Story by Laurie Merrill
GCU News Bureau
If you want to see “Ballet to Broadway,” Grand Canyon University’s Spring Dance Concert, you’d better hurry to get your tickets.
The Friday night show already has sold out, and tickets for the 7:30 p.m. Saturday performance at Ethington Theatre were selling briskly as of Thursday morning. Individual seats still will be available on show nights.
Ballet to Broadway is the second consecutive College of Fine Arts and Production show to sell out. All six "West Side Story" performances sold out ahead of the March 31-April 9 run.
“It’s not surprising,” said William Symington, COFAP assistant dean, noting that audience members have come to expect high quality shows at GCU and both the school and west Phoenix communities appreciate the arts.
“The students who live on campus want to interact and support one another. It’s in keeping with GCU’s principles and purpose.”
The dance concert promises to be exciting, surprising, dramatic and funny, said junior Tamrae Wright, stage manager.
The concert will feature nearly 40 student dancers in 14 pieces that range from ballet and jazz to ragtime, swing and “very post-modern,” Wright said.
Most are original works choreographed by faculty members, guest artists and in one instance, a student, she added.
“There are numbers that will make you want to get up and dance and join the party, some that touch you in very sentimental ways and (others that) make you laugh,” Wright said. “Most people don’t think dance can be funny, but it can.”
The "West Side Story" cast will dance in two epic numbers from the show, “America” and “Cool.”
The concert has twists and turns that will surprise you, GCU Dance Director Susannah Keita said in promotional materials.
“Don't be too certain about what will take place,” Keita said. “Our faculty and guest choreographers are likely to bend the rules and transform typical conventions.”
More information:
Spring Dance Concert: “Ballet to Broadway,” 7:30 p.m. Friday-Saturday, Ethington Theatre. Tickets here.
An edited version of the program:
Brasiliality
Choreographer: Alicia-Lynn Nascimento Castro
Music: Gabriel Cesário Borges
Dancers: Abigail Bartling, Abigail Cavanaugh, Abigail Neighbors, Anna Sanamyan, Caressa Lanzo, Hannah Croft, Madeline Bosse, Madison Knutson, Sarah Tedeschi, Marissa Reyes
Night Bird Song
Choreographer: Nancy Happel
Music: Thomas Chapin
Videography: Concept Cinematography
Dancers: Alex Roth, Alyssa Quiett, Angelica Lara, Jaidyn Vaughn, Khaila Matthews, Miriam Baker, Paige Weinstein, Rylie Pryately
Paquita Variations
Choreography: Marius Petipa (staging: Scott Martin)
Music: Ludwig Minkus
Dancers: Bartling, Roth, Rachael O’Brien, Kylee Ernst, Anastasha Williams, Amanda Keller, Lauren Iuliano
Closer
Choreography: Samantha Harikian (Artistic Director & Choreographer Paradosi Ballet Company)
Music: Hillsong United
Dancers: Cavanaugh, Rodgers, Keller, Anna Sanamyan, Julia Geringer, Ernst, Iuliano, Madeline Bosse, Knutson, Reyes, Michael Clemmer, O’Brien, Pryately, Sarah Tedeschi, Guillermo Flores
Which Playbill is this Anyway?
Choreography: Rebecca Blair Price in collaboration with the dancers
Music: Justin Hurwitz, Frank Sinatra
Dancers: Bartling, Allison Bretzman, Anastasha Williams, Angelica Lara, Aubrianna Stough, Elizabeth Svorinic, Ernst, Clemmer, Miriam Baker, Stacee Martinez
Next
Choreographer: Kevin Godfrey
Music: Kait Kerrigan, Brian Lowdermilk, & Stephen Schwartz
Dancers: Cavanaugh, Keller, Aubrey Ingram, Caressa Lanzo, Croft, Ernst, Knutson, Madeline Bosse, TJ Chavez, Tedeschi, Alex Roth (Understudy)
“America” (From West Side Story, based on a conception by Jerome Robbins)
Dancers: Quiett, Brenna Willson Keck, Bri Ha-Nguyen, Grace Henderson, Jennifer Marcantonio, Kaitlyn Johnson, Laynie Nelson, Madison Cichon, Tarnim Bybee, Chavez
Stoptime Rag
Choreography: Martin
Music: Scott Joplin
Dancers: Rodgers, Reyes, A Roth, Keller, Iuliano, Bartling, Reyes, Ernst, Williams, Roth
A.A.V.01.22
Choreographed and performed by: Khaila Matthews
Music: The Album Leaf. ''Tis better to have loved and lost than never have loved at all." - Alfred Lord
Unimaginable
Choreographer: Sean Dahlberg
Music: Sarah Bareilles, Kelly Clarkson
Dancers: Cavanaugh, Neighbors, Bretzman, Keller, Aubrey Ingram, Croft, Iuliano, Bosse, Knutson, Pryately, Tedeschi, Stacee Martinez, Chavez
This is It
Choreographer: Angel Crissman
Music: Antonio Lucio Vivaldi, Andrew Lloyd Webber, Richard Rodgers, John Kander and Fred Ebb, Shania Twain, Quincy Jones, Vincent Youmans, Jule Styne and Stephen Sondheim, Harry Warren and Alexander Dubin, Elton John and Tim Rice, Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart, Kenny Loggins, Wilhelm Richard Wagner
Dancers: Bartling, Neighbors, Lara, Elizabeth Svorinic, Iuliano, Baker, Vanesa Madrid
“Cool” (From West Side Story)
Dancers: Neighbors, Alexander Dubois, Bennett Wood, Chesney Thompson, Christen McGrath, Gavin Harris, Kaleb Burris, Levi Roberts, Rachel Hegg, Tedeschi, Trustin Adams
Purple Light
Choreography: Suzy Guarino
Music: Prince
Dancers: Cavanaugh, Keller, Angela Brown, Sanamyan, Croft, Ernst, Iuliano, Knutson, Martinez, Chavez, Geringer (Understudy), Hegg (Understudy)
Drop Me Off in Harlem
Choreography: Moncell Durden
Music: Artie Shaw, Bill Elliot Swing Orchestra
Dancers: Bretzman, Sanamyan, Aubrianna Stough, Croft, Jaidyn Vaughn, Matthews, Kiana Stallard, Laura Rocha, Madrid, Guillermo Flores, Estevaun Lauro
Contact Laurie Merrill at (602) 639-6511 or [email protected].
