(upbeat music) - Ririe Woodbury Dance Company unveils "Reverberation", its fall performance showcasing fresh choreography from "Flock" and the debut work of Leslie Kraus.

Thom Dancy joins us to share how this program is pushing creative boundaries.

Hi, Thom.

- Hi, there.

- This sounds like an exciting performance.

- It really is gonna be, and it's the premier performance for Leslie Kraus as artistic director and choreographer, and we are just so excited to have her here in Salt Lake and representing Ririe Woodbury Dance Company, and helping us to carve out the next 62 years of a great legacy.

- Isn't that crazy?

Like, 62 years.

- It's pretty incredible.

Exciting.

- Once you get past that 50 mark, it's just kind of like, you know, we're here to stay.

- Right?

(both laughing) Yeah.

Ririe is not going anywhere.

- Yeah.

And it's so exciting, and we have such a strong dance community here in Utah.

What makes Ririe Woodbury special?

- Hmm.

You know, I think Ririe Woodbury is in many ways the advent of that community.

The company was founded in the 1960s by two women that also helped to kind of co-create the Department of Dance at the University of Utah, now the school of Dance at the University of Utah.

They really, alongside really amazing people, like William Christiansen, brought beautiful dance to the state of Utah in both ballet and contemporary movement.

And so we are just now continuing kind of the legacy that they built upon.

- So tell us about reverberation and you talked about creative boundaries and we're pushing those.

Tell us really quickly how you're doing that.

- Yeah, you know, we are trying to push into what is the next phase of contemporary dance?

What is contemporary dance currently in America beyond the state, what is exciting audiences?

And we're doing that through several choreographers.

We have Flock, which is an amazing choreographic duo, Alice Klock from the United States, and Florian Lochner from Germany.

And they have really visceral, almost contemporary ballet work that features line and throwing bodies across stage.

It's really stunning to watch.

And then we're working with Leslie on her debut piece of choreographic work.

And Leslie's background is, she was a principal dancer with the Kate Weare Company and with Sleep No More.

And so she brings that incredible dynamic to what she creates.

- Sounds like a beautiful and athletic performance.

- It really will be.

Sounds great.

Well, thank you so much for being here to tell our audience about it.

- My sincerest pleasure.

Thank you.

- All right.

And if you would like to learn more about this great performance from Ririe Woodbury called "Reverberation," it's happening September 25th through the 27th.

Visit ririewoodbury.com to get your tickets.

I'm Laura Durham, and thank you for watching "Contact."

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