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Show o cr Honest effort is an art 52 LU o Q The curtain opens on energy-lithe and powerful motion. The audience is at once aware of the physical exertion and control of the dancers as they perform each movement. Modern dance as performed by Utah's repertory company is indeed a rare experience. Repertory Dance Theatre, a professional modern dance company, is an honest world of the best modern dance. Often confused with ballet, "In modern dance you can almost smell the action on-stage."_____________________ modern dance is in its own class. In ballet, each movement is seemingly effortless as though defying gravity. Modern dance makes no attempts to defy gravity, but moves with it and even accentuates it. "Effort is beautiful and honest. Man does not defy gravity, and physical effort should not look weightless at all. A movement is not really easy; the more honest movement is one that shows exactly what it is about. In modern dance you can almost smell the action onstage." Repertory Dance Theatre is a very positive addition to the cultural aspect of the University. It is a unique attempt to unite a professional dance company with a university. A survey conducted in 1963 by the Rockefeller Foundation began Utah's RDT. Dance must be subsidized to exist. Operational costs and salaries for the dancers far exceed the revenue from their performance. The Foundation wanted a troupe connected with a university to decentralize modern dance by moving it away from the East Coast to the West. A financial grant was given to RDT on a decreasing basis. A final choice was made between the University of Utah and U.C.L.A. Utah was selected because it has the most extensive and complete dance program in the country. Starting with children's programs and extending through university classes of all types, the "U" trains artists of the caliber needed for a professional company like RDT. |