The University of Oklahoma University Theatre and School of Dance present Young Choreographers' Showcase. Graduate and undergraduate students in the School of Dance present this annual production of exciting, original choreography.  The production opens at 8 p.m. Thursday, January 26, in the Rupel J. Jones Theatre, 563 Elm Ave. in Norman.  The show will continue its run at 8 p.m. January 27-28 and 3 p.m. January 29.

With works ranging from classical ballet to contemporary dance, audiences will enjoy eight unique pieces created by students within the OU School of Dance's ballet and modern programs. The current program is under the supervision of Young Choreographers’ Showcase coordinators and School of Dance faculty members Steve Brule, Derrick Minter and Clara Cravey-Stanley, as well as OU School of Dance Director Mary Margaret Holt.

Each year, School of Dance students are invited to participate in an intensive adjudication process in which their choreography is presented to the OU School of Dance faculty. After pieces are selected for the program and cast, choreographers collaborate with students in the School of Drama to create a unique set, costume and lighting designs for the individual works. Choreographers for this year's program include graduate student Charlotte Hart and undergraduates Terra Easter, Christopher Frazier, Austin Lintner, Diana Robertson, Jammie Walker, Brett Young and Nathan Young.

Young Choreographers’ Showcase also offers an opportunity for students from the School of Drama to collaborate with choreographers to design the lighting for each dance piece.  This year’s lighting designers are Laurel Dix, Brad Gray, Emily Maddox and Curtis Marxen.  The production staff includes co-stage managers Madeleine Borg and Dexter Settles, production manager Kasey Allee-Foreman, and University Theatre executive producer Rich Taylor.

Junior Ballet Performance major Austin Lintner will open the program with his pas de trois, Vitality, set to music by Jake Shimabukuro. Lintner's neoclassical piece aims to project the elation and excitement one feels while performing. “It is a happy, joyous and energetic ballet,” Lintner said. “I hope that the piece is as fun for the audience as it was for me to choreograph.”

Charlotte Hart, graduate student in the School of Dance, will present a quirky and light-hearted piece titled . With brightly colored costumes and a vibrant lighting design, Hart's ballet aims to capture every child’s (and child-at-heart) love for classic Nintendo video games. Hart combines pointe work, petite allegro and playful music that alludes to the Nintendo theme song to paint a picture of every child's dream: a real-life video game.

Diana Robertson, a Modern Dance Performance senior, brings a new take on Frederic Chopin's “Nocturne in F Minor, Op. 55 No. 1” in her work titled D.S. “Chopin's music is often used alongside classical ballet,” Robertson said. “This piece is my interpretation of how this dynamic music can be illustrated on stage through contemporary movement.”

Brett Young's piece Sammen Som Én, set to music by Icelandic group Sigur Ros, is a meditation on the journey taken by two people engaged in a meaningful relationship. In Young's pas de deux, he uses extensive partnering to display the interaction of two individuals in a growing bond.

Nathan Young will present his work Ineffable Soulstice, demonstrating the idea that subliminal energy is constantly present through everyday interactions.

Modern Dance senior Terra Easter explores the relationships of dancers onstage alongside the haunting beauty of the cello in her work Weightless: An Ode to Cello.

Jammie Walker, Outstanding Senior in the Weitzenhoffer College of Fine Arts, will present his choreography in 6 out of 5, set to music by Victor Wooten. Walker created 6 out of 5 to showcase the strengths of each individual dancer as well as to create a strong group dynamic. “I am very interested in the process of creating technical, yet original movement,” Walker said. “I had a wonderful time working with these artists and could not have done it without them.”

Christopher Frazier's contemporary work The Hocket, will conclude the YCS production. A cast of six dancers performs to the percussion piece “Rebonds” by Iannis Xenakison as interpreted by drummer, Ricardo Souza.

Frazier's work uses the “call and response” pattern in music and relates it to human relationships.

Dancers performing in this year’s production are Brenna Adkison, Elyse Andersen, Claire Belden, Renee Beneteau, Shelby Betz, Kayla Davey, Abby Fellman, Johnathan Garza, Sydney Gettle, Mary Lyn Graves, Savannah Hawkins, Lindsey Hinchliffe, Pilar Hooi-Rodriguez, Omar Humphrey, Hannah Jew, Billie Jean Kandravi, Zachary Leighton, Lauren Lundeen, Niki Reehorst, Danielle Richard, Diana Robertson, McKenzie Rollinson, Emma Sadler, Clare Springer, Megan Storey, Jammie Walker, Mckinley Willis, Zeek Wright and Brett Young.

Tickets are: $14 students with ID, and $18 for senior/OU faculty and staff/military, $22 adult; and may be purchased by calling the Fine Arts College Ticket Service at (405) 325-4101, Monday through Friday, 11:30 a.m. to 5:30 p.m.  The box office is located in the Catlett Music Center, 500 West Boyd in the OU Arts District.  For accommodations on the basis of a disability call (405) 325-4101.

The University of Oklahoma’s program in dance was founded in 1963 by Yvonne Chouteau and Miguel Terekhov, former principal dancers with Ballet Russe de Monte Carlo. What had been a department became the School of Dance in 1998, with Mary Margaret Holt as Director. Undergraduate and graduate dance majors, along with general education students, total approximately 1000 enrollees in dance classes per semester. The School of Dance's state-of-the-art facility in the Donald W. Reynolds Performing Arts Center was completed in 2005.