Photo courtesy of the Stevie Eller Dance Theatre The idea for the Stevie Eller Dance Theatre was born when a parent came to the university while helping his daughter find a college dance program. They discovered that the UA had the best dance program, but the worst facility. The student's father donated money for the building's construction on the condition that the University and the College of Fine Arts match his gift.

Inside the Stevie Eller Dance Theatre

Remember the eighties, when dance was huge? There was "Fame," "Footloose," "Flashdance"÷ all sorts of movies beginning with "F". Well, dance is back, in pop-culture with TV shows like the new Fame, and MTV's Wade Robson Project, movies like "Chicago" and "Save the Last Dance," and even here on campus with The Stevie Eller Dance Theatre.

Perhaps you've already seen the new dance building on campus. Then again, perhaps you haven't. The Stevie Eller Dance Theatre, located on the far-eastern end of the mall, isn't easy to overlook. It's just so far out of the way ö many of us have no reason to travel to the east side of Cherry ö that unless you're enrolled in a class there already, you may have missed it. Too bad for you, if that's the case. The Stevie Eller Dance Theatre is as much a work of architectural art as it is a lodging for classrooms, a 300-seat theatre with orchestra pit, an outdoor stage, a scene and costume shop, and most notably at night, a glass-fronted studio on the second story that illuminates the night sky and showcases those inside to those below.

"It's a public representation showing how good the dance department here is," said Ryan Lawrence, a dance junior, "and we're marked within the top five nationally,"

"The bathrooms are way cool too," Lawrence said.

Photos courtesy of the Stevie Eller Dance Theatre A view of the stage from the last row in the theater.

The bathrooms are cool. They're stylish and modern, with IKEA-like fixtures that you just wouldn't be likely to see in the other buildings around campus. It's this focus on detail that makes the Theatre so unique among buildings at the UA. The entrance is decked with three piers and lighting that shoots from the ground up. Jason Rachel, a senior majoring in dance, explained the meaning of these details, which are inspired by Balachine's "Serenade."

"The weight is forward to illustrate performance," Rachel said, "a breathe before movement."

The east side of the building is hung with rust-colored, mesh-like, sculptured pieces that are based on extended exposure movement studies of dancers. The overall effect is one of a stationary building in motion.

Photo courtesy of the Stevie Eller Dance Theatre The theater's designers wanted the building to convey movement and sound. The interior and exterior of the building were based on the idea of a three-dimensional mobius strip.

The Theatre will give dance students an opportunity to perform in a building designed specifically with dance in mind.

"We finally have our own space to put up a concert," said Rachel. "We finally have our own space that was designed with dance in mind."

And dance they shall. The actual theatre space, tucked away in the heart of the building, features a full size proscenium stage for performances, along with an orchestra pit. They designed the stage large, and the seating capacity smaller in order to, "give people more performance opportunity," said Rachel.

Photo courtesy of the Stevie Eller Dance Theatre

"I think it'll be nice to have a real place for the dancers to perform," said Amanda Hunt, a sophomore majoring in musical theatre.

"And hopefully it'll motivate more attendance to the shows, cause the dancers are really good." Hunt is taking her fourth dance class at UA this semester.

This Friday, the Stevie Eller Dance Theatre will be officially dedicated. The dedication will begin at 5pm with tours of the building, and close with an official ribbon-cutting ceremony. President Peter Likins, Maurice J. Sevigny, Dean of the College of Fine Arts, and Jory Hancock, head of the Dance Division of the School of Music and Dance will attend. Although the deadline to RSVP. for these events has passed, the public is still encouraged to come check out the new building.