Anniversary Season Opens Oct. 2-3 at Judy Bayley Theatre
By Debbie Hall
UNLV Department of Dance is celebrating five decades of creativity and artistic exploration with Golden Glow, opening the program’s 50th anniversary season October 2-3 at the Judy Bayley Theatre.
The milestone performance is designed not simply as a look back at five decades of dance, but as a celebration of the artists, ideas and collaborations shaping the future of UNLV Dance. Golden Glow brings together an accomplished group of choreographic voices whose work reflects where the program has been, where it stands today and where it may go next.
The lineup features guest choreographers with impressive backgrounds in concert dance, commercial performance, film, television and the Las Vegas arts community.
Emily Schoen Branch, named one of Dance Magazine’s “Top 25 to Watch,” is a former member of KEIGWIN + COMPANY. Her career includes performing and working with Kyle Abraham/AIM and the Metropolitan Opera in works by Doug Varone, Mark Morris and Carolyn Choa. She also performed with the Rolling Stones during their 50th Anniversary reunion tour.
Robert Kleinendorst spent 21 years with the internationally acclaimed Paul Taylor Dance Company, where he danced 98 roles in 77 of Taylor’s dances and originated 28 roles. His career has also included collaborations with Larry Keigwin, Doug Varone, Lial York, Doug Elkins, Bryan Arias, Pam Tanawitz, Margie Gillis and Kyle Abraham.
Las Vegas choreographer Kedric Bateman, an award-winning artist and former Contemporary West Dance Theatre performer, brings a strong connection to the local dance community. Bateman has toured nationally in works by Donald Byrd, Vernard J. Gilmore, Don Bellamy, Ulysses Dove and Alvin Ailey.
David Mayorga brings a diverse performance background spanning concert dance, commercial performance, film, television and interdisciplinary movement. He currently works as a dance educator at Millennium Dance Complex Las Vegas, a movement artist with Dani Maloney Dance Collective and a dancer at On the Record, a hip-hop speakeasy.
The concert will also premiere a new collaborative work by UNLV Dance faculty choreographers Hayley Meier and Jason Hortin. Their partnership explores the possibilities of contemporary choreography through thoughtful design, dynamic movement and shared artistic inquiry.
For UNLV Dance, Golden Glow is both a celebration and a beginning — honoring 50 years of artistic achievement while putting new choreography, new collaborations and the next generation of dance at the heart of the anniversary season.
Golden Glow takes the stage October 2-3, at the Judy Bayley Theatre at UNLV, opening the university’s 50th anniversary season with an evening celebrating five decades of creativity, collaboration and innovation in dance. For more info on the Department of Dance, visit unlv.edu/dance and follow on Facebook, Instagram, and YouTube. For more info on the college, visit unlv.edu/finearts and follow on Facebook, Instagram and YouTube.
