 While assisting
Alwin Nikolais in 1968 at the Tyrone Guthrie Theatre in
Minneapolis, Joan accepted a Minnesota Arts Council invitation
to perform at four colleges. The council asked if the company
could be ready to perform in a week. "Yes, of course,"
Joan replied. She returned to Salt Lake City where she and
Shirley choreographed a whole zany performance and lecture
demonstration especially for the Minnesota tour. The resulting
production was a hit. In 1971, the show was seen in Canada by
representatives of the first U.S.-Canada dance conference.
Performance invitations came immediately from the east and west
coasts of both countries.
A breakthrough
came in the following year when the company performed at The
Space in New York through the generosity of Artistic Director
Alwin Nikolais. Representatives of the National Endowment for
the Arts attended the performance and accepted the company for
the Endowment's Artists In Schools and Dance Touring Programs.
The company's
acceptance in these prestigious programs offered new full-time
touring as a national company and the most Artists In Schools
performances in the United States of any company for 12 years.
More than a third of all program performances were the result of
the company's work and more than half of all program movement
specialists were trained by Shirley and Joan.
Ririe-Woodbury
Dance Company was chosen to be part of the Dance On Tour
state-touring program from 1990 to 1994 and performed in South
Carolina, Kentucky, Montana and New Mexico. The company has
become a Utah institution and is recognized as a successful
modern dance company combining formal performances and community
residencies.
 Widely
recognized, the Company continued to receive many international
performance. In 1977 the International Congress of Girls' and
Women's Sports invited the Company to South Africa for an
extended tour of Capetown, Port Elizabeth, Johannesburg and
Pretoria, marking the first time that a nationally and racially
diverse performing group had performed in those areas. In 1978
the company was chosen to represent the United States at the
first Dance and the Child International meeting in Canada and
traveled to Puerto Rico to conduct a two-week residency tour.
In 1980 Ririe-Woodbury
Dance Company was selected as the first U.S. modern dance
company to perform in Sibenik of former Yugoslavia. The company
also performed in Hong Kong, the Philippines and Singapore.
During this year, Ririe-Woodbury became the first modern dance
company to perform in Canton, China.
From 1987-1992
company tours included Europe, American Samoa, and the former
Soviet Union. Just one month before the destruction of the
Berlin Wall, the dancers performed in East Germany and were the
first modern dancers to perform in Karl-Marx Stadt (now Chemnitz) in the former Soviet
Union and East Berlin in 15 years. The company returned to
Chemnitz in 1991.
1993 led the
company to the young republic of Slovenia which is part of
former Yugoslavia. The company performed a benefit fundraiser
for the 70,000 Bosnian war refugees who were seeking shelter in
53 collection centers in Slovenia. The highlight of the tour was
a particularly moving performance for 500 refugees in a Maribor
collection center. Slovenia invited Ririe-Woodbury back for a
two week tour in July, 1996.
 Ririe-Woodbury
is known for its tremendous work in the education system of
Utah. After working with teachers and students in schools for
many years, Ririe-Woodbury formalized its education program and
named it Step Lively. Step Lively is a statewide program
designed to assist classroom teachers in meeting the objectives
of the Utah Fine Arts Core Curriculum. Ririe-Woodbury has
pioneered dance education in Utah and throughout the United
States.
The history of
Ririe-Woodbury and the strength of its co-founders and dancers
built a company that fosters stability and growth in the
development of modern dance throughout the world. The company's
mission will carry the performing arts and dance education into
the next century.
2008-2009
TOURING PROGRAMS:
Ririe-Woodbury
Dance Company is dedicated to furthering contemporary,
multi-media, dance by creating and performing original and
innovative works of the highest quality modern dance, and
promoting the understanding of and appreciation for the art form
of dance, in the belief that Dance is for Everybody!
-
We
accomplish our mission by reaching our goals of:
-
Commissioning
choreographers of exceptional talent
-
Touring
regionally, nationally and internationally
-
Preparing
dancers as performers, teachers and choreographers
-
Providing
dance education in communities and schools
-
Broadening
and deepening the dance experience for audiences of all ages
REPERTORY:
1.) Ririe-Woodbury
Dance Company performs dances from their repertory by the
following choreographers:
Chia-Chi Chiang
. Charlotte Boye-Christensen . Loa Clawson . Seán Curran .
Della Davidson . Laura Dean . Daniel Ezralow . Abby Fiat . Keith
Johnson . Stephen Koester . Wayne McGregor . Alwin Nikolais .
Jerry Pearson . Shirley Ririe . Pascal Rioult . David Rousseve .
Shapiro and Smith . Joan Woodbury . Doug Varone
2.) Fully
Produced Shows for Families and Young Audiences by Joan Woodbury
and Shirley Ririe Circle Cycle *, On the Move*, Objects &
Places *
* Dances are
original works choreographed for and on the Ririe-Woodbury Dance
Company
NIKOLAIS DANCE THEATRE
PERFORMED BY RIRIE-WOODBURY DANCE COMPANY
ARTISTIC DIRECTORS: MURRAY LOUIS AND ALBERTO DEL SAZ
Alwin Nikolais
was the master of innovative and startling dance. Each of his
works is their own complete multi-media theater of abstraction
for which he designed projections, sound, lighting, choreography
and costumes making the dance a visual and kinetic art.
nikolaislous.org
Dances performed will include:
Crucible, Lythic, Blank on Blank, Liturgies, Noumenon,
Mechanical Organ, Tensile Involvement and Tent. (10 dancers)
 EDUCATIONAL
PROGRAMS:
For additional details:
www.ririewoodbury.com/education.php
Concert
Performance
Company Rehearsal
Open Rehearsal (Day of Show)
Performance Demonstration
Mini Performance Demonstration
Improvisation Jam
Modern Dance Technique
Choreography
Company Class
Dance Improvisation
Repertory
Partnering
Contact Improvisation
Creative Movement for Children
Classroom Visit
Other Dance Classes:
Ballet for beginners or Ballet for Modern Dancers
Jazz
Hard Moves for Tough Kids
Country Swing (2 step/waltz)
Pilates Conditioning
Folk Forms
 Special Workshops and Lectures:
Teacher In-Service Training
Parent-Child Workshop
Movement for Actors
Beginning Yoga
Creative Movement for Seniors
Special-Population Movement
Dance for Gymnastics and Other Beginners
Special-Topics Lecture
Cultural Exchange
Physical Conditioning for the Active Individual
Technical Theatre/Dance:
Communicating With Your Techie
An Introduction to Technical Theater for Dance
Digital Sound Editing for Dance
WHAT THE CRITICS
SAY:
"[The] works
showed that the six dancers could fill a stage with playful,
delicious moves and minimalist, ultra-modern repetitions.
The dancers' collective style can best be described as
controlled attack. They held nothing back, but they were
never sloppy." Cincinnati Enquirer
"McGregor's
piece, 'Series 1,' was full of extremes and structural
discovery. The work was witty but not funny; natural, yet
industrial; unpredictable but sensible; angual and expansive.
The dancers were serious but not mournful. The controlled
chaos looked new, feisty and splendid." Salt Lake
Tribune
"With
slow, deliberate lines and quick, breath-taking pauses, this
segment mesmerizes views while priming the audience for the
kinetic [finale]. ['Down by the River'] is beautifully crafted
and made by the dancers to look fluid and easy." The
Deseret News "The
barre has been raised for the R-W dancers and they have met it.
The company's physical and artistic sensibilities have never
been stronger or sharper...Boye-Christensen's 'Rite of Spring,'
set to Stravinsky's famous score, was musical, sculptural and
sensual." Salt Lake Tribune
"The
magic of these productions can delight theatregoers of all ages.
Lovers of Harry Potter's wizardry will be enchanted by that of
Alwin Nikolais." The
New York Times
"Alwin
Nikolais left us in 1993, and his company was kept alive until
1999 by his friend and collaborator Murray Louis. Today it is
Ririe-Woodbury Dance Company from Salt Lake City (founded and
directed by two dancers-choreographers close to Nikolais) that
dedicated an entire program to the inspired American
choreographer. A creator unique in his genre, he composed the
music for his performances, designed the sets and the costumes,
adjusted the lighting, and painted the slides that are projected
on the bodies of the dancers.
"Since his beginnings at the Theatre des Champs Elysees in 1968,
he performed more than 30 ballets at the Theatre de la Ville
with his company. And it is with the same excitement that we
rediscover some pieces created more than 50 years ago,
interpreted by ten young, enthusiastic dancers, whose arms,
through Nikolais's magic, become swan's necks and whose feet
become giraffe's heads, (such as in "Crucible") with
irresistible mirror games.
"Restored
by the faithful Murray Louis and Alberto del Saz, all of his
pieces astonish the same as they did the first day. Le Figaro
"Seven
pieces are danced at the Theatre de la Ville, and his former
students pay him tribute. Alwin Nikolais (1910-1993) is
back. Eleven years after his death, 25 years after his
nomination to the head of the school of the National Center of
Contemporary Dance (CNDC), this American master of the
abstract, choreographer, and teacher, whose pedagogical method
still influences many dancers, is the center of one week of
festivities at the Theatre de la Ville. Seven of his pieces are
interpreted by an American company, the Ririe-Woodbury Dance
Company." Le Monde
"Few,
if any, wrinkles; only those belonging to great works. To the
masters whose style is identifiable in the first seconds. The
tribute to Alwin Nikolais, designed by the Ririe Woodbury
Company, is a delight of an evening. An enchantment composed of
seven pieces or excerpts created by the choreographer, painter,
musician, costume maker, Alwin Nikolais between 1953 and 1985.
We knew that the choreographer Alwin Nikolais had the sense of
imagery. But above the seduction, the rigorous construction, the
almost architectural sense of space, and the graphic movement,
the malice and the humor astonish with their modernity,
sometimes fifty years later. The cleverly composed program let
us catch the facets of the prolific artist, who created the
first multimedia masterpieces." Lyon Figaro
"After
a 12-year absence, Alwin Nikolais returned to Paris last night,
and he couldn't have found a better vehicle for his resurrection
on the stage of the Theatre de la Ville - Sarah Bernhardt than
the Ririe-Woodbury Dance Company...Judging from the involvement
of the Paris audience - in a rare occurrence, they didn't wait
until the end of the show but responded with rhythmic clapping
even at the intermission curtain - French audiences want more of
this. I hope and pray the presenters are listening...The Ririe-Woodbury
Dance Company has not only delivered Nikolais intact, but sends
a dispatch, if you will, from a more contemporary American dance
community that is ready to thrill and delight French Audiences
and that, notwithstanding their dour, studious expressions, this
audience is crying out to be engaged." The
Dance Insider
TECHNICAL
INFORMATION:
(see
attached Word document) |
What
Sets Ririe-Woodbury Dance Company Apart from other Dance
Companies?
