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Show RDT's workshop: work challenging, rewards dancers By KURT NUTTING Chronicle Staff Writer "Thank you for a wonderful summer and a better body. . . Thank you for a summer of unending un-ending fun and inspiration... Thank you for giving my body something to say," write participants partici-pants in the University of Utah Repertory Dance Theatre "Workshop '71," which concludes con-cludes tomorrow night with an 8:30 performance in Pioneer Memorial Theatre. RDT's first summer workshop (originators are hoping for more in the future) had its genesis in a meeting last August. A three-member three-member committee wrote up a proposal for it and sent it to the University administration which approved the workshop plan. The RDT people planned the curriculum based on two principles: princi-ples: (1) The workshop would be "unique and different from other workshops," involving an entire professional company to NATIONAL GENERAL THEATRES Debbie Poulsen and D. Oldham rehearse for production pro-duction of "Workshop '71." The summer classes and practice run from June 28 to performance Saturday. Sat-urday. Dancers from 28 states will participate. work with students; and (2) The workshop would put the emphasis empha-sis on performing rather than on teaching. Long Hours, Hard Work The workshop began on June 27. The 168 students (some part time) come from 28 states and one Canadian province. Despite their long days of dancing (5-6 hours), they do not receive college col-lege credit. Tuition for the six weeks, which supports the entire program, totals 5220. Room and board are not included. But the hard work has not discouraged most of the students, RDT member mem-ber and director of the workshop work-shop Ruth Post says "We're hoping hop-ing to do it next year. . . we're pretty happy about it." Classes and Seminars Classes cover modern dance techniques, principles of ballet and jazz, production (lighting design, costume design and construction, con-struction, and administration and stage management), music for dance, partnering, composition composi-tion and improvisation, and repertory. rep-ertory. Each participant must take two technique classes, but the group is divided into four parts according to skill. In addition to the regular classes, Workshop '71 sponsors Saturday seminars, which have featured dance films; Virginia Tanner of the Creative Dance Studio; a lecture by "Dance Magazine" critic Doris Hering and one by dance teacher Viola Farber; a "lecture-demonstration" on dance history by RDT; and RDT performances on July 10 and July 31 at Pioneer Memorial Theater. A "camp seminar" entitled "Esotericism and Eroticism in Dance" ended up in the University's South Fountain. Kathy Gabriel, a Salt Laker, remarks that "The company's just fantastic, with fantastic dancers." dan-cers." "It's been hard, and everyone's every-one's getting tired," she says, but "everyone digs it." A high-school high-school student at the workshop believes "it's really a good workshop-very high-class dancers and just good people themselves." them-selves." Finale at PMT Finale of the Workshop '71 program will come tomorrow night at 8:30 P.M. in Pioneer Theatre. The all-student cast (ex cept for one RDT substitute) will present two RDT numbers, "Serenade for Strings," choreographed choreo-graphed by Joan Moon, and "Quintet" by Tim Wengard, plus "Concerto Grosso in D Major," adopted from RDT's "For Betty" with a cast of ten women rather than the original four men and two women. The performance will also present five new numbers num-bers "choreographed by company com-pany members for the students," with casts ranging in size from 37 to 6. The rewards of the workshop may have been summed up best by the participant who wrote the sponsors: "Where does the body stop and the mind begin? Thank you for showing us its oneness." |