyoming Department of Theatre and Dance “Passage” dance performance can be seen Tuesday, Dec. 8-Saturday, Dec. 12, at 7:30 p.m. on the Buchanan Center for the Performing Arts main stage. 

Tickets cost $14 for the public, $11 for senior citizens and $7 for students. For tickets and information call (307) 766-6666, visit the Performing Arts box office or Wyoming Union information desk, or go online at www.uwyo.edu/finearts.

Choreographed by Margaret Wilson, Aaron Wood and Jennifer Deckert, “Passage” is an original dance concert that incorporates contemporary modern and vertical dance in three dance journeys exploring interior and exterior landscapes.

The concert opens with Wilson's "Arctic Dreams," which combines vertical dance with imagery of arctic landscapes inspired by the poetry of Gretel Ehrlich and images from geologist Neil Humphrey's field work in Greenland.

“Inspired by landscapes of ice and snow, ‘Arctic Dreams’ focuses on the experience of being isolated and alone, or locked into a movement cycle in the midst of a stark landscape,” Wilson says. “The processes of fracture, melt and shift were images that inspired the choreography for both vertical and non-vertical dance sections.”

The piece features original music by faculty member Sean Warren Stone.

“Working with Sean on the musical score has added a beautiful and mysterious element to the piece,” Wilson says.

Following “Arctic Dreams” is Wood’s piece, "Echoing Terrain of Solitude." Inspired by Wyoming’s oscillating landscape of harsh, windswept peaks and vast stillness, the dance features projections created by Wood plus the music of Mike Wall and Max Richter.

The concert closes with Deckert's "Disguised in Silence," featuring music by Pan Sonic, Venetian Snares and Sigur Ros. The piece explores western landscape and attempts to discover motion within the silence and the strength behind the quiet.