May 22, 2006

Theater arts event features faculty and alum choreographers

The Theater Arts Department presents Signs and Syndromes--a dance-theater production featuring a company of UCSC dancers performing a trio of new works by faculty choreographers Ted Warburton and Mark Franko, and guest alumna choreographer Sommer Ulrickson--June 1-4 at the Theater Arts Mainstage. Shows begin at 7 p.m. with a Sunday matinee only at 3 p.m.

Student dancers from the 2004 Theater Arts Department dance-theater production Featured in the Unbodied Air, directed by Mark Franko. Photo: Steve DiBartolomeo

Warburton's work titled öötöö (pron. "ooh-too") observes life after dark, exploring ways in which fragments from our day get reassembled during sleep in strange and unpredictable ways. This piece includes original video by Bay Area media artist Stacey Goodman, and digital media design and telematic distance collaboration with John Crawford and Lisa Naugle at UC Irvine.

Franko's piece, "After Apollo," is a meditation on George Balanchine's classic "Apollo" from a Dionysian perspective. Set to Stravinsky's Concerto in D for String Orchestra (a composition Balanchine never choreographed to), Franko asks what would have happened if "Apollo" did not end with the famous sunburst pose. The choreographer adds,” To deconstruct a dance is to inscribe a new dance on it, and this motif is accented by elaborate paper costuming."

Ulrickson has developed a piece with her students titled "Jerusalem Syndrome" after the psychological phenomenon that affects some tourists to the holy city--they temporarily believe they are biblical figures. Through dance, text, and video, the performers investigate various aspects of fervor and longing related to this theme.

For more information or to purchase tickets, contact the UCSC Ticket Office, (831) 459-2159,