Released November 02, 2004

HATTIESBURG - The Repertory Dance Company at The University of Southern Mississippi opens its 2004-05 season Nov. 18-20 with the presentation of its Fall Dance Concert of original faculty, student and guest artist choreography.

The concert, held at 7:30 p.m. each evening in the Mannoni Performing Arts Center, continues in the tradition of "showcasing the highest caliber work to the community," said Stacy Reischman, chair of the Department of Theatre and Dance at Southern Miss. The featured works span the aesthetics of dance and range from musical and whimsical to emotional and physical.

"Bottoms Up" is an athletic and quirky movement exploration of jazz composer Ben Allison's selection "Third Rail." The movement is designed as a musical visualization, giving the musical notes and phrases a physical face. It also portrays as a musical conversation, where dancing and music interacts, reacts and eventually partners.

Choreographer Julie Hammond, visiting assistant professor of dance in the Southern Miss program, has restaged "Bottoms Up" with significant changes-ones she said "suit the diverse and unique skills of her new cast."

"The movement vocabulary, like the music itself, is unexpected, rhythmic and fun," she explained.

"Alleged Dances," choreographed by Professor Janet Prieur, is set to the music of 20th-century composer John Adams. Adams' vivid notes from his compact disc jacket cited "these dances are 'alleged' because the steps for them have yet to be invented. They cuss, chaw, hock hooeys, scratch and talk too loud."

Prieur's dance does not tell a story, but it does capture his ideas and interprets his musical ideas. "The audience will see dances that are quirky, sensual and full of high energy," Prieur said.

Visiting guest artist Trebien Pollard has created a dance called "Democracy Divine," which he described as a "moving portrait of social justice that extends beyond this world into the spirit realm." Pollard's large cast of dancers excels at distinguishing the movement vocabulary as his theme unravels on stage.

Moving the concert program into student choreography, dance major Julie Brant of Huntsville, Ala., created "Waiting for Yesterday," a dance, she explained, that "explores time, space and energy through diverse movement and direct stage spacing."

The dance includes moments of unison, different groupings, and partnering by three dancers who explore the actualization of time with ticking, sharp and angular movements. Also, the trio will play with the timing of abstract movement to represent time passing slowly, quickly, or not at all.

A trio of dancers explores the issue of codependence in relationships and portrays a struggle for individualism in "Overlapping Oneness," a student choreographed dance created by Bethany Cagle of West Point, Ga.

Tickets for each show of the series are $6 for students, $8 for Southern Miss faculty, staff, alumni, and senior citizens, and $10 for general admission. For tickets, call the Southern Miss Ticket Office at (601) 266-5418 or 800-844-8425. Order online at www.usm.edu/tickets.

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