Ririe-Woodbury Dance Company To Perform At Muhlenberg College
February 16, 2007 at 8 p.m., Empie Theatre, Baker Center for the Arts Information & Tickets 484-664-3333 or www.muhlenberg.edu/ticketsThursday, January 18, 2007 01:59 PM
Dedicated to contemporary, multi-media dance, The Ririe-Woodbury Dance Company has toured original and innovative dance around the world to great acclaim. Their mission also includes preparing dancers as performers, teachers and choreographers; providing dance education in communities and schools; and commissioning new choreographers of exceptional talent.
Ririe-Woodbury Dance Company and Associate Artistic Director Charlotte Boye-Christensen are the Baker Artists-in-Residence at Muhlenberg Collegein Allentown, PA this year. The residency program funded by the Dorothy and Dexter Foundation is dedicated to enriching the lives of both the campus and the community. For their generosity and leadership in funding the arts in the Lehigh Valley, the Bakers received the Governor’s Award for Pennsylvania in 2000. The residency program began in 1992 and has included acclaimed professional theatre, dance and music artists, including a residency in 1999 by choreographer Doug Varone, who will have his work featured in this year’s concert by the Ririe-Woodbury Dance Company.
Charlotte Boye-Christensen became Associate Artistic Director of this acclaimed dance company founded by Shirley Ririe and Joan Woodbury after working internationally as a freelance choreographer, teacher and dancer for the more than a decade. As elements of the Baker Residency at Muhlenberg College this year, Boye-Christensen has taught academic dance classes, conducted a 5-day dance intensive on campus, and restaged one of her original dances for the Master Choreographers Concert (February 8-10, 2007). She will return to campus in February with other members of Ririe Woodbury Dance to conduct a week-long company residency and to present Ririe-Woodbury’s work in concert (February 16, 2007).
Ririe-Woodbury is known worldwide for creating and performing the highest quality contemporary, multi-media dance. The company has performed in nearly every state and throughout Europe and Asia. It was one of just five dance companies invited to perform at the prestigious Edinburgh Festival in 2004. Ririe-Woodbury’s ground-breaking repertory includes original works choreographed by its founders, Shirley Ririe and Joan Woodbury, as well by Charlotte Boye-Christensen, associate artistic director. Additionally, the company commissions new works from aspiring choreographers and seasoned professionals. The Nikolais/Louis Foundation for Dance selected Ririe-Woodbury as the dance company to house the works of modern dance innovator Alwin Nikolais. Ririe-Woodbury continues to stage full-evening multi-media works by Nikolais in prestigious venues in the U.S. and abroad.
Founded in 1964, Ririe-Woodbury is dedicated to promoting the understanding of and appreciation for the art of dance in the belief that dance is for everybody. Widely recognized, the Company has received many international performances. In 1983, it became the first U.S. modern dance company to perform in both the former Yugoslavia and in Canton, China. From 1987-1992 company’s tours included Europe, American Samoa, and the former Soviet Union. Just before the fall of the Berlin Wall, Ririe-Woodbury performed in East Germany and was the first modern dance company to perform in Karl-Marx Stadt (now Chemnitz) in the former Soviet Union and in East Berlin in 15 years. In 1993, Ririe-Woodbury performed for 70,000 Bosnian war refugees in Slovenia.
Ririe-Woodbury is also known for its tremendous work in the education system of Utah. After working with teachers and students in schools for many years, Ririe-Woodbury formalized its education program and named it Step Lively. Step Lively is a statewide program designed to assist classroom teachers in meeting the objectives of the Utah Fine Arts Core Curriculum. The company has become a Utah institution and is recognized as a successful modern dance company combining formal performances and community residencies and has pioneered dance education in Utah and throughout the United States.
Located in downtown Salt Lake City, Ririe-Woodbury Dance Company performs three concerts annually, tours nationally and internationally for 10 to 14 weeks, presents 10 weeks as dance specialists in residence in Utah elementary schools, and conducts 5 weeks of extensive summer workshops for professionals. For the Muhlenberg concert, Ririe-Woodbury Dance Company will perform original work by choreographers Charlotte Boye-Christensen, Seán Curran, Laura Dean, Wayne McGregor and Doug Varone. The performers are Gigi Arrington, Joseph Blake, Erin Lehua Brown, Al Fujii-Nelson, Caine Keenan, Elizapbeth Kelly, and TJ Spaur.
Concert Information: The Ririe-Woodbury dance Company concert will be staged in the Empie Theatre of the Baker Center for the Arts and is open to the campus and the community. Tickets are available online at www.muhlenberg.edu/tickets and by calling the box office at 484-664-3333 after January 19th. Concert tickets are $15, youth $8.
For press information, interview opportunities and/or photographs, please contact:
Marilyn J. Roberts, Dept of Theatre & Dance, Muhlenberg College: 484-664-3693.
