UCO's Kaleidoscope Dancers Invited to Perform at International Dance Festival

February 14, 2008

The University of Central Oklahoma's Kaleidoscope Dancers have been invited to participate in an international contemporary dance festival in Puebla, Mexico, March 24-April 4.

"Performatica: El Foro Internacional de Danza Contempornea y Artes de Movemiento" is a multi-day festival and conference held on the campus on the Universidad De Las Americas Puebla that will bring together an international cadre of dancers, choreographers, theorists and teachers of contemporary dance and related movement arts.

"The co-director of the festival was familiar with our work and invited us," said Jamie Jacobson, UCO's director of dance. "What we love about it is that it's a non-competitive situation. We'll just be sharing dance, ideas and culture."

Kaleidoscope will perform two dances at the festival: "Hanging in the Balance," a piece that requires the dancers to balance several props including gigantic coffee cups, and "Roots in Red Dirt," a piece that explores the 1889 Oklahoma land run.

"This dance is about memories and recollections of life in Oklahoma during early statehood," said choreographer and UCO dance lecturer Jill Priest.

Priest's great-grandfather made the land run and many of her family members still live on the land he staked. She was fortunate enough to uncover original audio recordings of family members reminiscing about early statehood that she will use to accompany the dancer's movements.

"We hope the international audience will learn something about how Oklahoma was settled, and that we will find a kinship with dancers from all over the world," she said.

The trip is being funded, in part, by a $10,000 gift from the UCO foundation.

"Roots in Red Dirt" also will be performed during the company's spring concert at 7:30 p.m., March 6-8 in Mitchell Hall Theater.

For ticket information, call the box office at (405) 974-3375.

Page updated 2/15/08