KU News Release

LAWRENCE — Guest artist and star of “42nd Street” Hayley Mac choreographed “Seven Deadly Sins,” a provocative contemporary work that will be featured in the University Dance Company spring concerts at 7:30 p.m. April 22-23 at the Lied Center.

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Mac, along with indie-folk composer Tim Coons and members of the University Dance Company, paint an edgy, entertaining and current perspective of human struggles. With palettes of paint lining the proscenium of the stage and weaving through the choreography, dancers become increasingly stained by the colors of paint that represent the seven deadly sins.

Mac staged the work for University Dance Company members during an intensive artist residency earlier this year in which she also taught master classes in both modern and jazz dance.

Mac’s unique talents have allowed her to be the artistic director and star in an original “One-Woman Show,” showcasing her tap dancing and jazz vocal talent — opening for comedic icon Rita Rudner. Mac has danced alongside the world’s most legendary dancers, including Gregory Hines and Henry LeTang; choreographed more than 70 works across the nation for dance companies and Emmy-nominated productions; been featured in Dance Magazine; and traveled the country to teach master classes to thousands of dancers.

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The University Dance Company concerts also will feature new works by faculty choreographers and a rare student piece by Onaga senior Tim Flattery, recipient of the Elizabeth Sherbon Dance Award for Outstanding Achievement.

“Collide” marks the second collaboration between KU faculty choreographer Michelle Heffner Hayes, a 2009 recipient of a Kansas Arts Commission Mid-Career Fellowship in Choreography, and Lawrence musician and composer Steve Dahlberg, a winner of the 2008 Top 10 East West Sounds Scoring Award. Inspired by the collision theory of chemical reactions, the work explores relationships as a series of interactions that create bonds between individuals. The score picks up on the unique sounds of Dahlberg’s history with Lawrence-based musical groups like Ricky Dean Sinatra and Cryin’ Out Loud, including driving guitar distortion and poignant acoustical sections.

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Professor of dance Patrick Suzeau, recipient of the 2009 Master Fellowship in Choreography from the Kansas Arts Commission, performs “Thryptich” in the style of classical East Indian dance. The first section, “Mangalacharan” is choreographed and composed by the main architect of the contemporary East Indian classical style, the legendary Kelucharan Mohapatra. It will be followed by two sections choreographed by Suzeau: “Lakshmi,” celebrating the earth goddess of good fortune, and “Bhumi Mangalam,” praising the universe in all its manifestations. Geetanjali Tiwari, lecturer in religious studies, and Lawrence artists Maria Anthony, Clark Jamison and Deborah Pine perform live musical accompaniment.

Rapidly shifting moods propel Suzeau’s premiere of a modern group work, “Rondo,” about lovers, dreamers, departed soldiers and mourners. It is set to the music of Miles Davis, Bud Powell, Thelonious Monk and Gil Evans. By contrast, associate professor of dance Jerel Hilding’s ballet “Rondo Giocoso” uses the witty playfulness and restraint of Mozart’s “Rondeau” movement from his Piano Concerto No. 13, K.415 as the catalyst for dancers to cavort in harmonious groupings and courtly stage patterns.

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Lecturer in dance Willie Lenoir’s “Blackberry Fall to Winter” sets the bodies of dancers in lyrical, idiosyncratic motion to the contemporary classical compositions by Jay Ungar, Molly Mason and Conni Ellisor.

Flattery capitalizes on the acrobatic ability and athletic stamina of dancers in the high-energy “Séduire” (Seduce), with music by Loess, Yann Tiersen and Zoe Keating. In a kaleidoscope of patterns, dancers move from solos and duets into groups with driving movements reminiscent of futuristic machines.

Tickets are on sale at the Lied Center, Murphy Hall and Student Union Activities box offices. Tickets are $15 for the public and $10 for students and seniors. Group sale and advance purchase discounts on tickets are available. Call (785) 864-2787 for tickets.