Four Choreographers to Compete for Commission in Repertory Dance Theatre's REGALIA 2017

Repertory Dance Theatre is proud to officially announce the four choreographers that will compete at REGALIA on February 11, 2017 for an RDT commission in the 2017-2018 season.

In September, RDT put out a call for choreographers. The company, celebrating its 51st season this year, received 21 entries of local choreographers ranging in style and experience. The submissions were reviewed very closely by dancers and staff who evaluated them based on movement vocabulary & ideas, personal statement, video links, past experience, and how the work would fit with RDT's mission.

The four choreographers that will compete on February 11, 2017 are Eric Handman, Nichele Van Portfleet, Nick Blaylock, and Aubry Dalley. The choreographers will have four hours to create a new work that will be shown that night. Each piece will be "voted" on by audience members using their wallets. The choreographer that raises the most money will be awarded the commission for the 2017-2018 season.

Eric Handman is an Associate Professor at the University of Utah's Department of Modern Dance. His choreography has been commissioned by various companies and dance departments across the U.S. He has taught, performed and shown his choreography throughout the United States as well as Costa Rica, England, Finland, France, Germany, Japan, Switzerland and Hungary. In 2014 he was a winner of two choreography competitions: the 2014 New Visions Choreography Competition for Idaho Dance Theater and the 2014 Pretty Creatives International Choreographic Competition for the Northwest Dance Project.

Nichele Van Portfleet is a Masters student at the University of Utah who received her BA at Sonoma State University in 2013. She has choreographed for Sonoma County Dance Company, Choreofund 5 Luna Dance Institute, and SAFEhouse for the Arts in San Francisco.

Nick Blaylock has choreographed all over the country including Fort Collins, Colorado (Canyon Concert Ballet), Southern Illinois University where he received the Edwardsville's Theater and Dance Award for excellence in choreographic research three years in a row. He recently choreographed for WOW an evening of innovative dance in Salt Lake City.

Finally, Aubry Dalley graduated magna cum laude with a BA in Dance Education from Brigham Young University. She currently teaches as adjunct faculty at BYU and is an assistant director for Contemporary Dance Theatre. She directs the dance program and is chair of the Performing Arts Department at Mountain View High School in Orem, Utah.

"RDT is eager to see what these gifted and 'daring' choreographers create at REGALIA. All four of them are extremely talented. The work of any one of them would be an asset to our 2017-2018 season," said Linda C. Smith, Executive/Artistic Director of RDT. "The choreography here in Utah is extraordinary and we're proud to hire local artists and excited to see which choreographer the audience chooses to receive a commission."

RDT is the nation's oldest and most successful repertory Dance Company. Unlike conventional modern dance organizations, we present you with a diverse range of modern dance styles and choreographers paired together in dynamic and unexpected performances.