dance mix

Wildcat File Photo Arizona Daily Wildcat The UA Dance Division's Premium Blend stirs up genres

Imagine a night filled with settlers in the Appalachian Mountains, an exploration of the inner mind, the forests of Scotland, molecular development and James Bond. Obviously, this is not your great-uncle Baryshnikov's dance show.

"We are really trying to provide something for everyone with this performance," said Jory Hancock, head of the University of Arizona Dance Division, which proudly presents Premium Blend, a concert performed by the finest artists of the season, tomorrow and Saturday at Centennial Hall.

That guarantee will not be hard to fulfill. Premium Blend features seven different pieces, and incorporates the diverse dance styles of ballet, jazz and modern. Many of the pieces are narrative, meaning that the dancers convey a specific story without any words. Other compositions are more contemplative, with the dancers exploring a particular theme or motif. Hancock hopes that the variety displayed in Premium Blend will especially encourage students without any dance background to come to more shows.

One of the concert's most innovative aspects is the piece "Om: A Meditation for the New Millennium." Associate Professor Nina Janik directed and choreographed this dance, which she hopes will be a prayer for peace in the future.

The University of Arizona Dance Division's Premium Blend Friday and Saturday at Centennial Hall.Shows start at 8 p.m. both nights and tickets are $10 general admission and $7 for students and seniors. Call the Centennial Hall Box Office at 621-3341 for more information.

"'Om' expresses a wish of respect for the environment and all of its inhabitants," Janik noted of the piece's message.

However, unlike any ordinary rhythmic request, "Om" incorporates sensational visuals as a means to captivate the audience's imagination. It does this in the forms of dynamic sets, brilliant lighting and a video that runs for the duration of the piece. In "Om," the video illustrates the thoughts of the dancers as they evolve to a perfect state.

A total of 21 artists donated their time and creativity to "Om," including composer Stuart Kupers, who also worked on the soundtrack for the movie "The Crow." The music lends to the idea of evolution prevalent in "Om," as it changes from upbeat carousel melodies to dark single notes to exotic Middle Eastern harmonies.

Janik and her collaborators have been at work since early last summer on this piece. She recalls the time as a "incredible experience."

From "Dr. No" through "Tomorrow Never Dies," James Bond movies continue to entertain with sophisticated gadgets, debonair heroes and scantily clad women. In Premium Blend's jazz ballet "008," the epic character 007, a male agent of good, battles a new sinister colleague, 008, a female agent of evil.

Director/choreographer Michael Williams acknowledges his tongue-in-cheek approach to the Bond genre with the typical offering of diabolical plots for world domination. Yet the energetic dance moves and techno music of Leftfield and the Propellerheads prove that 008 employs a great deal of creativity as it updates Bond from the 1960s to the 1990s.

Williams also recognizes that pop culture is not usually so explicitly presented in a dance show, and he takes this observation as a mission. "As a choreographer, I had a sense that if the dance was not accessible to the audience then it loses something, and lives in a void." His effort to formulate a piece that young people can identify with demonstrates a motive of the entire dance department in the Premium Blend show.

The remainder of the concert is comprised of some serious pieces, such as Amy Ernst's "Songs of Sanctuary," which describes the connection between the dancers as interdependent women. However, others, like John M. Wilson's spunky jazz offering, "The Mirengue Comes Home to Roost" are more exuberant.

Overall, the talent from both UA-affiliated and outside artists is amazing and hopefully will mark a new age for the entire dance division. Premium Blend promises to be a superior amalgamation of all that the department has to provide.