Dance company to play Lakewood, Lone Tree - #lakewoodnews

The Zikr Dance Company will appear at Lakewood Cultural Center June 4 and 5 and at Lone Tree Arts Center June 11 and 12 in a program called "Samsara," which will premiere a new work by artistic director David Taylor and reprise some of the company's earlier pieces.

The company's roster includes five dancers from Colorado Ballet and eight other classically trained local dancers.

The first half of the program will premiere a new duet, "Altar," featuring Kurtis Irwin and Ryan Lee, accompanied by an original score by Boulder musician composer Jesse Manno (who wrote music for Taylor's popular "Rainforest" score in 1995.)

Also in the first half is "Sadhu." Taylor explained that "Sadhu" is a religious ascetic, usually Hindu or Buddhist, and the ballet is set to exciting music by Philip Glass. "In Your Eyes," an audience favorite, will also be performed.

Taylor said "Samsara" is a Sanskrit word that means the cycle of birth, death and reincarnation, a prevalent concept in Eastern religious traditions. The new ballet, which fills the second half of the production, focuses on this idea, set to the progressive art/rock music of Yes.

It includes dancers ascending and descending onstage on fly lines and is also accompanied by special effects created by University of Colorado-Denver professor Bryan Leister. These will include "projection mapping" effects, generated by a computer and the Isadora program, whereby overhead graphic projections follow a dancer's movements onstage.

Two other works fill out the program: sacred movement dances "Walking Prayer" and "Whirling Dervish," which are Gurdjieff sacred movements.

If you go

This program will first be presented at 7:30 p.m. May 27 at the Avalon Ballroom , 6185 Arapahoe Road, Boulder; on June 4 and 5, it will be at Lakewood Cultural Center, 470 Allison Parkway, Lakewood, at 7:30 p.m. June 4 and 2 p.m. June 5. On June 11 and 12, there will be performances at Lone Tree Arts Center, 10075 Commons St., Lone Tree, at 7:30 p.m. June 11 and 2 p.m. June 12. Tickets: $18-$30 at both venues.

from Lakewood Sentinel - Latest Stories http://lakewoodsentinel.com/stories/Dance-company-to-play-Lakewood-Lone-Tree,213893