Featuring a wide variety of dance genres performed by Dixie State University students, the university’s Dance Department will present its annual spring production, Faculty Dance Concert. 

The concert will feature innovative works by DSU faculty and guest choreographers in styles ranging from aerial, ballet and ballroom to modern, contemporary, jazz and tap. Under the direction of DSU Dance Department Co-Directors Sara Gallo and Elizabeth Stich, more than 30 students majoring and minoring in dance will perform in the concert, which is set to take place at 7:30 p.m. on April 18 and 19 in the Dolores Doré Eccles Fine Arts Center Mainstage Theatre. 

“Dance as an art form has the ability to entertain as well as to challenge audience members to consider new perspectives,” Stich said. She added that with an eclectic program, the Faculty Dance Concert will have something for everyone.

The concert will feature Gallo's choreography “The Relative Strength of an Ant,” which recently was presented at the American College Dance Festival at the University of Utah. The dance draws on the personal life experiences of the cast and requires dancers to not only move, but to speak from the stage as well.

Additionally, the new work "Speak Up ... Actually Don't. Stand Up, Wait ... No" by guest artist Amy Gunter Lolofie will be performed. Lolofie is a dancer with SALT Contemporary Dance in Salt Lake City, where she also directs the company SALT II.

“Working with a guest choreographer is an important opportunity for our students,” Stich said. “The dance world is small and networking with potential employers while in school gives our students a leg up on their future career goals. It also gives them a chance to experience another choreographer’s approach to the creative process, which reinforces learning that happens in the classroom.”

Tickets to Dixie State University’s Faculty Dance Concert, which are $12 for adults, $10 for seniors and youth and $2 for DSU students, are available at the door, ahead of time at the ticket office in the M.K. Cox Performing Arts Center or online at www.dsutix.com. For more information about DSU’s Dance Department, visit dance.utahtech.edu.