Arts & Culture

Make 'Contact' With UK Dance Faculty May 18

LEXINGTON, Ky. (May 13, 2019) The community is invited to campus to get to know the dance faculty in the University of Kentucky Department of Theatre and Dance as they take center stage this weekend in "Contact: Faculty Concert." "Contact" will begin at 7 p.m. Saturday, May 18, in the Guignol Theatre, located in the Fine Arts Building. The program is free and open to the public.

In "Contact," UK's dance faculty will share a wide-ranging repertory of solo work and group dances with the audience. Choreographed and performed by faculty, the choreography will feature new, recent and excerpts from existing dances.

The concert is a compilation ranging in genres from dance theater, contemporary ballet and contemporary modern dance.

In addition, senior dance majors Anna Wilson, of Lexington, and Steven Griffie, of Lawrenceburg, Kentucky, will present their choreography, "In the Mountains," which premiered as part of the senior seminar class and at the American College Dance Association conference.

UK's dance program has grown quickly since the adoption of a dance minor in the Department of Theatre in November 2011. The popularity of the program led to a change in the department's name in 2014 and the creation of a dance major in the fall of 2017. In addition, the UK Dance Program has achieved national and international recognition and awards for its student and faculty choreography and performance at festivals and conferences each year since its inception.

The Department of Theatre and Dance at UK College of Fine Arts has played an active role in the performance scene in Central Kentucky for more than 100 years. Students in the program get hands-on training and one-on-one mentorship from the renowned professional theatre faculty. The liberal arts focus of their bachelor's degree program is coupled with ongoing career counseling to ensure a successful transition from campus to professional life.