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Dance Gala ‘Special Issue’ continues this weekend

By Cole Cheney

University of Iowa dancers have no qualms about fighting on stage.

In fact, the sparring has gotten to the point of their donning boxing gloves in the rink.

Their only safety measure: choreography.

The UI Department of Dance will feature a rendition of legendary choreographer Louis Falco’s boxing -inspired “Black and Blue,” along with four other arrangements, for Dance Gala “Special Issue” at 8 p.m. tonight, Friday and Saturday and Nov. 6-8 in Space Place Theatre, 101 North Hall on the UI campus. General admission is $20.

For UI Department of Dance chairman Alan Sener, “Black and Blue” is a piece of nostalgia.

“I traveled the world performing that dance,” Sener says. “It’s awesome to watch my students perform such an important and difficult piece so well.”

Sener, who danced in the 1982 opening of “Black and Blue” at Teatro Olimpico in Rome, says this is one way to carry on the Falco legacy.

Other dances in the performance are George Balanchine’s “Valse-Fantasie” and UI faculty members Armando Duarte’s “Estoria Cega,” Deanna Carter’s “Borders” and Jennifer Kayle’s “Solar Ghost.”

The performances will feature guest stars Tanya Wideman-Davis, honored as “Best Female Dance 2001-02” by Dance Europe magazine, and Thaddeus Davis, featured as one of Dance Magazine’s “25 to Watch in the World” in 2002.

“’Special Issue’ has everything from straight-up classical to extremely post-modern styles,” Sener says.

For the first time in its 28 years of existence, Dance Gala will not be held at Hancher Auditorium because of the summer flooding that reached 18 inches above the venue’s stage. This proved somewhat beneficial, according to Sener, who says that the new venue (which seats 220 compared to Hancher’s 2,500) allows the show to take place over six nights instead of the usual two.

Sener also says that the show has quadrupled its budget to accommodate for various props, light fixtures and costumes.

“I’m a little stressed right now, but once I get out on stage, the work we’ve put into this will show,” says UI dance student Kendall Rutherford.

A typical day for dance students involves dance practice and classes from 8 a.m. to 1 p.m., followed by outside classes until 5 p.m. After that, Sener says, it’s time to rehearse until 10 p.m.

“A lot of these kids are running on nervous energy and a passion for dance,” Sener says.

During the last month of rehearsal, Sener says, he has consistently been working on some aspect of Dance Gala by 5:30 a.m. and returns home around 11 p.m.

With more than 100 people involved in the performance, this event is the centerpiece of the UI Department of Dance.

“You know how basketball players ‘leave it on the court’?” Sener says. “After the entire performance is done, I know that our dancers have left it all out on the dance floor.”