Pitt Dance Ensemble to Present "Fall Dance Informal" Oct. 23 and 24

PITTSBURGH-Jazz, hip-hop, ballet, tap, and modern styles of dance will be featured at the University of Pittsburgh Dance Ensemble's "Fall Dance Informal" to be held Oct. 23 and 24 at 7 p.m. in the Trees Hall Dance Studio, Allequippa and Darragh streets, Oakland.

The evening's informal concert, preceding Pitt's Homecoming weekend, will highlight student and professional work, completed choreography, and choreography in progress with choreographers discussing their works.

Special guests include Pitt's Black Dance Workshop and the Chartiers Valley High School Dancers under the direction of Chartiers faculty member Cathy Jenkins. In addition, Michelle Hall-Dawson, a Pitt faculty member and former dancer with Pittsburgh's Dance Alloy Theater and Mad Shak Dance Company of Chicago, will premiere her new work in progress.

Invited to choreograph for Pitt's Dance Ensemble, Dawson has been rehearsing with Pitt students since September. Her unique contemporary choreography, with text from the work of Edna St. Vincent Millay, will be a feature presentation for nine of the Pitt ensemble dancers.

The Pitt Dance Ensemble, housed in the Department of Health and Physical Activity and supported by the Student Government Board, is a student dance group that performs theatrical dance and provides classes, workshops, and master classes for University students. The students choreograph, perform, and work behind the scenes to produce this and other concerts throughout the year.

A $2 donation is requested at the door. For more information, contact Susan Gillis-Kruman at 412-648-8262 or gillis@pitt.edu.

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10/21/08/tmw