Spring Concert by Illinois State Dance Theatre April 29 - May 1

Choreography by students, faculty and recent guest artist Jon Lehrer will be included in the spring concert by the Illinois State Dance Theatre (ISDT) April 29, 30 and May 1.  Three 7:30 p.m. performances plus a 2 p.m. matinee on May 1 will take place in the Center for the Performing Arts Theatre. 

Tickets are $15 for the general public and ISU faculty-staff, and $10 for students and anyone 60 years and older.  They can be purchased at the Center for the Performing Arts box office from 11 a.m. to 5 p.m. weekdays or at (309) 438-2535.

Lehrer is founder and artistic director of Lehrer Dance in Buffalo, N.Y.  During his five-day residency at Illinois State in March, he set an original work, "Hearth," on members of ISDT, to be premiered in this concert.  He will restage the work with his dance company for its upcoming season.  Accompanying Lehrer during his residency was 2004 ISU alumna Marideth Wanat, principal dancer and founding member of Lehrer Dance.  In January 2009, Wanat was named one of Dance Magazine's "25 to Watch - Who Will Shine in '09."

The spring ISDT program also will include two pieces by ISDT director Sara Semonis.  "Tea with Rug" and an untitled work will be performed to music by Schubert and Japanese drum group Kodo, respectively.  

Senior Kelly Hume, Arlington Heights, choreographed "Please Don't Leave Me (if we ever were to be)" by music of Bessie Smith.  Dance faculty member Leslie Pamela Walden choregraphed "Ecstasy at the Last Supper" to music by British composer Jocelyn Montgomery.  It will be followed by Lehrer's "Hearth," which is to music by Damien Simon.

Bonnie Christine Willis, a senior from Normal, choreographed "Pinnacle or Precipice" to music composed by Terry Riley.  It will be followed by a piece titled "Passages" by dance faculty member Darby Wilde to the music of Antonio Vivaldi.

Faculty member Greg Merriman choreographed the final two pieces on the program. The first, "Four Female Variations" presenting the female variations from "Flower Festival," "Grande Pas Classique," "La Esmeralda" and "Le Corsaire." Merriman choreographed the piece after famed choreographers August Bournonville, Marius Petipa, Jules Perrot and Joseph Mazilier.   The music is composed by Helsted, Auber, Pugni and Adam.  His second piece is "The Queen is Dead" to the first movement of Mozart's Horn concerto No. 1.

Lighting design for all the pieces is by Julie Mack.  Costumes are by faculty members Lauren Lowell and Rob Goode, and students K. Claire Kemock, Brittany Smith, Shana Hall, Brittney Nicole Smith, Lisa Hempel and Judith Rivera-Ramirez.

As a professional, Jon Lehrer has danced with numerous companies, including the Radio City Rockettes Christmas Spectacular. After three years with Giordano Jazz Dance Chicago, he was promoted to rehearsal director and, two years later, associate director. During his 10 years with Giordano, Lehrer also became the resident choreographer, creating seven original works on the company that received rave reviews all around the world.  In July 2007, he moved to Buffalo to begin his professional dance company, a company that showcases his unique choreography and definitive style. In its short history, LehrerDance has received international recognition, and the company teaching master classes throughout the U.S. and around the world.