‘Stravinsky Revisited’ features students, faculty, guest choreographers

ANN ARBOR—No other composer has inspired as many choreographers and dancers as Igor Stravinsky, whose stylistic diversity and harmonic complexity reflect the modernists’ pursuit of new, engaging forms of expression. His music has been a part of more than 1,200 dances created by more than 680 composers around the world.

From Jan. 31 through Feb. 3, the University Dance Company of the University of Michigan presents five new works that explore the poignant connection between the music of Stravinsky and modern dance. The original pieces are featured in “Stravinsky Revisited,” a dynamic, eclectic performance of dance styles, from brief movements to hip-hop.

Guest artists include Rennie Harris, Daniel Gwirtzman and Ginger Thatcher. U-M dance department members Amy Chavasse and Jessica Fogel have also contributed new works.

Harris’ work, “Heaven,” blends hip-hop techniques with the allegorical references to a Japanese folk tale. His work, “Rome & Jewels,” a retelling of Romeo and Juliet, received the Bessie Award for Choreography in 2001.

Gwirtzman, a 1992 U-M graduate, has woven together seven brief movements inspired by four Stravinsky compositions. He is founder of the New York City-based Daniel Gwirtzman Dance Company, and has created dances for the North Carolina Dance Theatre, and Fordham University/The Ailey School.

Thatcher has worked in numerous Broadway productions, and danced with the Houston Ballet, Cincinnati Ballet and the Cleveland Ballet before joining the Lar Lubovitch Dance Company in 1991. Her contribution in “Stravinsky Revisited” is a meditation on light and shadows amid a Matisse-like set design.

Meanwhile, Fogel’s new work blends musical fragments of Stravinsky in a surrealistic dance amid the imagined architecture of a house. Chavasse offers a depiction of historical events that coincide with the years in which Stravinsky created the pieces.

Three lectures on Stravinsky and modern dance will be held prior to the concert. They include:

? “Stravinsky Revisited?Innovations and Migrations in 20th-century Ballet,” presented by Beth Genne, associate professor of dance, and Angela Kane, chair, Department of Dance (4-6 p.m. Wednesday, Jan. 23)

? Stravinsky Revisited?From Le Sacre to Hip-Hop,” presented by Rennie Harris, guest choreographer and artistic director of Puremovement, Philadelphia (4-6 p.m. Friday, Jan. 25)

? The dances in “Stravinsky Revisited,” presented by artistic director Jessica Fogel, and Angela Kane, chair, Department of Dance (4 p.m. Tuesday, Jan. 29)

Lectures will be at U-M International Institute, 1080 S. University Avenue, Room 1636. For information on lectures, call (734) 763-5460.