Repertory Dance Theatre Presents FLIGHT Next Month

Repertory Dance Theatre, the nation's premiere modern dance repertory company, is set to close its 57th season this April with FLIGHT. A choreographic response to Utah's landscape, FLIGHT features choreography by Zvi Gotheiner, José Limón, and Donald McKayle. The performance will take place at the Rose Wagner Performing Arts Center, April 20-22 at 7:30 pm.

Since the early 1990's, RDT has been commissioning works that celebrate and examine our human connection to land and water, both critical issues here in America's Mountain and Southwest regions. We have designed concerts that focus on how communities relate to the environment and have created information on how to protect and preserve it.

FLIGHT responds to the beauty and the fragility of Utah's environment and to the current issues that are threatening the sustainability of the Great Salt Lake, our rivers, and our streams. RDT is inspired by lands within the region that are among the most significant in the country. Lands that speak to all of us about the spiritual and mythological connections we have to each other and to the earth.

The Winged (1966) by José Limón uses movement that resembles the intricate patterns and rhythms of birds in flight. The Winged is about our collective dream that we can fly... a distillation of what it means to float, to flutter, to soar. Performed by twelve dancers, RDT will welcome 3 guests from the community to perform this stunning piece of choreography.

I've Known Rivers (2005) by celebrated African American choreographer Donald McKayle, uses the poetry of Langston Hughes. "I've known rivers ancient as the world and older than the flow of humanblood in human veins. My soul has grown deep like the rivers," (The Negro Speaks of Rivers). On performing this powerful solo, 10th-year company member Ursula Perry says, "The rigor and history that is embedded within the creation of steps. The specific meaning of each movement is open to interpretation by whoever is performing. The ever-changing wave of emotion that is intrinsic throughout, takes both the performer and the viewer on a powerful journey."

Dancing The Bears Ears (2017) by Zvi Gotheiner is a work inspired by sacred land animated with fragments of stories laced with the spirit of ancient inhabitants. A ritual to raise consciousness about the significance of an extraordinary area...The Bears Ears National Monument. After traveling to the Monument in May of 2017, Gotheiner and the dancers returned to create a new ritual that connects humanity to sacred water and land. Dancing the Bears Ears features music by Scott Killian, who worked with Zvi Gotheiner on his first commission for RDT, Erosion in 1993, and has continued the artistic collaboration ever since.

For the performance of FLIGHT, RDT is connecting with five organizations to expand opportunities for interdisciplinary conversation. FRIENDS of the Great Salt Lake, Great Salt Lake Audubon, The Nature Conservancy, Utah Diné Bikéyah, and Southern Utah Wilderness Alliance will be present at the performance to provide information to put the evening's performance into context regarding critical environmental issues.

Additionally, RDT will host a FREE pre-show symposium, "Preserving our Land, Water, and Culture" on Friday, April 21 at 6:30pm, speakers to be announced soon.