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Dance St. Louis and UMSL present first-ever SPRING TO DANCE FESTIVAL at Touhill May 22-24, 2008

During three glorious evenings over this Memorial Day weekend, for only $10 a night audiences will be treated to the best of dance from throughout the Midwest—from world-acclaimed stars like The Joffrey Ballet of Chicago to rising talents like Dancing Wheels of Cleveland—in the first-ever SPRING TO DANCE FESTIVAL.

SPRING TO DANCE has been created by Dance St. Louis in partnership with the Blanche M. Touhill Performing Arts Center on the campus of the University of Missouri-St. Louis, and will take place at the Touhill on Thursday, Friday and Saturday, May 22, 23 and 24.

Each of SPRING TO DANCE’s three evenings features a different smorgasbord of dance—solos, duets and ensembles from flamenco and tap to ballet and jazz, from cutting-edge contemporary to cross-cultural fusions.

Major dance companies like Giordano Jazz Dance Chicago, Minnesota Dance Theatre and Kansas City Ballet are joined by outstanding smaller regional troupes such as Indianapolis’ Dance Kaleidoscope and St. Louis’ own MADCO and St. Louis Ballet.

The dozens of dances include a cape-swirling Bolero by Chicago’s Ensemble Español, a passionate love duet from BalletMet Columbus’s full-length Dracula, and Chicago’s Deeply Rooted Dance Theater in Adagio, a contemporary dance focused on images of the civil rights movement.

On each of SPRING TO DANCE’s three days, the Touhill doors open at 5 p.m. for a freewheeling atmosphere of performances, demonstrations and information booths in the lobby by St. Louis-area arts and education organizations. This entertainment continues until 7 p.m., while from 6 to 6:45 p.m. there is also a performance showcase of four to five companies in the 350-seat Lee Theater.

Audiences are welcome to drop in and out as they like during the pauses between dances. At 7 p.m., there is a full-blown performance with an intermission, featuring six to nine companies each night, in the 1,625-seat Anheuser-Busch Performance Hall. The $10-per-night ticket covers all three parts of the festival evening.

Tickets are available at the Touhill Ticket Office and the Dance St. Louis box office. The Touhill Ticket Office is located on the campus of the University of Missouri-St. Louis at One University Blvd., St. Louis, MO 63121, Monday through Friday, 10 a.m.–6 p.m.

The Dance St. Louis box office is located at 3547 Olive St. at the Centene Center for Arts and Education in Grand Center, St. Louis, MO 63103, Monday through Friday, 9:30 a.m.–4:30 p.m. Tickets are also available by calling the Touhill at 314-516-4949 or 866-516-4949 toll free and Dance St. Louis at 314-534-6622, and online via touhill.org and dancestlouis.org.

Additional information on SPRING TO DANCE is available at springtodance.com.

SPRING TO DANCE is the first dance festival of its kind ever held in the Midwest. Never before in any Midwestern city has there been such a gathering of major companies combined with the best young companies from all over the region, all for a $10 ticket per night.                                         
Michael Uthoff, artistic and executive director of Dance St. Louis, was inspired to create SPRING TO DANCE by New York City Center’s Fall for Dance Festival, which ever since it was founded in September 2004 has sold out all performances and become an eagerly awaited fixture of the New York dance scene.

“When I attended Fall for Dance, I relished the excitement the audiences felt in discovering the art form and new talent,“ Uthoff said. “I want to bring that excitement to St. Louis by showcasing the wealth of talent we have right here in the Midwest, at an accessible ticket price that makes SPRING TO DANCE a family affair.”

The low ticket price is made possible by Anheuser-Busch, Inc.; the Missouri Arts Council; Regional Arts Commission; Emerson; Monsanto Imagine; National Endowment for the Arts; Whitaker Foundation; and American Airlines.

“SPRING TO DANCE is a dynamic example of the partnership between the University of Missouri-St. Louis and Dance St. Louis,” said John Cattanach, interim director of the Touhill. “Together we are collaborating to make St. Louis a regional center for dance and the Blanche M. Touhill Performing Arts Center the premier venue for dance in the city.”

For SPRING TO DANCE, internationally known dance companies such as Luna Negra Dance Theater are participating by invitation. Smaller and emerging companies were chosen via independent adjudication by Daniel Lewis, dean of dance at the New World School of the Arts in Miami, Florida; Cathy Pruzan, artist representative, Tiburon, California; and Nancy Jordan, independent rehearsal director, Salt Lake City, Utah.

“Dance St. Louis received more than 70 submissions for adjudication, a tremendous outpouring of support for this new event,” Uthoff said.

These are the companies performing in SPRING TO DANCE:

Ashland, OH:  Neos Dance Theatre

Chicago, IL:  Chicago Human Rhythm Project, Deeply Rooted Productions, Ensemble Español, Giordano Jazz Dance Chicago, Hedwig Dances, Joel Hall Dancers, The Joffrey Ballet, Luna Negra Dance Theater, Lucky Plush Productions, Mordine and Company Dance Theater, River North Chicago Dance Company, Valerie Alpert Dance Company/VADCO, The Seldoms

Cincinnati, OH:  Cincinnati Ballet

Cleveland, OH:  Dancing Wheels, Verb Ballets

Columbia, MO:  Missouri Contemporary Ballet

Columbus, OH:  BalletMet

Dayton, OH:  Dayton Ballet

Detroit, MI:  Eisenhower Dance Ensemble

Kansas City, MO:  Kansas City Ballet, Wylliams/Henry Contemporary Dance

Indianapolis, IN:  Dance Kaleidoscope

Memphis, TN:  Ballet Memphis

Minneapolis, MN:  James Sewell Ballet, Minnesota Dance Theatre, Ragamala Music and Dance Theater

Nashville, TN:  Nashville Ballet

St. Louis, MO:  MADCO, St. Louis Ballet, Christine O’Neal

Plus:  Born in Columbia, MO, now in New York, NY:  Cedar Lake Dance

Dance St. Louis has brought the world’s best dance to St. Louis audiences through presentation, creation and education outreach since 1966. Dance St. Louis is a funded member of the Arts and Education Council of Greater St. Louis, and receives support from the Regional Arts Commission, Missouri Arts Council, Mid-America Arts Alliance, National Endowment for the Arts, and other sources. American Airlines is the official airline.   

The University of Missouri-St. Louis is committed to the advancement of dance education and performance on the UMSL campus, particularly through the Touhill Performing Arts Center.  Now in its fifth landmark season of presenting the finest in performing arts, the Touhill is the first impetus and focal point for creating an arts district for students at the University and the St. Louis community.