BODIES & SOULS to Run 4/8-17 at B. Iden Payne Theatre

The University of Texas at Austin's award-winning dance company Dance Repertory Theatre returns to the stage in Bodies & Souls, April 8-17 at the B. Iden Payne Theatre. A celebration of emerging voices and visions of contemporary dance, Bodies & Souls features new works by Alvin Rangel, Johnnie Cruise Mercer, Jun Shen and Dance Repertory Theatre Artistic Directors Charles O. Anderson, Erica Gionfriddo and Lyn C. Wiltshire.

"Dance Repertory Theatre's thematic focus has been on the concept of embodiment - exploring dance as an embodied way of existing in the world. Dance is a unique art form because, unlike more tangible art forms, the dancer attempts to express something solely through the motion of their body," shares Co-Artistic Director Charles Anderson. "At its core, dance does not tell, it does. Bodies & Souls investigates these concepts, celebrates them, embodies them through multiple modes of movement inquiry and artistic expression."

Highlights of the dance concert include Alvin Rangel's timely Vigilia, a tribute to those who have lost their lives migrating toward new lands in an attempt to find peace, freedom and justice. A member of the dance faculty at California State University, Fullerton, Rangel teaches master classes across the country, choreographing and performing around the world. His project, Tango Vesre [Inverted Tango] has received international recognition. For nearly a decade, he performed with the Dayton Contemporary Dance Company (DCDC) and worked with world-renowned choreographers. With DCDC, he participated in a documentary co-produced by PBS and American Dance Festival entitled Free to Dance.

"Even in contemporary dance movements, Rangel perfectly harnessed his power and technique to embody tango's dichotomies: quiet yet explosive, sensual yet restrained."

- The Austin Chronicle

Johnnie Cruise Mercer's Perspicacity marks the debut of Texas Theatre and Dance's new initiative, the Vanguard Emerging Choreographer's residency program. In addition to presenting established professional choreographers in the season's offerings, Dance Repertory Theatre is committed to facilitating and showcasing the work of today's up-and-coming choreographers. Mercer is the artistic director of Johnnie Cruise Mercer/The RED Project, based in Brooklyn, New York. He has performed professionally with Antonio Brown and Christian Von Howard and presented his work Center for Performance Research, The Greenspace, The Brooklyn Arts Exchange and Gibney Dance.

Other work includes The Wall by University of Texas at Austin Master of Fine Arts candidate Jun Shen. The Wall employs the aesthetic features of black and white from Chinese calligraphy to explore the relationship between past and present through the historical events of the Cultural Revolution. Shen is a dancer and choreographer based in Beijing and San Francisco. He is a founding member of Philein/ZiRu Productions and previously worked with Beijing/LDTX (Lei Dong Tian Xia). He has collaborated with lighting artist Hugo Dalton, choreographer Hou Ying, multi-media calligraphic painter Wu Shaoying, director Jiang Zhengeng and dancer/choreographer Philein Wang.

Choreography by University of Texas at Austin students Morganne Mazeika (B.F.A. in Dance candidate) and Gianina Casale (B.F.A. in Dance candidate) will also be featured.

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