UMS Concert Program, March 12, 1990: Dana Reitz --

Season: 111th
Concert: Thirtieth
Power Center For The Performing Arts Ann Arbor, Michigan

THE UNIVERSITY MUSICAL SOCIETY OF THE UNIVERSITY OF MICHIGAN
American Contemporary Dance Festival
Dana Reitz
Monday Evening, March 12, 1990, at 8:00
Power Center for the Performing Arts
Ann Arbor, Michigan
PROGRAM
CIRCUMSTANTIAL EVIDENCE A Solo in Silence, 1987
Choreography and Performance: Dana Reitz
Lighting Design: Jennifer Tipton Costume Design: Sally Ann Parsons
Costume Painting: Mary Macy Lighting Design adapted by Clay Shirky
Excerpted from The New York Times, March 29, 1987:
She was no ordinary mortal dancing. Instead, she was an apparition born of the darkness and to the darkness returning. Like previous dances by Ms. Reitz, Circumstantial Evidence consisted of increasingly complex elaborations of simple movements. A scene might begin with slight tremblings or little rockings back and forth that would gradually be developed and gesturally ornamented. In one sequence, she swayed like a bell in a tower; in another, she made her arms swing rapidly in circles until they resembled spinning wheels.
The choreography was fascinating in itself. But what helped make Circumstantial Evidence extraordinary to behold was the close collaboration between Ms. Reitz and her lighting designer, Jennifer Tipton. The lights would constantly dim and brighten, then fade away into darkness. In her white costume, Ms. Reitz appeared to be a ghostly figure emerging from the shadows. And the shadows were always threatening to swallow her up again. There was no accompaniment except for occasional little vocal noises Ms. Reitz made as she moved and the whistling noises in a scene in which she flailed at the air with a small whip. The almost total silence and the constant fadings away of the light forced one to pay unusually close attention to every move. Often, the silence seemed thick enough to cut. So did the darkness.
No wonder, then, that Ms. Reitz resembled a ghost, a specter, an apparition. But whatever words or symbols she may have been trying to set down disappeared from sight almost immediately. And, soon, so did Ms. Reitz herself, as the darkness closed around her.
Circumstantial Evidence was a dance of wonder and mystery.
--Jack Anderson
Touring engagements for Dana Reitz are handled by Soho Booking. For information on Ms. Reitz' upcoming schedule, please contact Soho Booking, 625 Broadway, New York, NY 10012, Ann Rosenthal, Director.
Cameras and recording devices are not allowed in the auditorium. Thirtieth Concert of the 111 th Season Special Concert
Coming Concerts
Contemporary American Dance Festival................ Mon.-Fri. Mar. 12-16
Moscow Philharmonic Orchestra .............................. Sat. Mar. 17
Dmitri Kitacnko, conductor; Vladimir Kraincv, pianist
Thomas Allen, baritone ...................................... Wed. Mar. 21
Baltimore Symphony Orchestra .............................. Sun. Mar. 25
David Zinman, conductor; Isaac Stern, violinist
Academy of St. Martin-in-the-Fields Iona Brown ...............Sun. Apr. 1
The Feld Ballet .................................... Wed., Thurs. Apr. 4, 5
Jim Cullum Jazz Band......................................... Sat. Apr. 7
William Warfield, narrator; Gershwin's "Porgy and Bess"
Murray Perahia, pianist ....................................... Sat. Apr. 14
Concerto Soloists of Philadelphia Marc Mostovoy..............Sun. Apr. 22
The King's Singers .......................................... Sat. Apr. 28
Underwritten by Parke Davis Research Division of Warner Lambert.
Pre-concert Presentations
All presentations free of charge, in the Rackham Building one hour before the concert.
Friday, Mar. 16, preceding American Contemporary Dance Festival Final Concert
Debra Cash, Dance Critic, The Boston Globe
Topic: "American Dance: A Critic's Perspective" Saturday, Mar. 17, preceding Moscow Philharmonic Orchestra
Roland Wiley, Assoc. Prof, of Music, U-M
Topic: "Insights into Russian Music" Wednesday, Mar. 21, preceding Thomas Allen, baritone
Martin Katz, Prof, of Music in Accompanying, U-M
Topic: "An Accompanist's Look at Lieder" Sunday, Apr. 1, preceding Academy of St. Martin-in-thc-Fields
Glenn Watkins, Prof, of Music HistoryMusicology, U-M Saturday, Apr. 14, preceding Murray Perahia, pianist
Deanna Relyea, Director, Kerrytown Concert House
Topic: "Problems Peculiar to Pianists: Their Instruments, Their Careers" Saturday, Apr. 28, preceding The King's Singers
Kenneth Fischer, Executive Director, University Musical Society
Topic: "Adventures with Six Smashing Brits"
97th Annual May Festival -May 9-12, 1990 Hill Auditorium, Ann Arbor, 8:00 p.m.
Los Angeles Philharmonic Orchestra Andre Previn, Guest Conductor and Pianist
The Festival Chorus
Hei-Kyung Hong, Soprano Richard Stilwell, Baritone Wednesday -Gershwin: Piano Concerto in F; Rachmaninoff: Symphony No. 2 Thursday -John Harbison: Concerto for Brass Choir and Orchestra; Mahler: Symphony No. 4,
with Hei-Kyung Hong
Friday -Beethoven: Symphony No. 4; Shostakovich: Symphony No. 4 Saturday--All-Brahms: "Tragic" Overture; "A German Requiem," for Chorus, Orchestra, and Soloists
UNIVERSITY MUSICAL SOCIETY
Burton Memorial Tower, Ann Arbor, MI 48109-1270 Telephones: (313) 764-2538, 763-TKTS