Registration 
Complete and mail to: Sharir Dance Company 
P.O. Box339 
Austin, TX 78767 Pleaae prinr clearly· 

City~--­
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nIEncto.d·-checll_..................,....~­

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The Sharir Dance Company School invites first-time students to attend one free class with this ad. One copy of ad per person, please 
SHARIR DANCE COMPANY SCHOOL 
Fall 1990 Synergy Studio 1501West5th St. 
Beginning Modem Sept. 10 -Dec. 19 

Intermediate Modem Sept. 15 -Dec. 15 
lntJAdvanced Modem Sept. 10 -Dec. 17 
Intermediate Jazz 
Sept. 15-Dec. 15 
Mon./Wed. 6:00 -7:00 pm Instructor: Andrea Ariel  $180  
Saturdays 1 :00 -2:30 pm Instructor: Kate Warren  $78  

Mondays 7:00 -8:30 pm Instructor: Yacov Sharir  $90  
Saturdays 11:30 -1 :00 pm Instructor: Andrea Ariel  $78  

Tues./Thurs. 5:00 -6:00 pm Instructor: Greg Easley $174 

Intermediate Ballet Tuesdays 9:30 • 11:00 am Sept. 11 -Dec. 18 Instructor: Lynne Grossman $90 
Intermediate Ballet 
Sept. 12 -Dec. 19 

"-!e's Ideal Workout Sept. 15 -Dec. 15 
Improvisation a Performance 
Sept. 15 -Dec. 15 
Wednesdays 7:00 -8:30 pm Instructor: Greg Easley  $90  
Saturdays 10:00 -11:15 am Instructor: Kate Warren  $78  
Saturdays 2:30 -4:30 pm Instructor: Darla Johnson  


Single claaes are also available. School holidays are November22-25. 
For more information contact Kate Warren, School Director at 499-0720. 
~AustinChronick-August 31 , 1990 
• 
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SHARIR DANCE 
COMPANY SCHOOL 
Registration Fall 1990 Synergy Studio 1501 West !)th ~t 
Complete and mail to, 
Beginning Modern Mon NVed. 6:00 7·00 pm

Sharir Dance Company Sept. 10 Dec. 19 Instructor'. Andrea Ariel $180
P.O. Box 339 

Austin, TX 78767 Please print clearly 
Intermediate Modern Saturdays 1:00 -2:30 pm 

Name 

Sept. 15 ·Dec. 15 Instructor: Kate Warren $78 
lnt./Advanced Modern Mondays 7:00 -8:30 pm Sept. 10 -Dec. 17 Instructor: Yacov Sharir $90
City_ 
~ho_ne _____ 

Intermediate Jazz Saturdays 11:30 -1:00 pm Sept. 15 -Dec. 15 Instructor: Andrea Ariel $78 
cou... title 

Beginning Ballet Tues.{Thurs. 5:00 -6:00 pm Sept. 11 -Dec. 20 Instructor: Greg Easley $174 
Intermediate Ballet Tuesdays 9:30 -11:00 am ZO'llo dlacount fw Sept. 11 -Dec. 18 Instructor: Lynne Grossman $90 
30f"-COU.... 

Intermediate Ballet Wednesdays 7:00 -8:30 pm T-'·-----~~-Sept. 12 -Dec. 19 Instructor. Greg Easley $90
C EftCloeed le my check peyable to the Sharlr Dance Cotllpafty. Kate's Ideal Workout Saturdays 10:00 -11:15 am D I would lllce to""-my ::J-twe-C y,.., Sept. 15 -Dec. 15 Instructor: Kate Warren $78 
Card I Eap._d!f•_ 

lmproviution Ir Performance Saturdays 2:30 -4:30 pm 
~·~~on_u'-'-'-'~--------------~ 
The Sharir Dance Company School invites first-time students to attend one free class with this ad. One copy of ad per person, please 
----------------~-.....---­

Sept. 15 -Dec. 15 Instructor: Darla Johnson $80 
Single classes are also available. School holidays are November22-25. 
For more information contact Kate Warren, School Director at 499-0720. _ __J 
DANCE 
THE SHARIA DANCECOMPANY SCHOOLIs oow accepting registration for the Fall semester The semester begins September 10, ana classes available include modern, ballet, Jau, 1mprov1sation and body conditioning. For more information or to register call Susan Pitchford at 320-8704 
The A~tln Chronicle September 7, 1990 
Dance UTbrella 
Thanks to the following businesses who donated goods to the Second Annual Upscale Garage and Bake Sale benefitting Dance Umbrella and The Sharir Dance Company held Sunday, August 19. 
35TH STREET BAKERY  OUT OF AFRICA IMPORTS  SARA BREUER  
A SIGN COMPANY  PAUL'S HOME FASHIONS  GAYE BULLARD  
AFFAIRS TO REMEMBER ID  PEARLE VISION CENTER  JANET BURNER  
AMDUR GALLERY  PIPE WORLD  JOSE' BUSTAMANTE  
AMY'S ICE CREAM  PRO-JEX GALLERY  PATTI CLAYTON  
ANDERSON'S COFFEE  POSSIBILITOYS  WENDY CORRIGAN  
AS YOU LIKE IT AGNES  SATELITTE SHOP  CARL CREEGER  
AUSTIN OPERA HOUSE  SOMETHING'S AFOOT  JOYCE DORMANDY  
AZIZ  SWEETISH HILL  PATTY EASON  
BALLET AUSTIN  TAOS CONNECTION  GREG EASLY  
BLOCKBUSTER VIDEO  TARGET  CHRIS FABRE  
BLUE HERON  TERRA TOYS  JEAN FRAZIER  
BOOK PEOPLE  TOY BOX  MARYGANZON  
BOOKSTOP  THE CAKE LADY  RICARDO GARCIA  
BRIGHT IDEAS  THE CONTAINER STORE  THERESA GIVENS  
CHEZ FRED  THE SOFA & CHAIR CO.  PEGGY GOUGH  
CHEZ ZEE  THE LAUTERSTEIN-CONWAY  DEANA HANNA  
CONGRESS A VE. BOOKSELLERS  SCHOOL OF MASSAGE  ARALYN HUGHES  
COOKIE COMPANY  THE UNIVERSITY CLUB  TIM HURST  
CRABTREE & EVELYN  TIM STANTON AUDIO  JAYNE KRAHN  
CUT-UPS PHOTO SCULPTURE­ TOAD HALL  HENRY KUGELER  
DAS SOFA  UNIQUE CAKES BY EMILIA  PAT LAND  
ECLECTIC  WATERLOO RECORDS  GINA LALLI  
EMERALD'S  WHEATSVILLE CO-OP  SCOTI LEHMAN  
FAITH UNITED :METHODIST  WHOLE EARTH PROVISION CO.  MIKE MAGUIRE  
FREE WHEELING BICYCLES  WHOLE FOODS BAKERY  DENISE MEREDITH  
GAGE FURNITURE  WICKS-N-STICKS  LYDIA F. MUNRO  
GOGGLES  WINN'S  LIZ MURPHY  
GRANITE CAFE  WIGGYS  CHRISTI OLSEN  
HAIR ARTISTRY BY JEAN  CADDIE OLSEN  
HALF PRICE BOOKS  Thanks also to those members and  CAROLYN PAVLICK  
HASTINGS  friends ofDance Umbrella and The  SUSAN PITCHFORD  
HEARTLAND GALLERY  Sharir Dance Company who contrib­ DIANA PRECHTER  
HORSEFEATHERS  uted their time, items, and wonderful  BEYERLY REEVES  
KIKUYA  baked goods  CHRIS RINCON  
KILLER BEADS  CHRIS ADAMS  ROXANNE SAENZ  
KRUGER'S  MARY D. ADAMS  ROSIE SERNA  
LACK'S  DEIRDRE ANDERSON  LARRY SHAW  
LA REYNA BAKERY  ANDREA ARIEL  DONNA SHEPARD  
LIBERTY BOOKS  MARINA JASMINE AUCLAIR  TEDSIFF  
MAGASIN -A SALON  LUCILA AU  PHYLLIS SLATTERY  
MAGNOLIA CAFE  BEYERLY BAJEMA  PETE SPELLINGS  
MAJESTIC DINER  ANDREA BECKHAM  MATI& DENISE STEINBERG  
MILLER BLUEPRINT  FRITZ BLAU  CAROLINE SUTION  
MOVIN' EASY  CHERYL BOYD  LAURA CANTU-TEMPLETON  
MUSIC LAND  CHRIS BOYD  COLEEN WARING  
MUSIC MAKERS  KAY BRADEN  KATE WARREN  
NUVO  DOUG BRANNAGAN  JOAN WOLFE  

9/September 1990 

C A L E N D A R 

DANCE 
THE SHARIR DANCE COMPANYSCHOOL IS now 
accepting reg1s1rat1on for tl1e Fall semester. The 
semester begiris September 10, and classes 
avallabte include moaorn, ballet, Jau, lmprovlsatton 
and body conditioning. For more Information or to 
register call Susan Pilchlord at 320-8704 
Tiie A•dn Cllrollklt September 14, 1'90 




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Austin American-Statesman 

By Sondra Lomax Special to the American-Statesman 
T 
ime to pull out the opera glasses and check those sea ­son tickets because the Aus­tin fine-art& season is under way. A perusal of the offer­ings from the symphony, ballet, opera and touring companies shows this year's lineup baa an international accent with an emphasis on diversity. 
The University of Texas' Baas Con­cert Hall, the city's largest pl'08Cenium theater, is housed in the university's Performing Arts Center. It plays host to a number of large touring groups each year and provides the venue for the city's own symphony orchestra, opera company and ballet troupe. 
Although fall bookings at the Bass Concert Hall are scheduled around UT's home football games, the theater will be the site for 17 different productions in the next 15 weeks. 
"Of course there are the annual per­formances of the Austin Symphony Or­chestra, the Austin Lyric Opera and Ballet Austin in the concert ball, but we are able to bring in a variety of touring groups from around the world through our own fine-arts series," said Jerry Harris, acting director of UT's Perform­ing Arts Center. 
Sponsoring international troupes is nothing new for the PAC, but Harris said this year's itinerary spans a broad­er spectrum than usual. And 1991 marks the PAC's 10th anniversary. 
"The emphasis this season is on cul­tural and ethnic diversity, from small chamber groups like the Eastern Brass Quintet to large companies like Pirin: The Bulgarian National Folk Ensem­ble," Harris said. 
Troupes from Bulgaria, Africa, Japan, Canada, Venezuela and Chile will grace the concert ball stage this year with classical and traditional mqsic, song and dance, sharing an impressive calendar 
with American dance troupes, Broad­way musicals, and solo and chamber music ensembles. 
"Two exciting shows that have just been added to the fall series are the American Indian Dance Theatre and the last Broadway cast for A Chorus LiM," said Harris. 
The PAC advertises its 1990-91 cal· endar as ''The Fabric of our Culture'" to illustrate its varied and international programming. 
Catchy slogans have been adopted by iDdividual companies in town as well. The Austin Lyric Opera advertiaes its "Hombres de Eapana" season to tout tJUs year's presentations about Spanish men: R 7'roc.aaton!. Don Giovanni and The 8al'ber of Seville. 
Last year's thematic 8e880n "Three Women" was so successful -sold out seats at every performance -that the opera company has expanded its 1990­91 programming by adding an extra performance to each of its three productions. 
The ALO will continue to import in­ternationally acclaimed guest artists for the principal roles in its productions, with local artists performing solo and chorus parts. Guests for "Hombres de :Espana" include Stefano Algieri as Manrico in nTrovat.ore and Richard Byrne as Figaro in The Barber of Seville. Robert McFarland will sing the title role in Don Giovanni 
An international array of guest artisu from Canada, Russia. the Phillipines and the United States will join Maestro Sung Kwak and the Austin Symphony Orchestra as the group celebrates its 80th season. Cellist Ofra Harnoy, pia­
nist& Alexei Sultanov and Bella David<>-' vich, and guest conductor Stephen Gunzenhauser are but a few of the art· ists scheduled to perform in 1990-91. 
Beside& classical fare, the ASO initi­at.es its new Nicte1odeon Pope Series this year. Three vintage silent movies accompanied by the ASO in the pit will be shown in the Bass Concert Hall in a one-performance-only format. A salute to Hollywood is included as the fourth entry on the Nickelodeon series, featur­ing Skitch Henderson and songs from the MGM musicals of the '40s and '50s. 
Ballet Austin advertises its upcoming season with "A Perfect Balance" as its slogan, featuring an eclectic repertoire tWd three new ballets by guest choreog­raphers .John Butler, Vincente Nebrada and Stanley Hall. The season balances classics such as The Nut.cracker and Pa­quito with Butler's dramatic Othello and artistic director Lambros Lambrou's jazzy Boyd & Biu£. 
Ballet Austin adds a fifth program to its subscription series with Paramount Theatre performances featuring the Sbarir Dance Company as guest artists. The April concert will p~entAustin's two professional dance compiwies in their first joint appearance. 
Although many local groups use its v~rsatile stage, the Paramount Theatre bas a long tradition of sponsoring its own season as well. This year, it cele­brate& its 75th anniversary with The Big Number, a gala musical revue. Oct. 27, and continues its annual Broadway mu­sical series throughout the year. Hello, Dolty!, lnt.o the Wood.\ The Sound <t Mu­sic and Rumors are a sampling of the Para.mount's Broadway offerings. 
The ASO, ALO, Ballet Austin, and the Paramount Theatre offer season tickets for their '90·91 productions. 
The PAC doe& not have a season­ticket subscription but ia offering pa­trons a new diacount pa88C8rd called a FLEXART card. The FLEXART card provides ftexibility in selecting and pur­chasing tickets for PAC eventa at dis­counted prices. 





Experience the excitement of modern dance 
By Anne Morris 
Special to the Picayune 
Margaret Perry laughs and admits she can talk on and on about the Sharir Dance Com­pany. Butshewould rather you just go to a performance. 
"You have to experience the arts," she said, her voice em­phatic. "It's not somethingyou hear about or rea'd about. Come, sit and see what hap­pens to you personally. We do not dictate in modern dance what an audience's experience of a performance should be." 
Perry became involved with the Sharir company back in 1981, after serving as presi­dent of the Austin Civic Ballet Guild. She has been board president of Sharirsince 1987, during a period of consistent growth for the company, which recently received a $50.000 Ad­vancement Grantfrom theNa­tional Endowment for the Arts. 
Thecompany originated as a troupe of deafdancers, which toured extensively from 1978 to 1981. As theAmerican Deaf Dance Company, the group pi­oneered the inclusion of deaf artists in professional dance. In 1982, thecompany began t.o in­corporate some hearing dancers and becametheSharir Dance Company under Israeli choreographer Yacov Sharir, a talented dancer with a giftfor building esprit de corps. (Dancers who join the company tend to stay a long time.) 
"I came on as a board mem­ber during the last bit of the American Dance Company," Perry explained, "and was part ofthe transfer. I wouldn't have stayed so long, except that Ya­cov is a very fair-minded per­son, very good in business and very good to work with. "My great attraction to the Sharir company," she said, "is thatit's not simply a dance commit­ment. The company is phenom­enally committed to d;tnce and art and music. We're as likely to commission a new musical work and employ musicians as we are dancers." 
Last year, with the aid of a grant, the company commis­sioned a new work by choreog­rapher/composer Pauline Oliv­eros, a 30-year veteran of the avant garde. Visual artist PatrickWadley designed hand­painted costumes and sets(and will contribute again this sea­son, as will Peter Nickel). Poet Christopher Middleton and vo­calist Tina Marsh also per­formed, as did deafdancerJim­my Turner. 
Long an enthusiastic sup­porter ofall the arts, Perry be­gan her association with dance as a pianist. "1 did study bal­let," she said. "I guess every­one's had to do that at some time or other. But I worked as a pianistfor the Houston Bal­let; I've accompanied dance classes all my life. It's a partic­ular skill that involves know­ing both dance and the reper­toire for dance. A pianistmuch better than I can come in and make quite a muddle of a dance class. You have to know what you're doing." 
Perry grew up in big and little towns around 'Thxas. "My father was in the oil business, and we moved around a lot," she said. "Igot to see the differ­ent aspects of cities with re­gard to the cultural arts-or the lack thereof. I know what itmeans to have to drive for an hour and a half just to see a cultural event." 
Besides working with 
Sharir, she euttently does an 
Wednesday, September 26, 1990 

educational lecture series for the Austin Lyric Opera (This year she will talk about Verdi, Mozart and Rossini) and bas been activein restoration work on Mayfield Park next to Lagu­na Gloria. 
A musical artist herself, for 19 years Perry has had her own Westbank piano studio teachingarea students. She be­gan as a harpsichordist, but moved into piano pedagogy. "It's a wonderful profession," she said. "It's exactly whatI al­ways wanted to do, and I getto do it every day." 
Patti Clayton, whose son takes piano from Perry, said she recruited her for theSharir 

board. "Margaret bas a r..al 
drive for the arts," Clayton 
said. "She has the enthusiasm 
and the ability to make things 
happen. She has a lot of con­
tacts inmusic and theater and 
opera-notjustdance." (Other 
Westbank board members are 
Joyce Dormady and Janet 
Burner.) 
Perry also has contacts in less likely places. She served as presidentofWildlife Rescue for years, and up until last year volunteered with the CE-Bar Fire Department, and attended the day-long firefighting train­ing school at Texas A&M. 
"I think any time you ex­pose yourself to something that's so far out ofthe realm of your everyday life, you learn so much more from the experi­ences," Perry said. "The fire.. fighting school was a real chal­lenge to me to pushmyself, and I got to know people I wouldn't have otherwise. Since child­hood I had always been quite terrified offires." 
For those who feel a modest terror at attending a dance event, she offers this sugges­tion: "Try one of our perfor­mances with this in mind. Modern dance is known for provoking ideas and experi­mentation and creativity. Itis not always going to be lovely. It is not always going to be something that you under­stand. Butitis a challenge for the audience." 
The Sharir company is known as a place to see solid, good dancing, and a place where training reaches a high level "What you see will be well done," Perry said. 
TheSharirDance Company tours and brings in touring artista and choreographers, in-
c!uding the famed Merce Cun­
ningham Company. The cur­
rentSharir Companybaseight 
dancers, but more dancers 
than thatperform atanygiven 
time, drawn from the resources 
ofthis and other cities. A pop­
ular Austin dancer who often 
appears is Heywood "Woody" 
McGrifF. Jose Luis Bustamante 
is resident choreographer. 
Kate Fisher Warren, who 
directs the SharirDance Com­
pany School, has danced with 
Sharir since 1982. The school 
offers classes in modern dance, 
jazz, aerobics, ballet and im­
provisation. 
"Kate is an extraordinary dancer, and we're very lucky to have her," Perry said. "Sharir has a nice balance ofvery pro­fessional dancers, very profes­sional staff directed by Carol Smith Adams, a good school and a very good board. In the cur­rent economy, a lot of dance companies are dropping like flies, folding left. and right, but we haven't and I think this is why." Part oftheir success also owes to Sharir's teaching atUT, and the company as resident dance company receives free re­hearsal space and other sup­ports. 
Season tickets cost only $32 with additional <ijscounts for se­niors and students. "We don't make our money from ticket sales," Perry said. "We want the performances to beaffordable." 
The Austin season opens Oct. 10, at Capitol City Play­house. 'Iburing dates have al­readybeen setfor Houston, Tul­sa, Dallas and Salt Lake City, and other tantalizing possibili­ties in Aspen and Washington, 
D.C. are in the works. (For fur. ther information, call 320­8704.) 

September Performance Calendar 

FALL CLASSES 

DARLA JOHNSON'S ''Improv­isation and Performance" will be held through the Sharir Dance Company School Saturdays beginning September 15 and running through December 15, 2:30-4:00 p.m. Cost is $80 for the entire session or$8 per class. Classes are at Synergy Studio, 1501 West5th. Formoreinfonnation 
' 
call Johnson at 441-0638. 
26-29 
SHARffi DANCE COMPANY will perform with Several Dancers Core at theMillerOutdoorTheatreinHem:umn Park, Houston. The company will perform works by Artistic Director Yacov Sharir and Resident Choreographer Jose Bustamante. 8:00 
p.m. Admission is free. For more information, call 320-8704. 



HOUSTON 

Lifestyle & Entertainment 

Two companies off er low-risk sample of modern dance 

BJ CYNTHIA THOMAS Houston Chronicle 
For people not sure about whether they'll like a performance, or an art form, Miller Outdoor Theater provides the per· feet venue. First of all, it's free. And as a theater without walls, it's built for a quick escape. U you don't like it, you can walk oul 
But there are good reasons for the dance-wary to see Several Dancers Core and Sharir Dance Company at Miller through Saturday, and there are good reasons to stay till the end. 
The two companies merged to perform six works accompanied by music ranging from Johann Strauss to the Rolling Stones. 
Several Dancers Core was formed by Sue Schroeder and Kathy Russell in 1980. As the company fell on hard financial times along with the rest of the Houston economy in 1986, it established another base in Atlanta. Sharir Dance Company, an Austin-based troupe, was founded in 
Dance review 

1982 by Yacov Sharir. 
The Miller program starts out a little slow with the opening of Red Cloth. choreographed by John Mead. But soon 
the music, composed by an "unknown Japanese musician," picks up. As it builds into a beat that sounds like i.t mightanchor a minimalist Japanese rap song, one dancer twirls herself and a swirling cloth into astriking, vibrant image. Danc­ers Sandra Marcello, Watta Ribas and Russell move with an enervated jaunti­ness that becomes forceful at times and animates the music. 
Lube Adnube is a witty work choreo­graphed by Jose Luis Bustamante. Set to a familiar Johann Strauss II waltz. the six dancers move at times like cogs in a postmodern machine. At other times they deign to accompany the waltz. albeit with a tipsy stagger. As the waltz keeps rolling along, with its relentless oomp·pah-pah, the dancers' deliberate pauses take on a weighty defiance -a delightful anachro­nism. 
My White Cow mixes poetry with dance as Tina Marsh, onstage, reads a poem by Christopher Middleton and lhen plays her own compositions on the synthesizer. What makes this piece mernorable is .a prop that enables dancers to use another dimension in space. A pole held and manipulated by two dancers allows a third dancer. on the pole. to move sus­pended in space. The pole moves as a pendulum or up and over in three­dimensiona1 ways. The choreography by Sharir turns the dancers into living, mov­ing geometrical equations. 
RolliDg Stones, danced to a collage of the group's music, is brightened by Jim Cox. a dancer whose body doesn't seem to be made of the same stuff of the rest of us. His comic, spastic, isolated movements highlighted a work that suffers from too many choreographers (seven). He's not on stage nearly enough. 
Foothills. danced to m11sic that sounds like broken glass being swept up. is overshadowed by the other, more interest­ing works. 
Four couples dance<l in Innostress. cho­reographed by Ohad Naharin and set to music by Brian Eno and David Byrne. The piece has a satisfying rhytbmit' grac.-e. but the highlight comes wnen the four men have the stage to themselves. Illuminated with a yellow light, their da.11cing is masculine and sensual. 
The companies ask audience members to bring old shoes to the theater. The shoes will be donated to the Shoes for Houston Homeless and Needy campaign. 
Warning: Be sure to take a can of bug spray. At times Wednesday night, there was more movement in the audience than on the stage as viewers swatted and shooed swarming mosquitoes. 
Several Dancers Core and the Sharir Dance Company Where: Miller Outdoor Theater in Her­mann Park When: Tonight and Saturday at 6 p.m. 
Friday, Sept. 28. 1990 Houston Chronicle 3E , 
Houston Chronicle 
Section D Friday, Sept. 28, 1990 


Dance 
HOUSTON BALLET: La Sylphide, 19th· century classic, staged by Ivan Nagy. Ben Stevenson, L. 7:30 p.m. today-Satur­day, 2 p.rn. Sunday. Wortham Theater Center; 227-ARTS, (800) 828-ARTS. 
SEVERAL DANCERS CORE: In concert, with Austin's Sharir Dance Company. Works include FootMJ/s, Red Cloth and Rolling Stones. 8 p.m. today and &\lur­day. Miller Outdoor Theater. Free. (Pa­trons are asked to bring shoes for needy children.) Call 520-5530. 
DANCE HOUSTON: An adjudicated con· cert of dance, with works by etgbtHouston choreographers. 8 p.m. Oct. 5. Cullen Performance Hall, University of Houston central campus. 524-7212. 
MARJA BENITEZ SPA.NISH DANCE COMPANY: Concert of flamenco and other Spanish dance forms: 3 p.m. Sun­day. The Grand 1894 Opera House, 2020 Postofflce, In Galveston. (713) f80-1894 or (409) 765-1894. 


2companies at Miller 
Austin's Sharir Dance Com­pany will join Houston's Sev­eral Dancers Core for a free program at 8 p.m. today and Saturday at Hermann Park's Miller Outdoor Theater. Chris­topher Boyd, left, Andrea Beckman and Stephen Mar­cello, are members of the Sharir Company. Patrons are asked to donate shoes for needy children. The shoes will be distributed through the Shoes for Houston's Home­less and Needy campaign. For details, call 520-5530. 

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PAGE 52 AUSTIN WEEKLY OCTOBER 3-9, 1990 



,,.r, 
JSI ~ JI Slue. 
v.• 
~II be'"' l;>v. ~t.Call 4:>.. ~ 
Free Trial Class. Register now for dance • classe5 at the Sharir Dance Company • 
School in Synergy Studio,1501 W. Fifth St • I n.i"orn.. 
Classes are scheduled through Dec. 20. • 'J' 
Call 499-0720 • • • • • ­
..., Creative
Oanr ~shira is ' 
fr <to<:e' 


Odober 10 -13
$7 Seniors 
$6 Students 
Information: 320 8704 

The Sharir Dance Company Is In residence at Ille University ofTl•as Colleg• of f lM Arts and Is fund9cl In part by the N1tloMI Ericiown-t f0< the Arts. The Te.as Commission on the Arts. the Mld·America Arts Allian<* 111d tM City of Austin under the auspk.es of the A111tln Arts Commission. 
20 lMAGES October~. 1990 


Wednesday -Saturday October 10-13 

Capitol City Playhouse 214 W. 4th St. 
Information: 320 8704 

• 

~· 
~with



Dance 
Jimmy Turner Tina Marsh 
Th• Shonr Dantfl Company is ;., rf1Sid"'1te at the UniV11rs1ty of Texas College of Fine AIU and " funded In part by the Nllltional Endowm&nl fOI the Arts. The Te•as Commission on the Atts. th• Mid-America Arts Alllanc• and the City of Austin under th• auspices of the Austin Aru CommisslOn . 

The A1151Jn Chronicle October S, 1990 


Information: 320 8704 
Capitol City Playhouse 214 W. 4th St. 
Wednesday -Saturday October 10-13 

• 



Jimmy Turner 
The Sh•rir Dan<e Company Is In residence ~1 the Univu•ity of Te>lllS Coll•ge of Fin• A<ts and 1s funded in p•rt by the National Endowment lonhtt Am. The Tua> Commission 011 the Arts, lhe Mid·Aml!Tlca Arts Allianu and lhe City of Au~in under the "'"PkltS of the Austin Arts Comminlon. 
Tht Ausrin Chronicle October 5, 1990 J lhe Aw.tin Chronlt'le Octnber 5, 1990 43 

DANCE 


Andrea Beckman, Steve Marcello, Charles San· 
tos and Carolyn Pavlik will perform Deep 
Listeningduring the Sharlr Dance Company's 
new season. 
THE SHARIR DANCE COMPANY opens !IS 1990·91 season Oct 10-13 ""lt Capitol City Playhouse 214 W. 4th This production Will ieature the wh1ms1cal LUBE ADNIJBE and the though I·provokmg ANSWERS, ooth crea1eu by Resident Ctioreog1apher Jose Luis Bustamame, a new work 1n progress by Artislic Dlfector Yacov Sharlr and fHE BLIND MAN, a per· formanco ·1r1 piece co-created by Sham and Bus1amHnte, and fealurrng guest art1s1s Tina Marsh of Creative Opportunily Orchestra and deaf dancer/choreographer Jimmy Turner. All perlor. mances begin a1 8pm aM ticket prices are $9 general. '7 seniors, S6 students 


LIFESTYLE 

Tuesday, October 9, 1990 Austin American-Statesman 


Sharir troupe takes aim 
at national recognition· 

By Sondra Lomax 
Spoclel to the Amerloan-Statesmen 
Almost every afternoon Yacov Sharir choreographs in a small dance studio. Wearing sweatpants and T-shirt, hill soft leather shoes brush against the wooden floor as he searches for the right gesture or step. Some days it's a long, slow process. But he doesn't mind. Ya· cov Sharir is a pat\ent man. 
For the past seven years, he has steadily crafted a professional modern dance company, expand­ing carefully, resisting the urge to push too far too fast. Now, the Sharir Dance Company enters its 1990-91 season, its busiest ever, with increased national and local performances. 
Sharir's patience has paid off, and the company's plans for this season have surpassed all his expectations. 
"We are further along than I would've imagined eight years ago, and I'm full of fear. We're now ready to move ahead, and it's scary." 
National touring is frightening -the competition, financial com­mitments -but811atural progres­sion for an emerging company. 
If you go ••• 
Sharir Dance Company 
When: 8 p.m. Wednesday through Saturday Where: Capitol City Playhouse Tlcketa: $6 to $9 Information: 472-2966 
"We have carefully built the company over seven years in Aus· tin, seejng it honed, building our audience support," Sharir said. "Now the company has come of age artistically, financially, with the right repertoire and dancers." 
As bis own troupe readies for travel, Sharir is spearheading a NationaJ Touring Network to help other small modern dance compa· nies find engagements in an era of declining sponsorship and stiff competition. 
"We have routinely presented other companies since 1982. Now we are convincing others to do the same, to help each other by sharing programs and venues on a national level." 
An ex.change with Senta Driver's company last December roarked Sharir's New York City debut, and the company plans to return there in April to share the stage with Donald Byrd/The Group. Other performances are scheduled for Salt Lake City, Tulsa and Aspen. 
In addition, negotiations are un­der way for a Washington, D.C., engagement. If confirmed, the Sharir Dance Company will be the featured performers in an evening of modern dance at the Kennedy Center•s "Texas Festival of the Arts" next June. Sharir is one of only three Texas modern compa­nies invited to perform, sharing the bill with Dallas Black Dance Theatre and Houst-On's Farell Dyde. 
"It would be an honor to repre· sent the state at the Kennedy Cen­ter," Sharir said, hinting that the national coverage wouldn't hurt either. 
An Israeli immigrant, now a nat­uralized American citizen, Sharir came t.o Austin in 1977 to found the American Deaf Dance Theatre and teach at the University of Tex­as. After five successful years di­recting the deaf company, he began working with hearing danc­ers, and the Sharir Dance Compa­ny was born. For Sharir, it was the realization of his dream to direct 

The Sharlr Dance Company wlll perform Jose Luis Bustamante's Lube Adnube at Its season opener Wednesday. 
his own American modem dance company and create an outlet for bis choreography. 
Sharir's choreographic impetus is his visual arts background (he holds an art degreein ceramics and sculpture). He sculpts human bod­ies into patterns and shapes, draw­ing inspiration from various sources: a poem, work ofart, musi­cal composition or his dancers. He creates three or four new works each yeaT, often collaborating with Jose Luis Bustamante, the compa­ny's resident choreographer. 
Bustamante and Sharir will pre­miere their latest collaborative work, The Blind Man, when the company's home season opens at Capitol City Wednesday. The dance features guest artists Jimmy Turner and composer/vocalist Tina Marsh. 
"It's a misleading title, but the work emphasizes creation and de­struction," Sharir said. "I use a pottery wheel onstage because it's an ancient tool and illustrates the ultimate creative process of cen­trifugal force." 
Sharir describes The Blind Man as borderline performance art, very experimental and provoca­tive. His Untitled: Work in Prog­ress, another premiere work, is of the same genre. 
Sharir traditionally presents avant garde dances and works in progress at Capitol City Play­house. He says the theater is suited to experimental works. and his au­dience expects them. 
"We have a certain following at 
different theaters," he explained. 
"The intimacy of Capitol City is better suited to our works which are on the edge. The close space al­lows for expressions and gestural material that would get lost on a larger stage." 
Two additonal repertoire works by Bustamante, Answers and Lube Adnube, complete the program. 
"The whole idea of a home sea­son is to have a commitment to di­versify our presentations." Sharir said. " It's a small community, very tight, so we must challenge our­selves, our dancers, and our audi­ence. I have a responsibility to take them to new places, &0metimes to keep them uncomfortably on the edge. We also have more tradition­al, technical dances, but those are for proscenium theaters, not Capi­tol City." 
Austin Amertcan-Statesman 
Tuesday, October 9, 1990 

THE DAILY TEXAN 




Airborne troupe 
Sharir Dance Company remains light on its feet but holds firm to the ground about commitment 
Jason Aycock 
Daily Texan Staff 

many 
with 
dance, ht.' has 
ma1nt,1ined a 
staunch commit­
ment to certain 
ba.;;1c'>: the devel­
opment ofa local 
modern dance audience. encoura~e­ment ot collab1,rati\'e '"irks and a controlled approach lll de\'eloping ,, modern dance repcrtor\' Cl1mpany. 
A" the Sharir Dance Company l1pens its l'tghth -.eason. it is ckar that his commitment has paid oii. The 1990-91 sea~on 1:-the compa­ny's buc;iest t'\ t'r. with a still-grow­ing -.late of touring performances. And tht.> inml\ati\'e \\ ork and broad appeal of tht> wmpany has contrib· uted tn the establi:>hment of local and nation,1\ .wd1ences for modern dance. Sharir is particularly happy with the local following the wmpa­ny has developed. 
"We intC'nd hl sen•t• this Cl1mmu­
nity llrst, unlikt.> '>lime' comp.mies 
which are des1~11l•d primarily for 
touring," says Sharir. "Therc>'s il tremend<.ius amount of audience participatt(ln here. and that's very encouraging." 
The company originclted in 1978 as the American Deaf Dan.:e Com­pany and consisted C'nl1rely ol deaf d;mcers. The troupe tourC'd tht• Unikd State,, for about four vcars before Sharir began to add hearing dancers, .ind !ht.• Sharir Dance Com­pany was born in 1982. 
In the ensuing yeM,,, Sharir was able to build a rt'l1abh.• ba-.e of d,rnc­ers. A progressi\'e attitude toward ch1.1rt'ography and tht:? indu,,ion of collaborative work helped dc\'elop tht.> reputation of the cornrany with­out going too far, l01.l fast. 
"The collaborali\'e work is really paying oil," sap Sharir. "This com­muntt) hcl-. some really e\.C'itmg art­ists. . ll m,\kes the wurk much mor1.• inten.!,,ling." 
Two years ago, the company was selected to join the Mid-Amc.>rica Arts Alliance touring program and was one of 37 arts organizations na­tionw1dt to be selected for the pres· tigious \rational Endowment for the Arts Advancement Program. Since then, the company's growth has been rapid. 
"The grant ha~ reallv bolstered the Shurir D.111cc Comp,my,'' says Carol Smith Adams. the company's managing dircdor. "It'.; enabled us to build a gO\ ernin~ board; we've dl>ubled the size of our board ot di­rectors; w1.•'n! rai::.l'd a lot more mone) and we've built our ~tarf up. It's re<illy gin~n us a great founda­tion to branl:h out. So if., not onl\' the artistic end but also lhl· adminis­trative end that was helped by thl' grant." 
For their season opening perfor­mances (W1.·d11C'.;day through Satur­day) the compam· has ~elected four pieces that .,hould be an important part of its touring repertoire this year. Once again. however, it b pre­senting a major wllaboratl\'e work that deserve., notice. St.:rnding out among the four piece' b a bold reworking ol 1Ire Blind,\ la11, ,1 d.mcc that was originally de...igned by Sharir and rcsidl'nt choreographer Jose Luis Bustamanh.•. 
The comp\l'x, ,1dvcnturolh work exemplifies the collaborative nature that is a big part oi lht> Sharir com­pan~'o; ~uccess. In additton to the Sharir Bustamante choreography, the piece incorporate~ poetry b}' Norbert Rucbsaat, a guest perform­ance by Jimmy Turner (IA ho was a member of Sharir's American Deal 
Tiii·: DAILY TEX.\N 
Wednesday, October 10. 1990 Page 11 

The troupe continues to explore new possibilities in modem dance, gaining a local audience In the process. 
Dance Company) and music and formance 0111111/,e; and an untitled work-in­
vocals bv Tina Marsh, artistic direc-"It tashms around the waist. and progres:.. The unnamed work, 
tor of Ai.1stin's Creath·t> Opportuni-looks surt oi like a metal ruffle," chore\igraphed by Sharir, is sched­
ty Orchestra. says Marsh oi tht.• instrument/gar-uled to be performed a:. a completed 

· From a reading of the evening's ment. Ihat's a-, dose a:. anvone can ensemble pieCl' in January. Other 
program, it is apparent that Tlrt• come to describing the unique m-dates in the Austin season Me 
Bli11d Mn11 is n~1t the s.1me old song-strument, and it should prove to be scht!duled in March.and May. 
and-dance. The piece explvres the an mteresting (though appropriate) 
issues of constructitm/destruction Jddllion to the piece. 

SHARIR DANCE COMPANY
and gravity/weightlessness, and The other pieces indude A11su·er:>, 
Where: Capitol Cit\ Playhouse, 
uses such elements as a pottery a trio chon.•ographed by Bus­
114 IN. Fourth St. 
wheel, rocks and a "wearable in-tamante; Tiit• l.ubt' Ad1111bt.>, which is a 
When: Tonight 1hrough Saturday 
strument" Marsh dons for her per-'ariation of Strauss's l'l1e Blue 

Wednesday, October 10. 1990 




TODAY 
Firat glimpse of 'Hot Spot' 
The Hot Spot, a romantic thriller directed 
by Dennis Hopper and starring Don Johnson and Virginia Madsen, has Its American premiere at 8 tonight at the Paramount Theatre. The film was Shot in Austin, Taylor and other locations around central Texas, and Includes the work of 
local actors and artists. One of the film's stars, as yet unnamed, is expected to attend the premiere. By special 
arrangemen~ With Orion Pictures, all proceeds from the premiere Will benefit the Paramount's 75th Anniversary 
Restoration Fund. Admission is $10; tickets are avallable at the Paramount HEB stores and UTTM TicketCenters. °For Information call 472-5470. 
Sharir MaOn opening 
The Sharir Dance Company has begun its 1990-91 season at Capitol City Playhouse. The program, which runs through Saturday, Includes Lube Adnube and Answers by resident choreographer Jose Luis Bustamante; a work-ln­progress by artistic director YetXN Sharir· and The Blind Man, a performance art ' piece co-created by Sharir and Bustamante and featuring guest arttats Tina Marsh and Jimmy Turner. Performances are at 8 p.m.; tickets are $9, $7 for seniors and $6 for students. Call 320-8704 for more Information. 
Austin American-Statesman 
, ' .. ­
Thur'sday, October 11, 1990 
DANCE 


Andrea Beckman, Steve Marcello, Charles San· tos and Carolyn Pavlik will perform Deep Listeningdurlng the Sharir Dance Company's new season. 
THE SHARIR DANCE COMPANYopens llS 1990·91 season Oct 10·13 at Capitol Cily Playhouse. 214 W. 4th. This produchon will teatur~ lhe wh1mr.1cal LUBE 
ADNUBEand the thought·provokrng ANSWERS,bOth created by Resident Choreographer Jose Luis Bustarnan1e, a new work 1n progress by Artistic Director Yacov Sharlr, and THE BLIND MAN,a per· lormance art piece co-created by Sharu and 
Bustamante. ane! featunngguest artists l 1na Marsn of Creative Opportunity Orchestra and deaf 
dancerlchOreographer Jimmy Turner All pertor· 
mances begin at 8pm. and ticket prices are $9 general $7 seniors.$& students. 
Tht Austin Chronic~ October S, 1990 


The Sharir Dance Company performs 
tonight and Saturday at Capitol City Playhouse With a program that includes 
Lube Adnube and Answers by resident choreographer Jose Luis Bustamante; a work-in-progress by artistic director Yacov Sharrr; and The Blind Man, a performance art piece co-created by Sharir and Bustamante. Performances are at 8 p.m.; tickets are $6-$9. catl 320­8704 for more lnfonnatlon. 
Friday, Odober 12, 1990 
Austin American-Statesman 


Sharlr dancers explore techniques 

By Michael Blrnee 
Special to the American-Statesman 
The Sbarir Dance Company has not abandoned its long-term commitment to steely modernist technique. However, each selec­tion in its cunent recital allows focus to drift to non-movement elements -spoken text, cos­tumes, props, original accompani­ments -thereby competing for the spectators' attention from a mvriad of directions. 
-Most telling was a new cre­ation by Y acov Sharir and Jose Bustamante, The Blind Man. While dancers Bustamante and Jimmy Turner labored beneath their manipulation of limestone rocks, Sharir turned pottery on­stage and vocalist Thia Marsh contrib:rt.ed an eclfctic assort­ment of sounds. 
-----------•
DMCerevlew 
Sharlr Dance 
WI-.: Through Oct. 13 Where: capitol City Playhou8e Ticble: $6 to $9 lnlonn8lion: 472-2966 
The dancers' struggle with the rocks brought them into a strug­gle with each other. They built small structures, tore them apart, then pinned each other down with stray stones. Meanwhile, Sharir sat against the naked brick wall at Capitol City Play­house, dickering with his pottery until the dancers' explosions forced him to begin his creations anew. Marsh played metal ob­jects, dropped pebbles on the floor and coned a strange vari· ety of tones from her thin, mys­
terious voice. The effect was 
haphazard, like a vagrant pile of 
rocks that strikes one suddenly 
with its natural beauty. 
Another new number, Yet Unti­tled, begins with the sound poems of Christopher Middleton. Two rows of dancers face each other, trading off the roles of performer and spectator. They strike out into small, abstract groupings which interact with stabbing, sur­prising motions. 
Here we see Sharir's sculptural power, with his dancers catching each other, forming quick tab­leaux, then moving on to the next lift. The interactive quality of the movement seems to suggest the complexity of human relation­ships. Technically, the two best dancers in this grouping were Carolyn Pavlik and Stephen Marcello, although virtuosity is not a prerequisite for this work. 
Answers, an older piece choreo­graphed by Bustamante, also be­gins to the accompaniment of a spoken text, then segues into atonal jazz riffs. Three female dancers move in tandem with un­
expected, jarring gestureS. The gariahly colored costumes implied an uneasy unise:ruality. Again the needle-sharp Pavlik stood out. 
Lacy, ironic costumes set the tone in The Lube Adnube, another repertory piece by Bustamante. Set to Strauss's BluR Danube WalU, this work seems to poke light, brainless fun at the con­torted sexuality and imprisoned fonns of ballet. The in-jokes and calculated mime gestures pleased the opening-night audience. but it lacked the weight of, say, Mark Morris' satires. 
This was a thoroughly interest­ing program, if not an exception­ally memorable one. Sharir and Bustamante are still exploring the boundaries of their visions ­modernist in movement, post­modernist in style. 
----­
2 Austin American-Statesman saturday, Ociober 13, 1990 

Oct. 4 7 10-13 12-13 
21 
23 28-27 
~ 
21 
29 
Harry Connick, Jr. 
Les Grands Ballets Canadlens 
Sharir Dance Company 
Austin Symphony Orchestra: 

Christopher Parkening 

Hello, Dolly! 
Africa Oyel Ballet Austin 
The Big Number. 15th Anniversary Gala 
Take 6 with Bela Fteck/Flecktones American Indian dance theater Bass Concert Hall Bass Concert Hall Capitol City Playhouse Bass Concert Hall 
Paramount Theatre Bass Concert Hall Bass Concert Hall Paramount Theatre 
Bass Concert Hall Bass Concert Hall 
Sharir on stage 
Tonight is the final performance ofSharir Dance Company's season-opening program at Cspitol City Playhouse. Scheduled dances are Lube Adnube and Answers by resident choreographer Jose Luis Bustamante; a work-In-progress by artistic director Yacov Sharir; and The Blind Man, a pertormance art piece co­created by Sharir and Bustamante and featuring guest aritsts Tina Marsh and Jimmy Turner. Tickets for the 8 p.m. show are $9. $7 for seniors and $6 for students. Call 320-8704. 

Austin American-Statesman Saturday, October 13, 1990 

Eme Arts 
From Page 15 
DANCE 
Sharir Dance Company 
The Sharir Dance Company 
performs at 8 tonight at Capitol 
City Playhouse. 214 W. Fourth St. 
Call 320-8704. 

DANCE 
U1 DANCE REPERTORY THEATRE and Sharir Dance 
Company will perform 'Choices, Chances: Dances 
Past and Fu1ure". Nov 15-17. Spm and Nov 18 2pm 1n 
lhe B Iden Payne Theatre, 23rd St and San Jacinto. 
The planned program revolves around dance 
theories past. present. and lulure and fea\Ures 
works from the ORT reperatory, one world premiere. 
and one Texas premiere. Tickets are S7 ($6 UTID) at 
all UnM T1cketCen1ers. Charge-a-Ticket. 477-6060 
<Advance Sales). For more 1ntormation. call 471-1444 
THE SHARIR DANCE COMPANY SCHOOl 1s now of· 
fering a Mid-Semester Spectal S1uden1s can save 
20 °I.tor enrollment through Dec 20 lor the fall 
semester. Classes are avalable tn Modern, Ballet. 
Jazz. lmprov1sat1on and Body Condt11oning. and are 
taugh1 lnthe Synergy S1Ud10 at 1501W,5th St Call 
499-0720. 
Austin American-Statesman Saturday, October 13. 1990 
Best bats 

On the town 
CBS recording artist Jean La Grend 
plays the grand opening of Club 
Flamingo, a new venue for Tejano 
music at 8619 U.S. 183 South. British 
alternative rock band the Wonder 
Stuff is at Liberty Lunch with the 
W8J0Uta and Grein• of F...h. Peter 
c...concludes a three-night stand at Cactus Cafe with opening act Jlmmr LaFave. Happy Femily celebrates the release of its new album Lucky with a 5 p.m. in-store set at Sound Exchange and a 10:30 show at Austin Outhouse with the Pocket Fl8hRmen. Louisiana Cajun experts File are at La Zona Rosa, Lou Ann Barton and Toni Price are at Antone's, and Gary P. Nunn is at the Broken Spoke. 
Bluegr-In th• P•rk 
Bluegrass comes to Round Rock today 
and Sunday as the Old Settten Bluegr..F..UVal settles into Old Settlers Park, three miles east of 
Interstate 35 on Texas 79. Music runs 
from 11 a.m. to 11 p.m. today and 
from 10 a.m. to 4 p.m. Sunday with live performances by Grammy· 
nominated Alison Kraues & Union Station plus Central Texas area acts 
Peter Case conctudes a three-night stand at cactus Cafe 
the Warrior River Boys, the Austin Lounge Lizards, Tennessee Valley Authorith, Red Oak Bluegrass, Artificial Turf, the Bad Livers. the Coleman Brothers and the Hays County Gals. Tickets are $10 Saturday and $7 Sunday, or $15 for a weekend pass; children younger than 12 get in free. 
Good sports 
Ifyou decided not to drive to Dallas 
for the Texaa va. Oklahoma showdown at the Cotton Bowl, you 
can catch it on TV as ESPN carries 
the game at 3 p.m. Other college football games on the tube today include SMU at Baylor on KBVO at noon, and Syracuse at Penn State on ABC at 2:30 p.m.... The University of Texas women's tennis team plays 
host to the Intercollegiate Tennie 
Coeohea AMOClatton'a 8outhwHt Reglon8I CMmplonehlpe thia 
weekend at Penick-Allison Tennis Center. Quarterfinal matches begin at 9 thia morning, with semifinals at 11 and finals echeduled for Sunday..•• The first weekend of pari-mutuel wagering on horae racing continues at Manor DoWna with 1 p.m. post times today and Sunday. Reserved seats are $5, grandstand seating is $3, and general admission tickets are $2. 
..., of th• rest 
The Auatln SymphonJ wind.a up a weekend stand at Bass Concert Hall with an 8 p.m. performance featuring classical guitarist Chrlatopher Parkenlng. Tickets range from $20 to $8.... The 8...rtr Dence CompenJ finishes a four-day stay at Capitol City Playhouse. Showtime ia 8 p.m.; tickets are $9, $7 for senior citizens and $6 for students.... The Paramount Theatre's held-over Fall Claaaic Film Festival concludes today with big­screen showings of 0... With tM 
Wind at 2:30 and 7:30 p.m. Admission is $4, or $2 for students. 
-Peter Bleckatock 


AUSTIN 

Arts, Theater, Sports 
Nov. 15-17-DANCE REPERTORY THEATRE/SHARIA DANCE COMPAHY. Hlstonc8110011 ol AmelQn modem~ enlettwlned Wiiii ·Negto ~·...oeletwlled in this pte.en­llltion.8pm. B.ldenPayneTheatre.2atd&S&'!Jaanto 471-1444. 
NOVEM8ER7-13, 1990 AUSTIN WEEKLY PAGE 19 

Dancers never seem to stop 
working, and student dancers are 
no exception. 
Dance Repertory Theatre, the 
University of Texas student 
dance company, has been on a 
roll these past few months, and it 
looks as though things won't slow 
down anytime soon. 
So far this has been a banner 
year. The troupe premiered five 
new works, garnered recognition 
at the American College Dance 
Festival Association's regional 
and national conferences last 
spring and performed in Scotland 
at the Aberdeen Youth Festival 
in August. 
With little summer vacation, 
the dancers began rehearsals in 
September for the repertory con· 
cert they will present with the 
Sharir"Dance Company Nov. 15­
17 at UT's Payne Theatre. 
"What began 10 years ago as a performing outlet for dance ma· jors has blossomed into a reper· Lory company with works by well-known choreographers," said Sharon Vasquez, Dance Reper. tory Theatre founder and co-ar­tistic di.rector. 
Vasquez says the company ful­fills part of a teaching mission to provide students with a realistic sense of how a professional com­pany works, such as the disci­pline required, the long hours of rehearsals, U>uring rigors and how to work with guest choreographers. 
One guest choreographer the students know well is Yacov Shari.r. This is the ninth year the students will share a program with the Sharir Dance Company, which is the professional compa­ny in residence at the UT College of Fine Arts. 
"There has always been a close relationship between the Sharir Dance Company and ORT," said Vasquez. "Some people don't re­d.l.ize that Yacov teaches on the UT dance faculty and that sever­al DRT alumni have been accept­ed into the Sharir company over the years." 
Other DRT/Sharir ties extend through UT's dance faculty. Hey· wood "Woody" McGriff, DRT co­artistic director and resident choreographer, has performed regularly for two years as a guest artist with the Sbarir company. Vasquez and other UT dan<'~ fac· ulty members such as Lynne Grossman and Toni Bravo have appeared with the Sharir compa­ny as well. 
This year's concert. is entitled 
Choices, Chances: Danas Past and Future. and revolves around dance theories past. present and future, featuring works from tht' student company's repertoire and two premieres. 
Sharir's contributions to this year's concert are twofold. He has restaged his modern dance Opus 102 for Dance Repertory Theatre, and his own company will premeiere The Tlonic Zone.s by its choreographer Jose Luis Bustamante. 
McGriff, who bas just returned from performing in New York City with Jennifer Muller and THE WORKS, will premiere a new solo choreographed for him by THE WORKS' dancer John Brooks. 
Other repertory pieces on the program will include McGriffs Chances Are, Rebecca Wright's ballet 7.ero Hour, and Helen Ta­m.iris' Negro Spirituals (seen last February as part of UT's Celebro­tion of Black Performance). 
For more information about Choices, Chance8: Dances Past and F'ub..ve, call 471-14«. 
• 





Here's looking at you, doc 

Austin eye physician and sur­geon Dr. Sue Ellen Young is an award winner. 
She recently was the only Aus­tinite to receive the 1990 Honor Award from the 16,000-member American Academy of Ophthal­mology at its annual meeting in Atlanta. About 100 eye doctors na­tionwide were so honored. 
Sue Ellen, chief of ophthalmolo· gy at Brackenridge Hospital and its Children's Hospital, was cited for her leadership in providing continuing education for her fellow physicians.
Besides her professional accom­plishments, Sue Ellen's a trick wa­ter-skier, a fly fisherman, a lifetime member of the UT Presi· dent's Associates and an active supporter of Bat Conservation In­ternational, the Sharir Dance Company and the Humane Soci· ety. She's an avid animal lover who "is owned by" a cat, two dogs and a horse. And two or three times a week she works out with a personal trainer at 6 a.m. at The Hills Fit­
ness Center. 
Last year she joined other vol­unteer physicians performing eye surgeries for two weeks in Kenya, Africa. 
How does she do it all? 
"By running as fast as I can," says Sue Ann, SO, the widowed stepmother of five grown sons. "My problem is I like to do a lot of things and like to do them well. My frustration is not having enough hours in the day!'' 
She reserves weekdays for her 10-to 12-hour-a-day medical prac­tice and her personal fitness rou­tines; weekends are for socializing with friends. 
Footnote: Previous Honor 
· Award winners include Austin physici~ Dr. Ru11 Neuheu1 and Dr. Sam Key Ill. 
• 

Austin ophthalmologist Dr. Sue Ellen Young wins prestigious Honor Award 

UT DANCE REPERTORY THEATRE 
WITH SHARIR DANCE COMPANY 

Two forces venture on a creative journey of six worb with elemeots both old ond new. feolvring Negro Spirilllo/s, a Shorir premiere, and JusJ One ofthe Choices, danced by Heywood "Woody" McGriff and choreo­grophed by John Brooks of Jennifer Muller and the Worh 
$7 (S6 UTID) CHARGE·A·TICKET: 477-6060 lnforrnotion: 471-1444 
B. Iden PayneTheatre 
UT DEPARTME N T OF DRAMA 
ST AGE 
MAG IC 



Sunday,'Dacember 2, 1990 Auatln American-Statesman 

A good rap 
Colorsounds sponsors all-star anti-violence music video 

.b-=~~---------~=====~·~--:J 
Special to the Amertcan-Staaman 
Encouraging gangs to stop the violence is the message within the newest video sponsored by Colorsounds. West Coast Rap All Stars: We're All in the 8amR Gang features nationally known rap­pers singing out against the kill­ing of gang members and innocent bystanders. 
Colorsounds produc:er Dr. Mi­chael Bell says "the Austin police support the idea of a national contest for young rapper& and graffiti artis~." Bell will assist in sponsoring such a contest nation· ally. The Colol'80unds series is cablecast on Austin Access and also on the Classroom channel, reaching 4,500 junior and senior high schools nationwide. Catch the video at 6 p.m. Sunday with a repeat at 11:30 a.m. Saturday on Channel 10. 
-
. 

Ta/kin' Trash. a new series of programs about the environment, is 7:30 p.m. Monday on Channel 
10. Produced by Nancy Reppert.
•

Attorney Jeff Larsen discusses new immigration laws on the next edition of the series Yoo-
Nancy Reppert poses with a friendly sculpture made of trash for her envi­ronmental program Ts/kin' Trash. 
guardia Hispana. Catch this pro­gram in Spanish at 9 p.m. Friday on Channel 33. Produced by Joe Stassi. 
• 
Spend An &ening with TaylorBranch at 5 tonight on Channel 
10. Produced by Joe Stassi. held in March at the seventh an­niversary Gala of The Sharir Dance Company. The show is on at 3:30 p.m. today on Channel 33. 
. Q'T M-•
Produ ed by Bnan
c .__..I· L_...:_ n ___ ~...;......_,, .
S
rw.Tir uuriu:: '''f"'J",. IS 8 new 
AmtlnllCClll 
program featuring solo work 
danced by Heywood "Woody" 
McGriff, artist-in-residence at 
the University of Teus and a 
member of the Sbarir Dance 
Company. The performance was 
Mortician and •Access producer Eddie Walker and Reel Visions producer Todd Pannell give you a Tour of the Dead, an on-site visit to the famous New Orleans Lake­lawn Cemetery. In addition to the massive graves and tombs, the show also bas music and an interview with Christian punkers Red Ink. See Reel Visions: Tour of the Dead at 11:30 p.m. Wednes­day on Channel 10. Produced by Todd Pannell and Eddie Walker. • 
One of the services of Austin Access is the Community Bill­board. a Public Service Anounce­ment listing of activities sponsored by non-profit organi­7.ations. Mail announcemen~ to 
A<:rv, attn: PSA, P.O. Box 
1076, Austin 78767, or pick up a 
form from the Accegs Center. I 1143 Northwestern Ave.• at Rose­
wood off East 11th Street. 
MOON 
STRUCK 

-Sharir Dance Company McCullough Theatre, Austin, Texas January 25-26, 1991 
Reviewed by Sondra Lomax 
Israeli dancer/choreographer Yacov Sharir left Batsheva Dance Company in 1977 to spend a year's sabbatical in Aus­tin, Texas, where he established a professional company for deaf dancers. One year stretched into five as his American Deaf Dance Company regular­ly toured nationwide. 
In 1982, he changed directions, incor­porated hearing dancers into the group, and founded Sharir Dance Company. Dancers (all college graduates, mostly native Texans), audience, and patrons have remained loyal over the years. State and local support, increased tour­ing, and consistent grants from the Na­tional Endowment for the Arts have helped SOC become the most stable and at the same time upwardly mobile modern dance company in Texas. 
SOC usually sponsors guest com­
panies orsolo artists on shared programs 
throughout its home season, part of the 
troupe's commitment to bring new dance 
to Austin. In January, however, the nine­
member troupe danced alone, in a reper­
tory concert about relationships­
communal, personal, alien, and chaotic. 
Uomo Nella Luna ("Man in the Moon"), 
Sharir's new work based on a poem by 
Christopher Middleton, illustrates order 
and chaos, the human behavioral pat-
Andrea Beckham and Carolyn Pavllk fn Yacov Sharfr's Uomo Nella Luna. "Athletic, trained equally In modern and ballet, they readily embrace the technical challenges ofSharf r's nonstop choreography." 
terns of any society. Sharir's trademark of continuous movement drives the dan­cers through a choreographic maze into an orderly line. Each motion propels another, producing a ripple effect of bod­ies synchronized by internal rhythms to­ta11 y separate from Craig Nazor's electronic score. 
Sharir's visual arts background (he 
holds a degree in sculpture and 
ceramics) shows in the sculpted arrang­
ment of bodies, the individual curve of a 
neck, arm, or torso. The dancers move 
fearlessly, hurling themselves into each 
others' arms. Athletic, trained equally in 
modern and ballet, they readily embrace 
the technical challenges of Sharir's non­
stop choreography. 
Dissonance and Ha1mony, a duet for 
Roxanne Saenz and Charles Santos, is 
a dance of contrasts: darkness and light, 
silence and sound, resistance and com­
pliance. In silence, the dancers first per­
form a brusque, inimical struggle, which 
leaves the audience wondering if the ten­
sion will explode into violence. A Vivaldi 
vocal score accompanies a repeat of the 
first section with a few variations. The at­
tack softens as Saenz melts into 
Santos's arms, their elongated limbs 
stretchi ng overhead , framed by 
Amarante Lucero's pastel lighting. Dis­
sonance and Harmony is the most bal­
letic of Sharir's recent works and its 
signature steps into arabesques and 
high extensions are well-suited for 
Saenz's long, supple legs. 
DANCE MAGAZINE May 1991 
Tlon, by resident choreographer Jose Luis Bustamante, explores life on another planet. Based on a story by Jorge Luis Borges, Tlon tells ofa cosmos governed by strict visual and tactile laws. Judging by Gaye Bowen's costumes, clothes are worn inside out in this alien society. White dance belts over white unitards give G-string lines to both men and women. Thick white socks cover the dancers' running shoes, restricting both flexibility and traction. 
The dance involves performing on dif­ferent and difficult surfaces. The per­formers inch slothlike down a firehouse pole then tumble and slide downstage. Bustamante inserts snippets of ballet­flat-footed assembles into Fifth Posi­tion-into a lot of wobbling and scooting, and somehow it works. The uncertain footing gives the movements a quirki­ness, symbolizing, perhaps, a variable gravitational force. His abstracted view of an extraterrestrial world avoids any literal science-fiction allusions, making it compelling rather than hokey. 
Ohad Naharin's lnnostress is a timely dance about the social confusion and in­humanity of war. Dramatically, the men outperform the women. but physically, all the dancers have mastered Naharin's low-gravity, earthy style. For dancers so earthbound by the choreography, they explode into the air when given the opportunity. D 

Photo by Jon lealherwOOd The Sharlr Dance Company, which stages performances by dancers such as Heywood 'Woody' MoGrlft and Roxanne Saenz, received a $9.400 grant. 
Saturday, January 5, 1991 Austin American-Statesman C1 
Austin's arts community 
boosted by NEA grants 

By Pete Szllegyl 
American-Statesman Staff 
The Center for Women & Their Work is likely to assume a higher profile on the Austin arts scene in 1991 with help from grants total­ling $58,000 from the National En­dowment for the Arts announced Friday. 
The grants, which delighted or· ganizers of the women's arts group, were partofnearly $178,000 to Central Texas artists and orga­nizations. Statewide, Te:xas artists and organizations received 47 NEA grants totaling $2,322.070. 
Other local recipients include Laguna Gloria Art Museum, Sharir Dance Company, the Texas Fine Arts Association and chor~ ographers Kay Braden and Debo­rah Hay. 
"It's a wonderful thing," said Chris Cowden. executive director of Women & Their Work. "It makes us more professional ... and it's very prestigious among our peers and people who look at us from the outside. It.'s certainly the biggest grant we've ever gotten from one source." 
Cowden sajd the largest of the two grants, for $48,000, will allow Women & Their Work to increase stipends for artists showing work at the organization's West Sixth Street gallery, and to hire another staffmembe.r. The grant, which re­quired the submission of detailed budgets and plans, also will help the organization promote itself in Austin to reach more people by im­proved marketing of its programs. 
In addition to the show stipends, she said, the grants will allow Women & Their Work to make several $3,000 grants to selected women artists to pursue individual projects. 
Women & Their Work, an inter­disciplinayY arts group with an an· nual budget of about $270,000, organizes ·about 40 events every year, including a film festival, art exhibitions, and dance and theater events. Cowden said it is the only organization of its type in Texas and wa11 one of only five inter-arts groups nationally to receive NEA grants. 
"One of our big focuses, and the focus of our name, is that art is work, a profession for which peo­ple ought to be paid, like an ac­countant o.r a plumber, and that women do it," Cowden said. 
Carol Adams, managing director ofthe Sharir Dance Company, said the group's $9,400 grant is similar to NEA funding received in past years for administrative expenses. However, "it's more than we ex­pected in light of t.he situation at NEA -they have less money thh year and are more discerning about where they put their mon­ey," she said. 
Other Austin-area NEA recipi­ents are: 
• 
Deborah Hay and Kay Bra­den, who each received a $20,000 Choreographers' Fellowship. 

• 
Dance Umbrella, $4,400; to support ongoing services, rehears­al space, the development of state­wide activities to promote dance, and the New Choreography Per­formance Project. 


• Texas Commission on the 
Arts, $17,000; to support, in coop­eration with state and local arts or­ganizations in Texas and Louisiana, performances and resi­dencies of Texas Opera Theater during the 1991-92 touring season. 
• 
Austin Lyric Opera, $5,000; to support the 1991-92 season of productions. 

• 
Texas Fine Arts Association, $12,000; to support a touring pro­gram of three exhibitions of con~ temporary art that will travel to small colleges and community cen­ters in TexSll. 

• 
Laguna Gloria Art Museum Inc., $12,000; to support a chil­dren's outreach program airned at parts of the community that be­Call&e of low income, disability or distance do not participate in mu­seum activities. 

• 
Miles S. Wilson of San Mar­cos, a $20,000 Creative Writing Fellowship. 




Registration for Spring Classes 
Complete and mail to: Sharir Dance Company 
P.O. Box 339 
Austin, TX 78767 Please print clearly. 

City 
----~
Evening phone 
CourH lltM 
20% dl1C....,... for 
3or more couraes 
Tot•l S 
EncloMd is my check p•yabl• to th• Sh•rlr Dance Compony. 
I would like to ch•r9• my vi... 
Exp. d•te • Signetu,. on card 
The Sharir Dance Company School invites first-time students to attend one free class with this ad. One copy of ad per person, please. 
SHARIR DANCE COMPANY SCHOOL 
Spring 1991 Schedule Synergy Studio 1501West5th St. 
Beginning Modern Mon./Wed. 6:00 • 7:00 pm Jan. 14-May 22 Instructor: Andrea Ariel $228 
Intermediate Modern Saturdays 1:00 -2:30 pm Jan. 19 -May 25 Instructor: Kate Warren $114 
Int./Advanced Modern Mondays 7:00 -8:30 pm Jan. 14 -May 20 Instructor: Yacov Sharir $114 
Intermediate Jazz Saturdays 11:30-1:00 pm Jan. 19 -May 25 Instructor: Andrea Ariel $114 
Beginning Ballet Jan. 15-May 23  Tues./ Thurs. 5:00 -6:00 pm Instructor: Greg Easley  $228  
Intermediate Ballet Jan. 16-May 22  Wednesdays 7:00 -8:30 pm Instructor: Greg Easley  $114  
Kate's Ideal Workout Jan. 19 ­May 25  Saturdays 10:00 • 11:15 am Instructor: Kate Warren  $114  
Improvisation & PerformancJan. 19 -May 25  e Saturdays 2:30 -4:30 pm Instructor: Darla Johnson  $114  

Single classes and bulk rates are also available. 

IMAGES Januarv 10, 1991 



SHARIR DANCE COMPANY SCHOOL 
Registration for Spring Classes Spring 1991 Schedule Synergy Studio 1501 West 5th St. 
Complete and mail to: Beginning Mode rn Mon./Wed. 6:00 -7:00 pmSharir Dance Company Jan. 14 -May 22 Instructor: Andrea Ariel $228 
P.O. Box 339 
Austin, TX 78767 Please print clearly. 

Intermediate Modern Saturdays 1 :00 -2:30 pm Jan. 19-May 25 Instructor: Kate Warren $114 
Addre.. 
Int./Advanced Modern Mondays 7:00 -8:30 pm Jan. 14 -May 20 Instructor: Yacov Sharir $114 
City Zip 
hon::.~!!l!!a-1!.'!one
~U::::::.;;e Ec:.-____ Saturdays 11:30 -1:00 pm
_______ Intermediate Jazz Jan. 19 -May 25 Instructor: Andrea Ariel $114 
Cou,.. title Fee 
Beginning Ballet Tues. / Thurs. 5:00 -6:00 pm Jan. 15 -May 23 Instructor: Greg Easley $228 
Intermediate Ballet Wednesdays 7:00 -8:30 pm Jan. 16 -May 22 Instructor: Greg Easley $114
20% discount for 
3 or more counes 

Kate 's Ideal Workout Saturdays 10:00 • 11: 15 am 
TouilS 
Jan. 19 -May 25 Instructor: Kate Warren $114 
l Enc:loaad ia my check peyeble to the Sharir Danca Com.,.ny. 
Improvisation & Performa nce Saturdays 2:30 · 4:30 pm ~I would like to c:herge my Maate.C.rd lVisa. Jan. 19 -May 25 Instructor: Darla Johnson $ 114 
Exp. date 
Single classes and bulk rates are also available. 
Signeture on cerd~------__ _ 
The Sharir Da nce Company School invites first-time students to attend one free class with this ad. One copy of ad per person. please. For more information contact Kate Warren, School Director at 499-0720. 
Tht' Aw;tin C:hronk~ J1nu1f) II. 1991 I he .\u~tin Chronic!~ Januar) 18, 1991 
9 
1 
I 
GENERAL ADMISSION: $10 SENIOR CITIZENS: $8 STUDENTS $6 FAN CLUB: $5 
TICKETS AT ALL UTTM TICK£'.TCENTERS CHARGE-A-TICKET: 477-6060 (ADVANCE) Box OFFICE: 471-1444 
THIS PROGRAM IS SPONSORED BY THE MID-AMERICA ARTS ALLIANCE WITH THE TEXAS COMMISSION ON THE ARTS. 
THE SHARIA DANCE COMPANY IS IN RESIDENCE AT THE UNIVERSITY OF TEXAS COLLEGE OF FINE ARTS, DEPARTMENT OF DRAMA ANO IS FUNDED IN PART BY THE NATIONAL ENDOWMENT 
FOR THE ARTS, THE TEXAS COMMISSION ON THE ARTS, THE MIO-AMERICA ARTS ALLIANCE ANO THE CITY OF AUSTIN UNDER THE AUSPICES OF THE AUSTIN ARTS COMMISSION. 



Registration for Spring Classes 
Complete and mail to: 
Sharir Dance Company 
P.O. Box 339 
Austin, TX 78767 Please print clearly. 

N•m• 
Addren 
City Zip 
Courae title Fee 
20o/• discount for 
3 or more courae• 
EncJosed ia my check payable to the Sharir Dance Company. 
I would like to c...rge my MesterCerd Visa. 
Card I Exp. date 

Slgnatut'e on card 
The Sharir Dance Company School invites first-time students to attend one free class with this ad. One copy of ad per person, please. 
SHARIR DANCE COMPANY SCHOOL 
Spring 1991 Schedule 
Beginning Modern Jan. 14 -May 22 
Intermediate Modern Jan. 19 -May 25 
Int./Advanced Modern Mondays 7:00 -8:30 pm 
Jan. 14-May 20 
Intermediate Jazz 

Jan. 15-May 23 
Intermediate Ballet 
Jan. 16 -May 22 
Kate's Ideal Workout 

Improvisation & Performance 
Synergy Studio 1501 West 5th St. Mon./Wed. 6:00 -7:00 pm 
Instructor: Andrea Ariel  $228  
Saturdays l'.00 -2:30 pm  
.Instructor: Kate Warren  $114  

Instructor: Yacov Sharir $114 
Saturdays 11:30 · 1:00 pm Instructor: Andrea Ariel $114 
Tues./ Thurs. 5:00 -6:00 pm Instructor: Greg Easley $228 
Wednesdays 7:00 -8:30 pm Instructor: Greg Easley $114 
Saturdays 10:00 · 11:15 am Instructor: Kate Warren $114 
Saturdays 2:30 -4:30 pm Instructor: Darla Johnson $114 
Single classes and bulk rates are also available. 
.. 
For more information contact Kate Warren, School Director at 499-0720 
The Austin Clironid~ January 111, 1991 
By 8ondr1 Lomu 
Special to the Amerlcan-Stetesman 
Travel in the Middle East is anything but easy these days. Nevertheless, Israeli dancer Rina Schenfeld planned to leave her native country this week to travel to America for her upcoming per­formance in Austin. She joins Sharir Dance Company for its winter production, a show that also includes two premiere works by Yacov Sharir and Jose Luis Bustamante. 
Schenfeld's appearance as Sharir's special guest will be her Texas debut, but the acclaimed dancer is no stranger to the Unit­ed States. 
As a young dancer, Schenfeld tralt1ed at the Juilliard School. the Metropolitan Opera Ballet and the Martha Graham School in New York City before return­ing to Israel as a founding mem­ber of the Batsheva Dance Company. She established her dance reputation in the '60s with Batsheva principal roles in works by Martha Graham, John Butler Jerome Robbins and John ' Cranko. She received critical ac­claim both in Israel and the Unit· ed States as an outstanding and versatile modem dancer. 
ln 1978. she left Batsheva to pursue a career as choreographer ~nd avant-garde solo artist, tour­mg Europe with great success. Her performances for the "Nert Wave" Festival at the Brooklyn Academy of Music marked her New York City debut in 1983. 
Schenfeld creates dances using a variety of objects -thread sticks, cubes or fabric -in the tradition of early 20th-century experimentalists such as the Rus­sian constructivists and the Bau­haus dancers of the 1920s. This concern with the use of props and costumes in investigating the principles underlying choreogra­phy and movement (an abstract 

If you go ••• 
Sharir Dance Company 
When: 8 p.m. Friday and Jan. 26 
·Where: urs McCullough Theatre Tlcbta: $5 to $10 lnfonNlllon: 471-1444 
approach to dance) is moat famil· 
iar to Americans through the 
multimedia works of Alwin 
Nikolais. 
But Schenfeld's approach 
avoids the cold, machinelike 
qualities of the Bauhaus or the 
pure objectivity of Nikolais. The 
objects become an extension of 
herself, a personal and highJy 
dramatic statement, according to 
her former Batsheva colleague 
Sharir. 
"Rina is a mesmerizing per­
former," Sharir said. "There is 
no one like her. Her use of props 
is incredibly different due to her 
detailed relationship with thetrt. 
She uses a minimalistic tech­
nique, and her precision is 
fascinating." 
For her Texas debut, Schenfeld 
will perform two solos: Tin 
Dances CJnd Hair and Waves. 
Sharir described Tin Dances 
CJnd Hair as manipulation of 
highly polished squares of Lin 
that surround, reflect and seem­
ingJy protect her during the 
dance. Her Jong hair is used as 
another prop. 
Sharir said be has been trying 
to sponsor a Schenfeld perfor­
mance for some time, part of his 
continued commitment to bring 
the best of new dance and music 
to Texas. 
New music plays a key role in 
Sharir's own premiere dance ·Uomo Nella Luna. Craig Nazor's 
score is an electronic manipula­
tion of a reading of the sound 
poe~ by C~riatopher Middleton. 
Shanr feels that the composition 
of the score reflects the juxtapo­
•n 
•:r 
:I 
I 
a. 
r 
T I 
0-· 
:I 
•:r 

c:
•

mt > 
5' 
3 
m 
•:r 
.... 
-· I Cn ~ !! 

mt > 
-n 
m 
::> 
0 
E .... 
w 
Acclaimed Israeli choreographer Rina Schenfeld, known for her fascinating use of props, will dance Waves In performances next weekend in Austin. 
sition of chaos and harmony within his choreography. 
"Uomo Nella Luna is a commu­nal gathering of people who carry on within certain behavioral pat­terns just like any society,'' he said. "The piece deals with chaos and how to bring order to that chaos. How do you make order out of chaos? By showing tender­ness and love." 
Parts of Uomo Nella Luna were performed last October as an un­titled work in progress, and Sharir said response to the dance was overwhelming. 
"It moved more people than any other piece, and I think the audience will be pleased with the completed work and its complex score," he said. 
'Rina (Schenfeld) is a mesmerizing performer. There is no one like her.' 
-Yacov Sharir 
The Sharir Dance Comp8ily's resident choreographer, Busta­mante, will premiere a revised version of Tton with a new score by Haeyon Kim. Based on a text by Jose Luis Borges, Tton tells of life on another planet. 
To illustrate the extraterrestri­al setting, Bustamante has the dancers perform wearing heavy socks over sneakers. 
"The dance deals with per­forming on different and difficult surfaces," Sharir said. "The whole piece is very synchronized with the new score, and bas a strange, alien and interesting look because of the dancers' foot­wear. It's very appropriate to the text." 
Sharir is in the middle of his company's eighth season, and he feels things are going better than ever, both artistically and choreographically. 
"It's very satisfying when your last work is your best work," he said. "It's a good season when the work is going well and the feedback from dancers and sup­porters is satisfying." 
Sharir receives requests for past choreographies to be repeat­ed, but he is reluctant to pull rep­ertory works. "I am so involved with creating new works, that I want to continue while I can. When the creativity dries up, I can go back and do old works." 
Austin American-Statesman Saturday January 19, 1991 cont . 
Austin American-Statesman Sunday, January 20, 1991 

SHARIR DANCE Co. 
WITH RINA SCHENFELD 
FRIDAY AND SATURDAY JANUARY 25 ANO 26. 1991 8:00 PM 
., 
MCCULLOUGH THEATRE. UT 
25TH STREET AND 
EAST CAMPUS DRIVE 

GENERAL ADMISSION: $10 
SENIOR CITIZENS: $8 
STUDENTS $6 FAN CLUB: $5 

UTTM 
Box OFFICE: 471-1444 

TtllS PROGRAM IS SPOl"ISORED ev THE MIO­
AM£RICA ARTS ALLIANCE 
WITH THE TEXAS COMMIS· 
SION ON THE ARTS. 
$HARIR DANCE COMPANY IS IN RESIDEl"ICE AT THE UNIV!ERSITY Of TEXAS COLLEGE OF FINE ARTS. 

Casualty ofwar 

Sharir dancers plan performances despite absence of Israeli national 
Kim Sevcik 
Daily Texan Staff 

allv one of the fe\' e!>capes from ·disheartening di-;patches from thC' desert. 
Since I.isl summer, thl' Sharir D,1net.' Company has been eagerly anticip,1ting the guest performann• oi Israeli dancl'r Rina Schcnfl'ld ,1l this weekend's concert. Bul with missiles hurtling into Jc;rael daily, the 'I el Aviv resident doesn't want to li?,we her familv, so ~harir will be kicking oft l<J<JI 0~1 their own. 
"H you have a hll!>band and chil­dren, you can't jusl say. 'I'm sorry, I'm going to perform now, so for the next rnic;sile that falls un Tel Aviv you're going to be here bv vuurself,' " savs Yacov Shanr, tht.• company'5 artistic director. 
Fortunatl'iy, Sharir anticipated this worst ca"e scenario as -.olm a~ hl• heard Israel had been att<1cked, and he ionnulated an altcrnatl\ e program that his dancers could lllllckly adopt if needed. To rcpl;in• Sdwnfeld's performance, he dl'dd­ed to ha\•e the (Ompany perform h''o pieces from its repertoire; both han' been performed only once bt•· fore m Austin. 
"When you have works in the 
rqwrtnirc, you JU'il pull thl•m up whcrll'Vl'r vou nl'cd them J.uckily,thl'sl! piecl's ilrc in good slMpe, and by the timl' of the per­lorrmml'.C lhl·y'll be in supl'r shape," "av-. Sh.1rir 
ironically. l•Tll' ot the replact.>ment dance._, Tmw,tn,..s, i<. ab1,ut war. and the lsr.wli choreographer is current­ly in Icl A\I\'. "I'm not '>ayin~. 'There is \\'ilr in tlw l\liddk• Ea:.t, su we will do a war pil'Cc.' It':. just thtll it will not Tl'lJUirc the dancers to gl1 through hurribll• k111g night :>itua­tiun.; ol rche,usal, bel·ausc it\ still adwe, ilml thl' dann•r.. .Ul' doing it Vl'ry wdl. It ju-.t :.o happt·ns that it i<> alivl! in our rcpl•rt(11re, .ind it's just going to lw \'1.•ry timely, unfor­hmatl'ly -and 'unlt1rtunat1•ly' is tlw key word h1•rl•," Scl\'."i Sh.1nr1 an bradi h1msl'll. • 
The dirl'ctnr hc1s al~o resurrected L1i.;;.,1111111c1· 1111d llnr111111111 tnr this Wl't'kl•nJ'., ninrwt. .l dm~t he d111re­ogrclph1.·d :>l'Veral Yl'Jrs ago. By per­forming nn 1<knlical lllll\'cment scqwmn• lw1n', but radically 'hang­ing thl• tom· .md rlwthm, the ddnc­l'rs expll•rc lhl' commun1lc1tion dy­namics m ,, rd<1tionship. 
"You t..in s;iv, 'I can't belie\e that wc'rt• together for live? years. ,md vou don't love? me!' and tht.'11 \"OU C-an chnngt.• the tllnc and sa~:. 'I don't undt.•Nt,md it \Vl"ve bel'n to­gether for live ye.1rs, and do you )(1\'e me'' .111d this j.; !Wt• d1fforcnt w;iys ot s.1ying the !'>anw thing. One way nMkl•s you ,m~ry and pwvokcs you to .rnswcr :'lggrt.•:..shely, and the litht•r prn\'okl·s a l1wndly di~u..­s1on. So the first tinll' tht• ni.1kn;il is pcrfornwd, ,1 conflil ! is ..,uggestcll, 
Tin D \II ' Tl·"\\'\ 
Pac;e 14 Friday January 25. 1991 


and the scc(md time, it's done with love and tenderness," Shanr ex­plains. 
The program will open with T/iin , a piece inspired by a Jorge Luis Borges story that in\'ents a new ..:os­
mology. Resident lhon:ographer Jose Luis Bustamante has his danc­ers wear socks outside their shoes, lending fluidity to their movements, and lreating the impn?ssion that they're moving on a .;tra,1ge new surface. 
Ihe surrt'al effect is intensified by an environmental soundtrack bv Haevon Kim that alternates bC­IWl't~n l'n\'ironnit.>nlill sounds and minim.dist -;ynthesired music. 
(\J 
1:: 
() 
rl 
0\ 0\ 
rl 

Uo11111 Nt'lla L111111 , .mother Sharir work, draws on thf talents of two other Uni\'e1sity ottishi as well. Chllrt.'ographc' I to m tsic by Ph.D. 
Please see Sharlr, paye 15 
T 
Sharir 

Continued from page 14 
stmfr·nt Craig N.uor, ba..;e.J 1111 -.ound prwtry by Prnfl'......<•r of Ger­mani..: Languages Christ<ipher Mid­d1l'ton, the piece pl.-iys with tht> in­lt>raction t.>f mo\·cnwnt and sound.... 
Middldon's pudr\' 1s .i -.cnes 111 unrl·l.1ted Wl1rd-, crt!.ilo!d frmn tlw ll'ltcr.., in thl.' title, .in lt.1'1.m phrn-.1.' me.ming "m<rn m the moon." i\c­cording t11 !:>harir, the unJerl\'inb corit:t',pt is tlw .:irhicn•rnt.•nt ot order Imm th.m:.. 
Thcrl.'·.-. quite " d1sp.uity betwel'n the rdwar:-,al time tht· company dc­\·oted to tlw two r11.•u•s originally sclwJuled tor pcrfomMnCl' and tlw tw(l lht'\' dddt'd thi:; week. but Sh.1rir --~ems wnlldt.•nt about hi!' dan..:er-.· rcsilienn» 
Says ShMir, '"[hey're pruk-...ion­ab, .-ind they W<'rk under prcs..,ure all thl.' time. Y<•u w1m't be ablt• to tdl th,11 ono..' work was rehc.irsl•d more than dl10thcr. Ihey will hl' 

John McConn1CO Daily l exan Stall 
Sharir dancers embrace to a beat. 
l'i:rtomwd l'qL1.1llv \\'Cll, with the '"Oll' Cl•nvil:tmn.'' 
THE SHARIR DANCE COMPANY Where: McCullough Theatre Date. Tonight and Saturday 
The Daily Texan Friday, January 25, 1991 cont . 3 
Austin America~tatesman Friday, January 25, 1991 
~ 
; ~ • r 

The Sharlr Dance Company presents new works at 8 tonight and Saturday at UT's McCuHough Theatre. The show will no longer feature lsraell dancer Alna Schenfeld, but new works by Y8IXIV Sharir and company choreographer Jose Luis Bustamante are stlll on the program. Tickets range from $5 to $10; for Information call 471-1444. 
C A L E 

THE SHARIR DANCE COMPANY, Austin·s profes· s1onal modern dance troupe. w1ll 101n New York 
choreographer/dancer Rina Schenfeld for two 8pm 
shows In UT's McCullough Theatre, Jan 25 & 26. Opening the program will t>e choreographer Jose 
Luis Bustamente's 'Tlon." a work with text by Jorge Luis Borges and music b.y Haeyon Kim. Yacov Sharir"s ··uomo Nella Luna.' choreographed to poetryby Christopher Middleton and music by Craig Nazor, follows. 
N D A R 
' t ~ .. •• 
Tiit Au~titl Chronicle Januu) 2.5, 1991 
The second hall lo the program features Schenfeld, whom rhe New York Tlmes"Clive Barnes terms '"one of the most sumptuous modern dancers or her day." The alumnus of sucti prestigious organizations as Martha Graham's Batsheva and the Metropolilan Opera Ballet SchoOI, Schenfeld uses everyday objects to create a fantasy world or mo­tion. Schenteld will perfonn two works. In "Tm Dances and Hair~ she performs with polished Im squE1res, at times using them as sh~eld~ white at other times reacting to their reflecting images. tn . 
•·waves" she examines what it means to be an artist through a beautlful, flowing dance. Tickets. priced at s10 (S8 seniofs, S6 students, SS 
FAN Club), are on sale at all UTIM TicketCenlers and by phone al 477«>60. Cell 471·14« tor more 1n­forma11on 



AUSTIN 

Arts, Theater, Sports 
Jan. 25-26-SHARIR DANCE COMPANY. A premiere collaboration of aSharir/Bustamente performance featur· ingdynamicIsraeli solo artist Rena Schenfeld. Admission. Arts Complex, McCullough Theatre, UT Campus, 23rd & East Campus Dr. 320-8704. 


Saturday, January 26: 1991 
DANCE 
Sh.nr Dance Company 
Aina Schenfeld performs modern dances with the Sharlr Dance Company, Including " Tin Dances and Hair" and " Waves," at 8 tonigh In the McCullough Theatre on the University of Texas campus. 
Cati 471-1444. 
4M The Salt Lake Tribune, Friday. February 1. 1991 
Sharir Dance Company joins RDT in Kingsbury Hall performance 
By Scott Rivers 
Tribune Staff Writer 
According to Israeli-born choreog­rapher Yacov Sharir, the opportuni­ty for his Austin-based dance ensem­ble to share the stage with Repertory Dance Theatre represented a creative partnership that could be experienced by Utah and Texas au­diences. 
"I thought there was a great deal ol energy in the Austin area, and felt the community was ready to tackle new dance material," Sharir ex­plained. " Utah has the same sort of openness in terms of dance -it was the kind of community 1 could work with. Utah continues to have an in­credible relationship with dance un­heard of in other national areas." 
The Sharir Dance Company's joint concert with ROT will be presented Saturday at 8 p.m. in the University of Utah's Kingsbury Hall. Along with RDT revivals of choreographer Mon­ica Levy's "Don't Look Back" and Charles Moulton's " Nine Person Precision Ball Passing," the program will feature regional premieres or Sharir's "My White Cow" and "Uomo Nella Luna <Man of the Moon)" as well as Jose Luis Busta­mente's "Tion." 
For RDT artistic director Linda C. Smith, the RDT/Sharir venture will enable both companies to enrich au­diences by inviting dance troupes "from the outside with a different point ofview." She credits Sharir for the inspiration: 
"1 met Yacov in New York at a booking conference," Smith re­called. "We talked about the joys and challenges of running repertory companies. We both admitted it was difficult because sponsors didn't quite know how lo sell repertory companies. Yacov bad some experi­ence bringing companies to Texas 
Yacov Sharir 
Company Founder 

and then sharing evenings with them. . . . It was an audience build­ing idea that would create more op­portunities for companies to dance. We decided to become partners -I would sponsor Yacov, he would sponsor me." 
A graduate of the Jerusalem Beza­lel Academy of Fine Arts in sculp­ture and ceramics. Sharir's dance ca­reer began in the early 1960s ­when he received his professional training at the Jerusalem Academy of Music and later as a member of the Bat-Sheva Dance Company. 
ln 1967, Sharir created. his own sculpture/ceramic studio in Tel Aviv while continuing to perform and teach classes at Bat-Sheva, Israel Ballet Company and Kibbutz Dance Company. Eventually. this multiple career caught up with him. 
"Something had to go," Sharir stated. "I exhibited my art work for 15 years. then decided to focus en­tirely on choreography. I never wanted to dance unless I became a choreographer So all my dancing was focused on that" 
Sharir's Austin ensemble was founded in 1977 as the American Dear Dance Company -a pioneer­ing organization that provided ser­vices for professional deaf artists. He assembled a group of dear danc­ers who loured throughout the coun­try as part or a five-year program. 
Once the choreographer utilized hearing dancers in 1982. the Sbarir Dance Company emerged. Some of the deal dancers continue to work for the ensemble -one as a featured solo performer. another as a mem· ber of the board or directors. 
Since its inception, the Sharir Dance Company bas performed with nationally renowned companies in­cluding Donald Byrd/The Group, Eiko and Koma, the Hartford Ballet and Margaret Jenkins Dance Compa­ny. In residence at the University of Texas College of 1''ine Arts, the troupe presents formalistic dance works that utilize movement rather than narrative. 
Through his choreography, Sharir maintains a great deal of respect for communal activities and sensuality that take the formalistic element into another place. 
"I just see everything in motion. If 

The Sharlr Danee Company from Austin, eoneert with 
Texas, will make its Utah debut in a joint Saturday at 

I used no words. l could function quite well through movement mate­rial. l"m very happy with an empty space and a dancer," he explained 
The Sharir pieces that will be per· formed Saturday. "My While Cow" and "Uomo Nella Luna: · were both inspired by the writings of British poet Christopher Middleton. "Tion" was choreographed by Sharir dancer Bustamante with a text by Jorge Luis Borges 
"['My White Cow'j was inspired by Middleton's personal experiences with a close friend. 1t really touched me. I relate to this work in meta· phoric terms -the poetry and move­ment coincide and create a new piece. What Christopher did with ·uomo Nella Luna· was to combine new words with the title letters. Jt's 
sound poetry. with no meaning ex· cept for the sounds creating mecha­nism. The second piece, for me, pro­voked agreat deal of chaos. To bring chaos to the most chaotic place, I had to bring order," Sharir said. 
" 'Tion' speaks about a planet with a different order and environ­ment. It's also metaphorical. Busta­mante. however. came up with a new feeling for the use of the dance sur­fal'e. Some of Borges' writings are 
recorded in the text.., 
Repertory Danee Theatre 8 p.m. in Kingsbury Hall. 
Sharir remains optimistic about his company's partnership with RDT. lf the enterprise succeeds, both ensembles will collaborate again next year. 
" We respect RDT's work and will share it with the Austin community in May," be mentioned. 
Tickets for the RDT/Sharir Dance Company concert are $10 for adults, $5 for students. For more informa­tion, contact RDT. 
The Salt Lake Tribune Friday, February 1, 1991 cont. 
60 The Salt Lake Tribune, ~lr>nday, February 4, 1991 
RDT and 	Shnrir Dance Company worlds apart in joint concert 

By Scott Rivers ing ensemble from Austin, Texas -the classical proceedings. Jose Luis Bustamante's "Tlon•· suf­musical and vocal accompaniment,Tribune Staff Writer which seemed worlds apart. The final fered from grating music scores that the 14-minule work emerged as an ab­
The other revival, Charles Moul­
It's a nice gesture when two mod­result was a spirited miniretrospec­	worked at cross-purposes with the sorbing, surrealistic journey. Sbarir 
ton 's "Nine Person Precision Ball
ern dance companies showcase their 	movement -further hindered by the
tive for RDT. but a less than auspi­	dancers Andrea Beckham, Christo­
Passing." remains a guaranteed
repertoire in complementary fash­	unrelenting dead-seriousness. How­
cious Utah debut for the Sharir 	pher Boyd. Stephen Marcello and
crowd-pleaser that has been estab­
ion. In terms of Repertory Dance 	ever. both pieces successfully evoked 
troupe and its largely inaccessible 	Charles Santos performed with im­
lished among RDT's most popular
Theatre's joint performance with the 	an otherworldly atmosphere, despite 
works. 	pressive fleltibility and precision, uti­
works. Disarming in its simplicity, the 
Sbarir Dance Company, however, 	their abstract monotony. 
ROT opened the concert with Moni­entire company maintained an effort­	lizing a free-standing pole for their Ole artistic contrast of both troupes The Sharir troupe's remarkably
spoke volumes. ca Levy's ''Don't Look Back," first less rhythmicity throughout this mul­	skillful leaps and balancing acts. 
gifted dancers accomplished wonders 
performed during the company's ti1ay ered exercise in hand-eye 	Featuring hypnotic displays of psy­
with this unpromising material (high­1989 "Oiseover" program. A stylish coordination. lighted by some truly mind-boggling chosexuality, "My White Cow" cli­
Dance review 	foray into the musical world of Bach, Compared to the joy and exuber­techniques in "Tlon"), yet appeared maxed with the unforgettable image the 17-minute piece excelled in its ance of RDT's program, the Sharir emotionally distant -their humanity of Beckham suspended from the pole soothing, fluid display or poetic ensemble's performance consisted completely drained. In all. it was an by her harness-an animalistic qual­movement -punctuated by the ener­mostly or choreographic mind games uninvolving experience. ity open to interpretation. Regretta­
IC Saturday night's presentation at 
the University of Utah's Kingsbury getic flair of dancers Tina Misaka. with virtually no levity or humor. For Happily, Sharir's " My White Cow" bly, such provocative moments were Hall proved rather uneven, it could Jim Moreno and Kimberly Strunk. all their intriguing metaphysical con­proved to be a glorious exception. few and far between in the Sharir be attributed to the diverse choreo­Designer Marina Harris' minimalist cepts and aural-visual elements, Ya­Fusing Christopher Middleton's poet­Dance Company's remaining graphic visions of ROT and the visit-white costumes added a nice touch to cov Sharir's "Uomo Nella Luna" and ry with Kathryn Mishell's effective program. 
6 C OESERET NEWS, MON. P M./TUES. AJA, FEBRUARY 4-5, 1991 

Sharir dancers bring new moves tq Utah; RDT shines 

Br Dorothr Stowe 
Oeseret News danCe critic 
SHARIA DANCE COMPANY and REPER· TOAY DANCE THEATRE In joint concert. Klnpbury tt.11, Feb. 2 at 8 p.m. 
'l'he Sbarir Dance Company of Austin, Texas, paid the intelligence of Utabns the supreme compliment saturday night. They presented a program of three works without a hint of program notes or explana­tion, beyond a certain amount of nar­ration, which in all but one case only made their meaning more obscure. 
Thanks for the compliment, Sharir, bul a little more orientation .into a style that's new to us and by no means self-explanatory would have been welcome. 
I know I am committing the •·no­no" of the modem dance world by asking the forbidden question, "What does it all mean?" But if a work bas narration, then by its na­ture it assumes a certain obligation to interpret that narration, unless it is 1tended to be only one additional strand in a stream of consciousness. 
,.be latter seemed to be the intent of Yakov Sbarir's "My White Cow," w .. .>se poem, read by Kathryn Mi­shell (who also played the descrip­tive synthesizer score) seemed to be celebrating some imaginary creature of evocative charms and dreamlike perfection -a symbol rt.rSt female. U.~.1 male, then female, whose gym­n.ast.ics with two men seemed to have little to do with what WM being read. 
The dance was interesting. espe­cially when willowy soloist Andrea Beck.ham cast a certain sinuous spell -but certainly not of the bovine va­riety. There is perhaps something philosophical about white cows that I was missi!lg. 
Most successful was "Tlon," where everything worked together to cre­ate the effect or a mythic kingdom inhabited by mysterious creatures. in some archaic time and place. Chore-
CONCERT REVIEW 
ography by Jose Luis Bustamante and text by Jorge Luis Borges were well-coordinated in the sort of syn­thesis of dance and philosophy that this company seems to enjoy. 
The dancers moved seamlessly through an underwater habitat, ap­pearing to glide, slide or float in slow motion. They inhabited an orderly cosmos ruled by law, with geQmetric angularity that sometimes ~ested automatoru;. Lighting and} jprojec­tio~ heightened the effe</-of Far Eastern serenity. Sharir's company moves well, with good technical com­mand and strong intention. 
•·uomo nella Luna'' by Shanr, with narration in Spanish. capital­ized upon the variety of sizes in the company, from very tall to tiny, in a vigorous movement piece with strik· ing use of space at first. but one of those cliche windups where every­one lines up facing front and yanks each other around. 
Narration is a decidedly tricky ele· ment to incorporate into dance. Movement alone, ifdone well, usual­ly conveys its own message and leaves the viewer free to make his own associations. 
Repertory Dance Theatre contrib­uted a couple of strotig choreogra­phies to this joint concert. 
From RDT came ':Don't Look Back" by Monica Levy. This piece brings Bach into the 20th century, using the lyricism and order of his concerto for two violins to underpin a joyous, free-wheeling romp that suggests a sunlit day in the open air. The nine dancers flowed through in pleasmg combinatwns -full ensem­ble, women alone, men alone. by twos and threes. The slow movement was an especially lucid and graceful choreography, fluently danced. 
Charle; Moulton's "Nine-Person Precis.ion Ball Passing" has become duck soup enough (or the company that they can swtpg it a little as they go through their outrageously intri­cate exchanges. It's a crowd pleaser, and nevtr a ball landed on the floor in Saturday's stellar diSplay. 
FEBRUARY ~12:1991 AUSTIN WEEKLY PAGB 3 

NIGHTBEAT. 

Waytoofarpas1 ~ 
midnight.as itstormed oul.Side1 ~ t,. an apparition of a ~ ,•t Louisiana Bayou ~ t..f· 
fishing camp-thekind ; ofplacethatharborsthe 
Crearure/rom the. Black Lagoon, swirled in my head. A squad full of men insplendidLL. Beanoutfits and fishing rods were assembled on shore. I squirmed, unable to speak, like often happens indreams:whenJohnffenryFaulk appeared in !he porch rocker. '"'There's snakes hidin' under the surface, and quicksand," he yelled. "You boysbeuerbecareful." 
But they were all excited and whooped, "The legendary big i one's in there and were going lo get him," and proceeded to march into the swamp. It was the damndest thing and nothing John Henry hollered made any difference. As they got knee deep, a brassbandappeared and played Texas Fight. So John Henry began to shout even louder that they were going to get drowned. Tbafs when a sheriff looking like Jackie Gleason showed up and arrested him for hurting the fisherman's moraleby not applauding the courage of their effort. As he was led away John Henry whispered with an angelic smile: "Remember Harry Truman's truism: I never gave them hell. I just 1ell 1he truth, and they think it's hell." 
Dances and dreams 
To paraphrase Jorge Luis Barges: 
ls the. past a ment1Jry ofthe. present or Is the. life we live a retrospeaive view of our life already compli.ltd? 
lnJoseLuJsBustarnante'schoreography of Borges' mythical world TI.ON, Sharir Dance Company danced the restless dilemmaofwhathappens"wbenoneisasleep in Tlon, and one is awake in another dimensionoflheuniverse." Butperhapsmore surprising was the powerand energy ofY acov Sharlr's choreography in both Uomo Nella Luna and Tin Dancers and /lair. Respected for organizing and training leading dance companies, Sharir doesn't always win as 
Jeff Nightbyrd 
dancers 
Roxanne 
Saenz, Carolyn 
P a \' I I k , 
Christopher Boyd 
and Carlos Santo3 
fired his concepts with 
vitality. Sharircominues 
to produce post modem works 
of surprising inleres1. 
Receiving less acclaim this 
week -the taCky radio ads for 
Ballet Austln which go something 
like: "Last spring it was ballet 
dancetsin bikinis, and a performance 
of the Firebird where a motorcycle 
roared across the stage...what will 
be next?" One Arts Commission 
member commented: "It's sounds 
like the Red Rose tries classical 
dance with the help of the HeU:s 
Angels." Director Lambros Lambrou 
should fire a copy writer. 
The National Ballet of Caracas' 
very Latin, passionate and inspired 
Firebird at UT's Bass Concert Hall received a standing ovation for its highly colored and unrestrained performance. Ballet Masicr Vladimir Isley, 11 Russian who embraced Caracas, gushed at intermission: "First Russian ballet, thenVenezuelan ballet is number 1wo in the world.n Perhaps Vladimir's enthusinsm was enhanced by cavorting to Erik Hokkaanen's fiddle at the previousday's Bar-B·Qdanccparty, the first break in weeks on a grueling lour. 
Theater: 12,000 and counting 
MAGGS may be only 12,000 years old, but she's feeling a bit grumpy and is ready to tell you about it with a George Burns-like irony. S,000 wasn't bad, but then sex rears ii ugly head. Screenwriter Warren Skaaren affirms life with fancy and liule complamt in this one-acl play, though he penned it while dying. Helolse Gold offer~ a resourceful interpretationofthe last message from oneof Austin1sbest.Dosroils,acompanionpieceby 
_m...;..uc_h_accllllll_·_~_o_r_h_i_s_
__ an_is_ti_c~po.._w_e_r_s._B_u_t__.pro-"-l-'ifi"'"1c-"-Llf!dsey LaneA offers a perfect match 

Morch 14, 1991 
I 
ENTERTAINMENT 

B) John Bustin 
A fun joint H:nture 
In the spirit of coexistence that currently seems tobellowing through many of our local ans operations, Lhe innovative Sharir Dance Company joined forces, inamanncrofspcaking, with Ballet Austin for an altogether engaging collaboration in the PAC's McCullough Theater (formerly Lhc Opera Lab Theater) last week. 
The production marked the 10th anmvcrsary oJ the Sharir troupe. founded a tlccatk ago by Israel-born Yacov Shanr to present dance works in the m0<.lemis1 tradition. In the en­suing 10 years, the company has not only carved out for itselfa promim.'nt niche in Austin's dance world but had given the city some compelling (and highly entertaining) modem dance 
works. 
Ballet Austin, on the other hand, ha'\ al ways hewed to more traditional (i.e., formal) ballet styles and has cre­ated its own reputation and following. 
Since the arrival of Lambros Lambrou ~ Ballet Austin's arListic dircnor last year, this venerable company hasgenerutcd its own brand of bal lcticcxcitcmem with works that often drnw as much from the l!ac.li­t1ons of theater ai; those ofdance. 
Putting these l\\O companies to­gether on a singl.: hill not only made sense. artistically spcal..:ing. hul ii l!uarantecd a lot of stimulalinl! cho­rcogrnphic entertainment for the en­lhusiastie audience-and. of course, provided an effcclive showcase ror the companies' respective merits. 
Each company contributed two works to the program, with the Sharir company offering the premiere or a new Sharir work and a work-in­progrcss by resident choreographer Jose Luis Bustamante, and Ballet Austin reprising a couple of pieces from its fall production. 
Yacov Sharir's "A Cart With Apples" was a fresh and lively piece, sel to a hypnouc 1-lacyon Kim score, m which four dancers (and Mr. Sharir himself, in the guise of a scmi-furn­blingmagician)disportcd themselves, alternately appearing and disappear­ing behind a large banner 11lustnued with appll.!.}. It was intriguing and captivating. 
Mr. Bustamante's "Migrating Weights," in two parLo;, had a playful, Piloholus air (and some marvelously catchy rhythms from Barry Tru:u and Paul Lansky. who composed l11e scores) that stirred all of the senses among the spcct.awrs. 
Ballet Austin brought back John Butler's version of"Othello," a clas­
sic talc ofjealousy,· d tragedy, and Mr. Lambrou's exotic "Other Tan­gos." Both lookedgood in the sm:iller \1cCullough Theater Uun Lhcy had in the larger Bass Concert Hall. and "Othello" c~pccially mounicd a greater i111pact than tl ha<l earlier. 
Both dance companies have their respective styles and goals. hu1 the} arc definitely on common ground in the sense thm they boLh seek to sLimulate. cxciLC and l.'ntcrLain their audiences. We can now hop...' thcr gl'l together again l(1r more or the same. 
Austin 



March 13-19, 1991 

With each new perfonnance, his Choreographers (left to right) Jacov Sharlr, Lambros company pushes with an lmnbrou and Jose LuisBustamante, backstage at their 
increased feeling of adventure lolnt show. and imagination. In A Cort Wilh Apples, magic tricks and humor intercut the performance. Dancers appeared and disappeared as if by magic (with the aid of Illusionist Michael Lyon). Noted glass anist Patrick Wadleydesigned costumes I.hatcould hang in his next gallery exhibition. and Amarante Lucerocontinued as an exponent of minimal but dramatic stage lighting. His work on choreographer Jose Luis Bustamante's Migrati11g Weights was nothing less !banpowerful.WeighlS, a work in progress,panme,thuddedwithall theseverity of a migraine headache. ''Thudded" rarely brings images ofcritical praise. But the myth ofSisyphus endlessly rolling that boµlder up the mountain is Bustamante's Iheme and at times his dancers looked like they might sinlc through the stage. This night Maydelle Fason, Woody McGrlff and Andrea Beckham particularly flowed inside the 
conceptual framework of the compositions. 
Ballet Al8tlnjoined in this co-production proffering Otlte/Wand a livelyOtherTangos choreographed by LambrosLambrou. Like Sharir, Lambrou's company continues to develop, though it'sfarmore arresting whenit leaves lheOassicsbehindandexpklres modem balleL OtherTangoswasboth sexy asonlythe Tango can be, and a crowd pleaser. Pamela Kawai constantly performs wich grace and technical elegance. She's a joy to watch. Expressive Yolanda Jordan excites the audience by dancing from within her characters. Jordan's more than a dancer, she's a performer of the first quality, who doesn't over-play or rely on common stage tricks to create a rappon with her audience. 

TODAY 



The Sharlr Dance Company is celebrating its eighth anniversary with a collaborative program with Ballet Austin. The final performance Is at 8 tonight at UT's McCullough Theatre. Tickets range from $5 to $10; for information call 471-1444. A gala follows tonight's show, with tickets at S25; call 320-8704 for gala tickets. 

II Vt 
a ::r 
-a 

.. 
.... 
Thursday -Saturday Morch 7 -9, 1991 Spm 
:Daa
McCullough Theatre 
(U.T Arts Complex) 25tli St and 
ca
Eosl Campus Drive 
General Admission $10 Seniors $8 
s :I
Students $6 FAN Club $5 
... "Tickets al UTTM TicketCenters Sox office 471 1444 Chorge·o·licket 477 6060 
:I CD 
Sharir Donte Compony •• 
in residence af the Unwersitf of foxo,s College of fine Arb ond " funded 1n p<W by !he 
ft 
Naoonol Endowmont fO< rhe 
Arts_.. rhe Twc.o~Comm1u1on on 
tl>e Am, lhc.M•d·Ameuca .Ari\ Alliance mwl lhe Cily 
0 
of Austin under file auspices 
ol the Au,t1n Art> Commiuion. 
•
lhc Austin Chronicle March I. 1991 
Saturday, March 2, 1991 Austin American-Statesman 13' 
Dance companies collaborate 
Ballet Austin joins Sharir dancers for performance 
In the early decades of this 
century, ballet dancers and mod­
ern dancers mixed as well as oil 
and water. 
It was the nature of the beast. After all, modern dance evolved from a revolt against the rigidity of ballet with its set positions. choreographic formulas and sym­metry. The early modem dance pioneers were searching for ex­pressiveness, passion and a whole new movement vocabulary in which to extJress themselves. In addition, ballet was a European art form, and in the nationalistic fervor of the 1930s and '40s, a more American form of dance was sought by the modems. 
Now. the chasm between the two techniques has been bridged, and modem dance has an estab­lished foothold alongside ballet in 20th-century theatrical dance. 
Locally, the gulf separating Austin's ballet and modem dance communities has been bridged by a handshake. Austin's leading ballet and modem dance compa­nies, Ballet Austin and the Sharir Dance Company, will perform to-Lambros Lambrou, left, artistic director of Ballet Austin. gether next weekend in their first and Yacov Sharlr, artistic director of the Sharlr Dance joint P.rornm in a decade. 
~-·~-­

"People tliiDlc: tliis is the fir&t 
Adnude, Uol'Tll) NeJJ.a Luna come to
time," said Yacov Sharir, Sharir 	Roks (1986).
mind). Likewise, some of Ballet Dance Company's artistic direc­
tor. "But in 1981, when we were Dance 	Austin's contemporary ballets are Both Sharir and Bustamante very "modem." feel the current season has been
still the American Deaf Dance an unusually creative and produc-Company and Ballet Austin was 8ondr1 Lomax From a stylistic viewpoint, the tive one, with back-to-back pre­still the Austin Civic Ballet, we collaborative performances are mieres for the two choreog­performed together. Eugene Sia­timely. Both companies, secure in raphers.
vin (the ballet director) commis­their genres, are not afraid to 
sioned my piece PeTCU88ion In a way, the performances are 	"It's incredible, moving from 
present controversial, avant 
Concerto 12 for bis ballet dancers, simply a public demonstration of 	one piece to another, and very 
garde, or crossover works to their
and my company shared the eve-the internal collaborations that 	scary," Sharir said. '1t's been go-
audiences. Which is partly what
ning's program." have been happening all year. For 	go-go, but it's working " 
the venture is about: presenting Although a lot has changed for example, Sharir dancers are wel­new works.
both companies in the last IO come to attend the Ballet Austin Bustamante echoed bis col­yeara, several of the changes are company classes, and vice-versa. league's sentiments. '1t is a really 
"Lambros and I have been
~ 
C/l 
parallel. Both reorganized as pro-The companies exchange compli-	crazy year, and it's hard to work
talking about repertoire over the 
c+ 
fessional companies with new ment.ary tickets t.o each other's 	when there is pressure to pro-
I-'· 
past months," Sharir said. "If 
D 
names in 1982. Both have new performances. And they even 	duce. But it all seems t.o fall into
works are properly presented, our 
repertory, new dancers and new share ballet instruct.ors. 	place," he said. 
audiences can enjoy each other's 
~ 
ideas about the goals of their or­
(1) 
presentations. Perhaps there are 
Lynne Grossman, of the Ballet 	Next week's production will
'1 
ganizations. And both companies some ballet fans who just never 
I-'• 
Austin Academy faculty, has 	celebrate the Sharir company's are on a roll. 
() 
thought they'd like modem and 
taught both companies this year, 	eighth anniversary, and perhaps Sharir said he and Lambros vice-versa. Now they have a
~ 
and Ballet Austin dancer Stephen 	inaugurate the first of annual col-Lambrou, Ballet Austin's current 
I 
chance to find out. at no risk.''
(/) 
Mills teaches the Sharir dancers 	laborations with Ballet Austin. 
artistic director, have been dis­
c+ 
on bis day off. 	For Sharir. sponsoring guest 
cussing various collaborative 	Sharir plans to premiere two
~ 
companies and local artists is 
ideas for more than a year. 	new works next week, his own A
(1) 
This crossover of ballet and standard operating procedure. 
C/l 
"Sharing a concert, sponsoring 	Cart With Apples, and Migrating
modem training is not unusual. 
s 
Perhaps he has found a kindred 
in 
the company as our guest, was 	Wei8/if8 by resident choreogra-
Today most professional ballet 
tl 
spirit in Lambrou, who has
something I've been wanting to 	pher Jose Luis Bustamante. 
companies are "biling\lal" in the opened Ballet Austin's doors to 
do for a long time," Sharir said. 	Lambrou will present John But· 
sense that their repertory con­
(/) 
the dance community since his 
"I was looking forward t.o devel-	ler's Othello and his own Other
in 
tains both ballet and modern 
c+ 
arrival in 1989.
oping better ties with Ballet Aus-	TOlll/Ol!S.
~ 
choreography. Sometimes it's 
'"i 
tin. I also think developing a 
even hard t.o distinguish between 	The Sharir Dance Company 
p, 
Judging from Sharir's descrip­crossover audience will benefit 
contemporary ballets and bona-	Eighth Anniversary Gala, with 
tion, A Cart With Apples boldsboth companies.11
.. ~ 
fide modem works. (lf the chore-	special guests Ballet Austin, is at
some surprises for the audience . 
lt would seem Lambrou agrees: ography is good, it doesn't really 	8 p.m. Thursday, Friday and 
:s: 
The work deals with illusion, and Ballet Austin is scheduled to 
matter. lt's just a question of se-	March 9 in the UT McCullough
he collaborated with local magic
~ 
sponsor the Sharir Dance Com· 
() 
mantics.) A professional dancer 	Theatre. Tickets are $5 to $10.
consultants Michael Lyon, Kent pany on its April production. 
~ 
in the 1990s -whether classified 	For more information call 471­
Cummins and Peter-the-Ade-Personally, I'm delighted the 
f\) 
as "ballet" or "modern" -will 	1444.
quate on the piece. 
... 
groups are presenting two joint 
generally be trained in both I-' 
performances this spring, and l 	Bustamante's new choreogra-A gala benefit reception will be
disciplines. 
\0 
hope such collaborative concerts 	pby explores weight in both ab-held for both companies following
\0 
I-' 
will become annual events. This Over the past two years, the stract and literal contexts. His the Saturday performance. Tick-way, .the Austin dance audience Sharir repertory, while remaining movement vocabulary for Migrat-ets for the reception are $25 per 
() 
can enjoy the best of both corn-primarily post-modern, has be-	ing Weights evolves from ideas es-person. For more information 
0 
panies on the aame evening (and come more balletic in feel (works 	tablished, but never fully and to reserve a reception ticket. 
::1 
c+ 
for the price of only one ticket). such as Dissonnnce!Hamwny, Lube 	expanded, in an earlier work, call 320-8704. 
~ullough 
Theatre 
IU.T. Am Complex) 25th St. and East Campus Dr. 
Admission $10 Seniors $8 Students $6 FANClub$5 
Tickets at UTIM lickaK:enlws Box office 471 1«4 Charge·o·ticket 477 6060 
Shorir Dance Compal!)' it in ,.iclence at the Uni­
,..,.ity ol Texa1 College of Fino M and iifunded in pott by the Notionol Enclown-t fa, the Atls, the T""ot ComrnissiOll Oii the Arb, the Micl-Americo Atls Alio-and the City ol Au>lin under the au.pi<• ol the Austin Atls Ccmmiai011. 
II :r 
. --11.

....-· 

lllllg
C 11 

:I =--·":I • 

0 
" 
• 

SUNDAY SUN MARCH 3, 1991 
DANCE 

THE AUSTIN SCOTTISH COUNTRY DANCERS pre­sent Amethyst, Scottish Dancers of Nova Scotia, Tue, Mar 12.Spm at the Unitarian Church, 4700 Grover Amethysts' program will consist of a number of well·known t<adlllonal Highland and National dances of Scotland, as well as new dances choreographed for the group, that depict the hie and heritage of Nova Scotia Call 327·2869 S5 donation 
TAPESTRY, a "mulll·lorm" dance group Integrating 
the best of Jazz. ballet, modern, and rhythmic tap, wlll perform Mar 14. 7:30pm, at Southwest Texas St. University. Call 245-2030 for more info 
BALLET EAST DANCE THEATRE Will perform Mar 17 & 18 at Capitol City Playhouse. The shows will spotlight seven new choreographies by Rudolfo Mendez. Toni Bravo, and Eugene Slavin. Perlor· mances begin at 8pm, and tickets are S5. Cati 
"'·1329. DANCE UMBRELLA and Word of Mouth Women's Theatre will be sponsoring a S.month extended residency with New York dancer/per1ormance arllst Margery Segal. Segal will conduct 2 six-week workshops beginning in March. The first Is entitled "Heart to the Bone," a technique class drawn from integral yoga and Hamilton Technique. II will be held Wednesdays, 3:45·5:30pm. S35 DU membera/$45 nonmembers The second class, "The Affair," 1s a composltton class. It will be held Saturdays. 2;45-''.30pm. Same cost as above. Call 322·0227 for registration 1nlormalton. 
SHARIR DANCE co.' BALLET AUSTIN wllt dance MPas de Deux" to celebrate the eighth anniversary of Sharir, Thur.Sat, Mar 7·10 at the UT McCullough Theatre at 8pm. Half ot the evening will belong to Ballet Austin, per1orming two ballets -John Butler'& Othello and another work by Artistic Dlrec· 1or Lamros Lambrou. The other halt of the perfor· mance will feature two premiers for the Sharlr Dance Company, A Cart With Apples, choreographed by Vacov Sharir, and Migrating Weights. choreographed by Jose l u1s Bustamente. Tickets are S tO ($8 seniors. $6 students, $5 FAN Club) at all UTTM TlcketCenters, CHARGE·A·TICKET, 477-6060. For more intormat1on call 471-1444. Following the Sal, Mar 9 perform ace a gala benefit reception will be held for both companies at the penthouse offices ol Ford. Ferraro, Fritz. and Byrne at 2000 San Jacinto Center. Tickets for the reception are S25 per person. For more informalton or gala t1cllets, call the Sharir Dance Company at 320-8704. 
THE BLACK ARTS ALLIANCE presents Donald 
ByrdfThe Group for two performances at the Para· 
mount Theatre. Mar 8 & 9 at 8pm "Donald Byrd/The 

T1lf Aastia Claro.kit Matti! I, 19'1 
. . 
Austin American-Statesman Thursday, March 7, 1991
2 ~ 

Sharlr Celebration 
The Sharir Dance Company Is celebrating 
its eighth anntversary In a collaborative 
program ~his weekend with Ballet Austin. 
The Sharlr troupe will debut pieces by 
Yacov Sharlr and Jorge Luis Bustamante; 
Ballet Austin will perform Othello by John 
Butler to music by Dvorak and a piece by 
Lambrous Lambrou. The remaining 
performances are at 8 tonight and 
Saturday at UT's McCullough Theatre. 
Tickets range from $5 to $10; call 471­1444. A gala follows Saturday's 
performance, wtth tickets at $25; call 
320-8704 for gala tickets. 

Austin American-Statesman • Friday, March 8, 1991 

Sharir celebration 
The Sharlr Dance Company celebrates Its eighth anniversary with a collaborative program with Ballet Austin. The Sharlr troupe will debut pieces by Yacov Sharlr and Jorge Luis Bustamante; Ballet Austin will perform Othello by John Butler to 
music by Dvorak and a piece by 
Lambrous Lambrou. Shows are at 8 
tonight, Friday and Saturday at UT's 
McCullough Theatre. Tickets range from 
$5 to $10; call 471-1444. A gala follows 
the Saturday performance, with tlcki!tS at 
$25; call 320-8704 for gala tickets. 

Sharir Celebration 
The Sharlr Dance Company Is celebrating Its eighth anniversary with a collaborative program with Ballet Austin. The final performance is at 8 tonight at UT's McCullough Theatre. Tickets range from $5 to $10; for Information call 471-1444. A gala follows tonight's show, with tickets at $25; call 320-8704 for gala tickets. 
Austin American-Statesman 

Sharir dancers harbor illusions 
in 8th-anniversary performance 

By Sondra Lomax 
Special to the American-Statesman 
Bare feet and pointe shoes glided across McCullough The· atre's stage Thursday night as Austin's leading modem dance and ballet companies performed together for the first time in 10 years. The Sharir Dance Compa­ny had Ballet Austin as its s~­cial guest for its eighth anniversary gala performance. each company presenting two works on the mixed-bill program. 
Over the past eight years. the Sharir dancers have carried sticks in their mouths, poured sand on the floor, sung a cappel­la, shouted gibberish and slid about stage wearing socks over their running shoes. 
Now, director Yacov Sharir has added illusions to his company's bag of tricks with the premiel'1! of A Cart with Appl.es. Based on Christopher Middleton's poem, the dance featured guest anists Heywood "Woody" McGriff and Maydelle Fason, company danc­ers Rt)xanne Saenz, Stephen Marcello and Sharir, a blue sheet, illusion and slapstick humor. 
As the dancers wrapped each other in the sheet, appearing and disappearing,Sharirsudden)y emerged dressed in a tuxedo and top hat. He balanced atop a large rock and spoke into a micro­phone, as a disorganized magi­cian whose trick flowel'!I kept dropping from his pockets or hat until McGriff or Marcello literally knocked him onto the floor. Basi­cally a triptych, the scenat10-1 All repeated in between engagtilg sec­tions of pure dancing. 
Jose Bustamante, Sharir's resi­dent choreographer, premiered 
Migrating We~hts: Sisyphua Revis­it.ed, which was billed as a work in progress. Like Sisyphus rolling the huge stone endlessly uphill in Hades, Bustamante's opening section accentuated gravity liliJ the heaviness of human bodies, as dancers struggled to carry each other on and off stage. 
Dance review 

Sharir Dance Company with Ballet Austin 
WllM: 8 tonight WlwN: McCotlough Theatre Tlcketlt $5 to $10 lnfonnlllon: 471-1444 
The second section was more et\joyable and upbeat. Bustaman­te loped flat-footedly across stage, stopping to explain, "When I was a kid, I used to fall on my butt a lot. Nowadays, I don't fall anymore. I'm in control. But I miss falling a lot." 
Dancers rebounded off each other like balls in a pinball ma­chine. Their quirky movements were reminiscent of children at play, climbing, tumbling, even dribbling each other like basket­balls. M~itwWeights was fresh ~dclever, including balletic M>O<>fs as the dancers bounced through odd entrechats. B1111t1t­mante may have a winner here when the dance is completed. 
In contrast to Sharir's abstract, modern works, Ballet Austin per­formed one dramatic and one highly stylized ballet: John But­ler's Othello and Lambros La.m­brou's Otlu!r T<J118<)e8. 
Ot/ielJQ, a dramatic trio based on the Shakespearean tale of be­trayal and pasaion, was beautiful­
ly danced tiy Edward ~offatt, 
Gina Patterson and Stephen 
Mills, the cast who premiered the 
work last October. 
Other Tangoes, Lambrou's bal­
letic portrayal of chic cynicism 
and sexual politics at a night 
club, combined elements of'i>allet, 
jazz and tango. Seven sections 
featured 10 dancers, all elegantly costumed in evening attire. 
Both ballets were performed as part of the company's regular season at the Bass Concert Hall ~tfall. Transferring the works to McCullough's smaller stage worked well for Othello, enhanc­ing the drama, but presented some minor problems for Other Tangoes. The dancers had to hold back in sections (a shame to con­tain Lambrou's sweeping turns and large overhead lifts), and the upstage posturings and intrigues were distracting at times since the corps was simply too close to the downstage action. 
Nonetheless, what a treat tf) see, close-up, the poise and con­trol of Traci Owens, Pamela Kawai and company in T~. 
Austin American-Statesman 
Saturday, March 9, 1991 

ENTERTAINMENT 

By John Bustin 
A fun j oint venture 
In the spirit of coexistence that currently seems LO be flowing through many ofour local arts operations, the innovative Sharir Dance Company joined forces, ina manner ofspeaking, with Ballet Austin for an altogether engaging collaboration in the PAC's McCullough Theater (formerly the Opera Lab Theater) last week. 
The production marked the I 0th anniversary of the Sharir troupe, founded a decade ago by Israel-born Yacov Sharir LO present dance works in the modernist tradition. In the en­suing I 0 years, the company has not only carved out for itself a prominent niche in Austin 'sdancc world but had given the city some compelling (and highly entertaining) modem dance 
works. 
Ballet Austin, on the other hand, has always hewed to more traditional (i.e., formal) ballet styles and has cre­ated its own reputation and following. 
Since the arrival of Lambros Lambrou as Ballet Austin's artistic director last year, this venerable company has generated its own brand ofbalkticexcitementwith works that often draw as much from Lhe tradi­tions of theater as those of dance. 
Putting these two companies to­gether on a single bill nOL only made sense, artistically speaking. but it guaranteed a lot of stimulating cho­reographic emeriajnmem for the en­thusiastic audience-and, of course, provided an effective showcase for the companies' respective merits. 
Each company contributed two works to the program, with the Sharir company offering the premiere of a new Sharir work and a work-in­progrcss by resident chorcot,"Tapher Jose Luis Busuimante, and Ballet Austin reprising a couple of pieces from iLS foll production. 
Yacov Sharir's "A Cart With 
Apples" was a fresh and lively piece, 
set LO a hypnotic Haeyon Kim score, 
in which four dancers (and Mr. Sharir 
himself, in the guise of a semi-fum­
bl ing magician) disported them sci ves, 
alternately appearing and disappear­
ing behind a large banner illustrated 
with apples. It was intriguing and 
captivating. 
Mr. Bustamante's "Migrating Weights," in two parts, had a playful, Pilobolus air (and some marvelously catchy rhythms from Barry Truax and Paul Lansky, who composed the scores) that stirred aJI of the senses among the spectators. . 
Ballet Austin brought back John Butler's version of"Othello," a clas­
sic tale of jealousy and tragedy, and Mr. Lambrou's exotic "Other Tan­gos." Both looked good in the smaller McCullou£h Theater than they had in the larger Bass Conccn Hall, and "'Othello,. especially mounted a greater ir11pacl than iLh:Jd earlier. 
Bolh dance companies have their respective styles and goals, but they are definitely on common ground in the sense that they both seek LO stimulate, excite and cntcrwin their audiences. We can now hope they get LOgcthcr again for morl! of lhe same. 
CALENDAR 

AUSTIN 

Arts, Theater, Sports 
MUSIC/THEATRE 
AJK.2&-27-TENTH ANNIVERSARY GAU. llT'a mod­
em dancets cflSplay their origlMll llld lnnovatiw WO!b. 
SherirOanoaCompanyguests w1also1ppear. Spm. TIM 
Bass Conoart Hal;UfCampus, 23rd &East Campus Dr. 
471 -1 4-44. 
AfK. 27~NTMU.llANI CHR.EAN MUSIC. Traditionll Andean folk melodies .,. pedormad on wind, s1ring llld ptttuSSlon lnalruments. Spm. Bales A.at.I Hll, 23rd & Eut Campua Or. 471-1444. 
AfK. 21-TEXAS YOUTH BAU.ET. This young group pedonnt "TheSIMpii1g Princtss"plus llltfgeticjazz, tap llld contemporaiy ballet WO!b.$5,$4.2&7:30pm.Capitol
City Playhouse, 214 W. 4111 St 454-2609. 


Martha 
Graham 

dead at 96 

Heart failure claims modem-dance leader 
BJ P•ul Geitner 
AS90clated Presa 
NEW YORK -Martha Gra­ham, who turned the passions of thehuman soul into wildly original dances that made her an architect and high priestess of the modem­dance movement, died Monday at home. She was 96. 
She died of cardio-pulmonary arrest due to congestive heart fail­ure, said Ross Alley, director of marketing with the Martha Gra­ham School of Contemporary Dance. 
Ronald Protas, the company's general director and Graham's closest confidante, was with her when she died at her Manhattan home, Alley said. Grahamwas hos· pitalized in early February with pneumonia and releasedMarch 19. 
A slim, fragile-looking woman who didn't dance until she wu 21 but who performed until she was 76, Graham was viewed by many as the greatest contributor to the de­velopment in the 20th century of modem dance. 
And her career embraced nearly the entire century. Last October, at age 94, she premiered her l77th dance -Percephone, the Greek legend choreographed to Stravin­sky's Symphony in C. 
Her students and principal dancers became stars in their own right, but none surpassed Graham in the scope and intensity of her contribution to the uniquely American art form that broke away from 19th-century classicism. 
Her early work was compared to Picasso's art and Stravinsky's mu­sic. Her later work earned her rec­ognition as a choreographer. The petite Graham, whose arched eyebrows, vividly painted mouth and tightly wound chignon gave her an appearance u dramat­ic as her stage heroines, created gripping depictions of lust, greed, jealousy, joy and love. Sex and violence intermingled in her dances, which drew on such di­vergent sources as Greek mytholo­gy, the American frontier and a rebellion against her own puritani­cal heritage that was yean ahead of the 1960s sexual revolution. 

1987 Ille photo 
Martha Graham, who performed un­til she was 76, Is widely viewed as the greatest contributor to the de­velopment of modern dance. 
In an age aominated by science and technology, Graham's virgins, goddessea and madwomen dis­turbed and mesmerized audiences with raw emotion as they whirled across bare stages in bare feet to relentlesaly dissonant scores. 
"Every dance is a kind of fever chart, a graph of the heart," Gra­ham once said. "The instrument through which the dance speaks is also the instrument through which life is lived ... the human body." 
Graham wu born May 11, 1894, in Pittsburgh, a direct descendant on her mother'sside ofMiles Stan­dish. Her father, a doctor who had come from Scotland in steerage, moved the family to Santa Barba­ra, Calif., when Graham was young. 
As a child, she saw Ruth St. De­nis dance and was enraptured, but her father, a staunch Presbyterian, was said to disapprove of her de­sire to become a dancer. It was not until the year of hie death in 1916 that she entered the Denishawn School in Los Angeles. 
There she studied with St. Denis and Ted Shawn, whose pioneering school offered instruction in Ori­ental and primitive techniques as well as ballet. 
It soon became clear that the tight corsets, straight-leg kicks and pointe work that were the rigid hallmarks of classical ballet were 

Tuesday, April 2, 1991 
not for the gloriously theatrical Graham. 
She preferred the uncharted ter· rain of human passions as trans­lated in angular movements, flexed -not pointed -feet, controlled falling and jumping, rhythmic "contraction and release" breathing. 
Graham left Denishawn to join the Greenwich Village Follies in New York in 1923. In 1926, she made her debut as an independent artist with her own company, ere· ating dances she said freed the body to "make visible the interior landscape." 
That landscape was revealed in such works as Primitive Mysteries (1931), which was religious and rit· ualistic, and Lamentation (1930), where the body moves as if ob­sessed with grief. 
InLamentation, Grahamdanced inside a long tube of elastic purple that she stretched, she said, "as though you were stretching inside your own skin." 
Much of her early work was 
d'>ne in collaboration with her lov­
er and longtime musical director, Louis Horst, who Graham said "had the most to do with shaping my early life." 
"He liked anything that was physical, that had to do with the vivacity of the moment," she once explained. Horst, who never di­vorced his wife, died in 1964. 
Austin choreographer Yacov Sharir danced under Graham from 1966-1968 as a member of the Bat­sheva Dance Company in Tel Aviv. He performed in four of her works and remembers her as a extremely driven, meticulous director and choreographer. 
"Everything was planned down 
to the tiniest detail of gesture and 
even costume design in her 
dances," Sharir said. "She was in­
credibly influential in establishing 
and guiding the Batsheva compa· 
ny for its first six years as artistic 
adviser. 
Sharir said, "Martha Graham's 
most important contribution was 
developing modern dance as an 
American art form, not only from 
her own creations, but also by in­
fluencing generations of modem 
dance artists who came out of her 
company. Most of the important 
people in modern dance today be­
gan their careers under her 
guidance.'' 
DANCE 
Ballet Austin 
Ballet Austin and Friends with Toni Bravo and the Sharl; Dance Company, perform new works by Stephen Miiis and Lambros Lambrou, 8 p.m. Saturday and 2 
p.m. Sunday at the Paramount ' Theatre. Call 476-2163. 


Austin American-Statesman 
Saturday, April 20, 1991 
ll T 
Troupes delight with combined show 
By Sondra Lomax 
Special to the American-Statesman 
Ifyou missed the first two nights of Ballet Austin & Friends, there's still tonight's performance and Sunday's mati­nee. And I highly recommend this show. The program combines ballet and modern dance with four premiere works featuring the dancing talents of Ballet Austin, Sharir Dance Company and Toni Bravo. 
Ballet Austin's artistic director 
Dmce review 
Ballet Austin & Friends 
When: 8 tonight; 2 p.m. Sunday Where: Paramount Theatre T1eketa: $9.50 to $17 Information: 472-5411 
Lambros Lambrou is committed to breaking the barriers between ballet and modem, and his own choreography blends the two genres, often with great dramatic flair. 
But the premiere of his Fow Last Son(/s showed a softer, gentler style in this abstract bal­let about Jove and death. The work was melancholic and haunt­ing, not a typical closing number. It was risky ending the program with such an enigmatic work, but Lambrou has proven repeatedly that he's not afraid to take chances. 
Set to Richard Strauss' songs, the ballet featured the return of Marianne Beausejour, who has been offstage most of the year with a knee injury. Her bitter­sweet encounter with the Angel of Death, portrayed by Edward Moffat, was echoed in each sec­tion. I didn't understand the sig­nificance of Moffat's Phantmn of the Opera face mask or why he removed it at the ballet's close, but Fow Son(/s was tender and compelling. I hope to see it again. 
In contrast, Lambrou's flam­boyant Tm-Pulse showcased Toni Bravo, a solo artist/choreogra­pher who currently teaches for the Ballet Austin Academy, sur­rounded by the company's men. 
Feisty Christopher Hannon shined in the ensemble, while Christopher Johnson partnered Bravo, backed by the pulsating rhythms of the Kodo Drummers' 
score. 
Ballet Austin's dancer/choreo­grapher Stephen Mills premiered his Duel Fu.el, a jazzy mixture of pointe work and jitterbug set to Duke Ellington's music. I liked the choreography, but found the women's "saloon girl" costumes distracting. 
Yacov Sharir's Dissonance ll and Harmony proved that be con­tinues to break new ground with each work. It's been a banner season for him, creatively, and the duet for Andrea Beckham and Stephen Marcello was espe­cially effective. 
Sharir's resident choreogra­pher, Jose Luis Bustamante, pre­sented The Lube Adnube, a clever spoof of ballet set to the Blue Danube waltz. 
The only work on the program not choreographed by a local art­ist was Ohad Naharin's lnnos­tress. This powerful anti-war piece was one of my favorites and showed the Sharir dancers at their athletic best. 
1 
If you haven't seen Ballet Aus­tin or Sharir Dance Company re­cently, now is the time to go. Both troupes look better than ever. 

Sharir Dance Company 4th Annual New Dance Festival with Repertory Dance Theatre of Utah 
May 2 -4, 1991; 8pm Capitol City Playhouse; 214 West 4th Street 
$10 general, $8 seniors, $6 students Tickets on sale April 22; call 320-8704. 
The Sh:u·ir Dance Company is 1n residence as the Un.ivcnmy orTc•a< College or Fine An•. Oepanmcnt of Theatr<> and Dance and i~ lunded in pan by the N.11ional Endowm<>nt lor the Art•. the Texas Commission on th<> ,\ns. the ,\\id·Amenca 1\ns :\llian1<· and the City <ii AuMin under the au~piccs ofth., 1\u•tin Arts Commission. 1\ i\\id.t\mcnca Ans Alhanc:e program wnh 1he Texas Commission on the Arts. 
' 
•.Thej\ustip Cbroo.icl1 . j\prjl 2§, t~t, • • • • • • ••••••••••••• ··-­
*THE AUSTIN* 


DANCE 

UT'S DANCE REPERTORY THEATRE'S Anniversary Show wlll celebrate the company's past and future. 
Founaed by faculty member Sharon Vasquez as a 
touring student company, ORT celebrates with a Tenth Anniversary Concert April 26-27 1n UT Bass Concert Hall at Spm. For this event DAT will feature Sharir Dance Company's Yacov Sharlr and Jose Luis 
Bustamante, Ballet Austin's Stephen Mills. and DAT 
alumni In a program or four premieres and one past 
work: 
Percussive Stroke-A ballet-style work choreographed by Ballet Austin's Stephen Miiis: To The Fifth Power-Created by ORT Co-artistic Dtrec· tor Heywood McGriff; Rol<s -Arestaging of the 1985 work that established graduate student and Shatlr Dance Company choreographer Jose Luis Bustamante. sheltered BODY-A collaborative work or choreographer, dancer and visual artist, with " body shelter'' costume pieces fabricated by Bar· bata Timko; and Piano Concerto #1 -also by McGriff. Faculty members David Nancarrow and Carolyn Lancet helped McGrlff In conjuring up aquatic Images for the dance. 
Tlcke1s are $7 ($6 UT) at all UTIM TlcketCenters. 
CHARGE·A·TICKET. 477-6060. For more Information, 
call 471-1444. 

the Repertory Dance Theatre of Utah will per· form in the New Dance Festival May 2·4 at Capitol City Playhouse. 
THE NEW DANCE FESTIVAL Thu-Sat, May 2-4, Spm, will feature performances by Sharir Dance Company and Repertory Dance Theatre of Utah Repertory 
Dance Theatre has built a reputatlon as the premier repertory company In theUnited Stales committed to presenting worlls covering the full spectrum of American modern dance history. Now celebrating Its 
25th year, RDT's Silver Anniversary Season has In· 
eluded a residency exchange with Sham Dance Company. which is a pilot proiect tor a national tour· tng network. Repertory Dance Theatre will perform two pieces from Its repe1to1'e of more than 200 master works which range from the early 20th cen· tury dances of Isadora Duncan to the most contem· porary dance forms of today Sharlr Dance Company will otter two stimulating works by award winning choreographers Yacov Sham and Jose Luis Bustamante. S 10genera,. SS seniors. $6 students. Call 320-8704 A Mid-America Arts Alllance Program with the Texas CommtSSlon on the Arts The Univer­sity of Texas· Department of Theatre and Dance wlll host a masterclass taught by ROT Fmfay, May 3 In Anna Hiss Gym. For Intermediate to advanced students, lhe class will be open to the community depending upon space. Call Sharon Vasquez at 471 ·5793 for information 

Sunday, April 28, 1991 
Austin American-Statesman 

New dence 
The Repertory Dance Theatre of Utah joins Austin's Sharir Dance Company for 
Its 4th annual New Dance Festival today through Saturday at Capitol City Playhouse. Performances are at 8 p.m.; tickets are $6 to $10. Call 320-8704. 

Sharir Dance Company 4th Annual Ne\v Dance Festival with Repertory Dance Theatre of Utah 
,\\ay2-'4, 1991: 8prn Capitol City Playhouse 214 \\'es1 4th Street 
SIO general, S8 senior~. $6 smdems: Tickets on sale April 22: call 320-8704. 
1 lw Sh.am I >..tnc 11 Comp,m.,. 1t.. 11l ~ncf'o11 1h... 
l n;ven11•.-11f To:u. C..Jk.gt ol fitie Ans, 
UqunrctCm of Iht01ttt ~nd l).11.rw;f' •ndn iurx&.d 
m,....,, fi\' 4hc ~.11ld\lll f..,dowmml tur thto \n, 
,1,f' Tr'C"' t:Qmmiu.fllm un 1M \n~tht­.\\1J.. ·\fMrllU-1\tu,AJft«ti1..t' .,.J •h• C1h nf,\\J1t1n 
111wl"' 1f..... .:iusplCh o' th,. .\uss1n ,\rn • 
Vl!Umit.1.il'Jn. \ Mtd.-Amrnc:.t ,\rtJ1\lh..n,.. 

prOfTiun '"1l1 '"" fc-:ii.... a: Cocnm1:won 1111r'14t1\rn. 
ENTERTAINMENT 

Wednesday, May 1, 1991 Austin Amerlcan~tatesman 

Utah dancers join S • for concert 
BJ Sondre Lomu 
Special to the American-Statesman 
A 
sk the uninitiated about performing arts in Utah. and the Mormon Taber­
nacle Choir may come to 
mind. But Utah is also the home of 
the first professional modern 
dance repertory company founded 
outside ofNew York City, the Rep­
ertory Dance Theatre. 
ROT has built a reputation as 
the country's premier repertory 
company through its commitment 
to preserving works from the en­
tire spectrum ofAmerican modern 
dance history. It is a repository of 
modem dance classics: not a col· 
lection of dusty old relics, but rep· 
ertoire kept current through the 
group's attention to style, detail 
and the inclusion of recent master 
works. 
Now celebrating its 25th year, 
the company's Silver Anniversary 
Season has included a residency 
exchange with the Sharir Dance 
Company, which is a pilot project 
for a national touring network. 
"Sharir Dance Company has al· ways shared programming on a lo­cal basis. Now, we are taking that concept nationwide," said Carol Smith Adams, Sharir Dance Com­pany general manager. 
ROT will share the bill with Sharir this weekend in a concert that mixes modern dance classics with the latest of Sharir's chor­eography. 
"I am thrilled that Sharir and I are doing an exchange," said Linda 
C. Smith, RDT's artistic director. "Performing with the Sharir com­pany is a very healthy and wonder­ful it.ea. It's great that Yacov is showing different styles. Theyper­form£din Salt Lake City in Febru· ary 1with ROT) and people's comments about seeing the com-
It you go ... 
Utah Repertory Dance Theatre/Sharir Dance Company 
wt-.: 8 p.m. Thursday, Friday and Saturday Where: Capitol City Playhouse, 214 
W. Fourth St. Tlckete: $6 to $10 Wormatlon: 320-8704 
panies together were very pos­itive." 
ROT will present two dances 
from its vast repertory, Laura 
Dean's Skylight (1982) and Jose 
Limon's There Is A Time (1956), 
while Sharir will premiere Jose 
Luis Bustamante'& Pneumatic Se­
cret.Ii and two ofYacov Shari r's lat­
est works, A Cart With Apples ll 
and Dissonance II and Harmony. 
According to Smith, ROT is for 
dance what a library is for litera­
ture: an institution that nurtures 
and develops a cultural tradition, 
protecting it from irretrievable 
loss. But dance is more fragile than 
literature since it can live only in 
the bodies and memoriesofits per­
formances. 
ROT was created in 1966 through a cooperative effort in­volvingthe Salt Lake City commu­nity, the University of Utah, and a major grant from the Rockefeller Foundation -a grant to establish a company to keep alive American Modern Dance. Equally important was the need to decentralize Amer­ican dance, moving it from New York to the country at large where aspiring choreographers and danc­ers could work in a profe88ional 
setting. The founders envisioned a rep­ertory company to preserve the 
American modern dance heritage. 
By the 1960s, modem was mature 
enough to have a distinguished 
repertoire, yet no one company 
was preserving it. Goals of the 
young Utah company were to pre­
serve American modem dance 
chonography, develop young cho· 
reographers and to bring modern 
dance to remote areas. 
"Most repertoire companies in 
the past had failed because of de· 
pendence on a single choreogra­
pher's view. Over the years, there 
has emerged an amazing variety of 
works, various techniques and 
styles," Smith said. "We started 
out as an artistic democracy and 
found our own ways ofself-govern· 
ment and structure. As time went 
on, we decided to develop long­
range goals, hired a business man­
ager and eventually elected a di­
rector." 
In the late 1960s, there were few­er than 90 professional companies, both ballet and modem, in the 
United States, and few toured very extensively, typically only to met· ropolitan areas. RDT challenged itself by assembling a varied pro­gram that included teaching, per­forming, directing and helping with the management of the com­pany as a true dance cooperative. 
By the late '70s, the company resurrected works of the modem dance pioneers, which, according to Smith. suddenly revealed to the troupe that dance history was dis­appearing, either forgotten and lost or simply ignored. ROT mem· hers became dance archaeologists, looking for authentic bits ofmove­ment, staging and costuming as they brought choreography back to life. 
"It seemed to us that the early dances were like stories and leg­ends that may change slightly in the telling, but were filled with the original message and mystery. If we allow the memory of our dance heritage to die, we will suffer an 

Photo by Aid< Egan Utah Repertory Dance Theatre, with dancers such as Angela Banchero and David Marchant, has a reputation as the country's premier repertory company. 
unfathomable loss,'' Smith said. 
"I am always disappointed when I see a dancer who has no sense of history, when l see posturing in­stead of poetry," she continued. "There are fewer and fewer danc­ers who can carry the memory of the masters in their muscles. Those threads to the original works are precious beyondmeasure." 
With more than 200 dances in its repertory, RDT holds the larg­est collection of early works from masters of modem dance such as Isadora Duncan, Ruth St. Denis and Ted Shawn, Helen Tamiris and Doris Humphrey. 
The company was a pioneer in many aspects, including the first modem repertory dance company in the United States outside of New York City and the first pro­fessional company to be in resi­dence at a university. 
"Utah is one of the few states that is not cutting its arts funding; 
Wednesday , ~ :ay 1, 1991 
the state is very committed to art," Smith said. "Utah has a great uni­versity program, the Children's Dance Theatre, and a history of supporting dance for over 100 years. Dance there is very tena­cious, maybe it's in the pioneer blood." 
Smith sees the company con­tinuing for another 25 years, still securely based in the West. 
"The dance scene in New York is not as healthy as it used to be," she said. "Now wonderful things are happening all over the country, like here in Texas. There is the re­alization that Mecca is dispersing, and there is no longer as much prejudice against works done out­side New York City," Smith said. 
"I love tradition, but you have to shake things up -give dance in a different package, venue, which has always been one of our goals. You have to have a new vision of what it should be and where it's go­
ing." 
Page 16 Wednesday, May 1, 1991 THE DAIL\' TEXAN 
Utah RDT, Sharir collaborate 

in New Dance Fest 

Show features classic modem dance pieces, local artists' premieres 
Kim Sevcik 
Daily Texan Staff 
no scnpt, no 
can\·ci:o, no 
standartliLed 
form of notation 
lo pri:>st>rvc 11. 
But thanb tci lhe 
pam~taking efforb of ~roup~ sud1 
as Ut.:ih RL'pertory Dance Th,•atre (ROT), dance will not t>e lust lo memorv. A muSl.'l.lm of nwdt•rn d.ince~ ·ROT b dedicated to recon­'>lruchng the master wo1 l-..s of the genre, piecing lo~ethcr hi'>tciric cho­~·c(>graphy lhrl>ugh photographs. mtcrvie\\'s and labanolalilin, a nH.•thod of rernrdin~ choreogr.1phv lhrtiugh writing. · 
This weekend. Sharir DancC' Company will presenl ROT in The .'/c11• D1111a• festirn/, il joint program teatunng .1 cumbinatit1n nt mndl.'rn
Utah's Repertory Dance Theatre will perform tor Austin this weekend. 
"I wanted to give the earth a human dimen­sion, to portray it as mas­saging and supporting us ... " 
-Jose Bustamance 
dance cla..,sics and origin.ifs. The performance will be the -.ccond half 0f an exchange, the first pa rt of which was a Utah perfomlclnt't' by the Austin company in Fcbruarv. 
Sharir first proposed the id\.'a of an exchange three years ago, ba!'>l?d on the theory that each '''mp.my would benefit from the other'!' tl.'p­utati~m. " When we went to Utah, no one knew who in the world Sharir Dance Compan}· was," he savs. "But thev have trust in their resident company, so they came to the performance. It \\'ill be thl• same situation for them here." 
The first professional modern dance company (1utside ot New York, ROT has existed in its present form for 20 year... It \Vas 5 yt>ars \lid when the Rockefeller FoundJtion awarded it d grant which establi~h­eJ it as a company that would main­tain the best <>f modern danct>'s p.t:;t while building its future. 
Jhci1 Austin performance will contain 1ml.' hbtoric work -f\N~ Ltmon's 1956 piece Tiler<' i~ a f1111c ­and a piece by contl'mporary chore· ugrapher I.aura De.m. 
Playing with tlw dynamic oi dmpping and ~u.,p1mding weight. Limtm's pien• w.:i.; inspm•d by the hiblical Book uf Ecdesia"'tes. 
Sharir lil.'<.cnbes Dt•.rn'., Sk11/1s_/1/ ,,-, a dt'nv,1tin• oi tolk d,mcing, \\'ith its u-.l' of repetition, stamping, -.pin­ning and conligurntions. Shilrtr ..ay-., "Sh..-uses '>impll• cnn,.,truc­tions, but ht'r dann•.; tlr(' \'l'TY pow­erful, with a great de.:il nf energv." 
Sharir will dlso premiere two of his own pie..:e-. th.11 draw on con· ceph he's worked with pre\'iously. A Carl l\'1/ll Apph•s is based on a poem of the :-.ame n<lme by U-1 pro­fossor Christnpher MidJ.lt.>ton. Ac­Cllrding to Sharir, the dancl' 1s an impressionistic lnterprct,1fo1n of the poetry, rather than an cnactmcnt of its wt1rds. "It's based <ln the rnlors and mood, whtch ilip-tlop through­out the poem," e'Xplain., Sharir. 
Tht> poem b al'>ti pn·-.ent in the dancer!>' Co!ltume-.. Gfa-.s artist Pa­trick \Vadley dt.>signed black uni­tard-: with rosl's and .1pph.•s in cl va­riety ol rnlm!> lo correspond with ~tiddlcton's constantly ch.Jngmg description of the colors of apples and roses in a field. 
fhe piece is accompanied by elE>c­tronic music composed by Hat.>yon Kim, a UT graduate student in mu­sic. The entire package retlects Sharir's enthusiasm for collaborat­ing with artists from various dbc1­plines, for tapping the creclll\'ity of writers, visual artists and musicians to produce a work that pushes the boundaries \)f dance. 
His second piece, DiNma11n' II 
1111d H111"111(11111, is part of cl series that translates ihe nuances of verbal communication into movement. 'Tm interested in the different wav., people say the same thing, and tiie situation that creates," he savs. 
The program will condudc with resident choreograph<:r Jose Bus­t,1m,rnte's Pmw11ntic Seaet:=., a three­part work which revolves around the contrast of levity and gravity. "Becau<;e IL·vity is situated in our dreclms, I c'.\plored the subject in t(..•rms of being in a hori1ontal sleep· ing position as opposed to being n•rtical," he ellplains. Bust<1mante also constructed a prop that the d,111..:er~ u"c for rt'bounding. a mo\'ement that he s<lys implicitly iml:iue.; the earth with a soul. 
"I wanted to give the earth a hunl<\n dimension, to portray it as ma.,o;aging and supporting us, to giw the impression that when you fc.I! the earth i'\ really l'.atching \ 'I'll," Bustamante says. "Our con­nection to the earth is something we deal with every day, something \·Ve nl·ed to know to feel ..:omfort,1ble. but many pl.'ople dt\n't think about it. And that'!' what l mean b\' Pnc11­11111t1c St'< rl'I:>; thl·re are a lot t1f things hidden in us thJl wt' don't know." 
NEW DANCE FESTIVAL 
Where · Capitol City Playhouse, 214 W 4th St. Date through Saturday 
Wednesday, May 1, 1991 
The All!ltin Chronicle May 3. 1991 
DANCE 

THE NEW DANCE FESTIVAL Thu.Sal, May 2-4, 8pm, will feature performances by Sham Dance Company and Repertory Dance Theatre of Utah. Repertory Dance Theatre has bullla reputation as the premie• repertory company on the United Stales committed to pre&entlng works covering the lull spectrum of American modern dance history Now celebrating its 25th year, RDT's Silver Anniversary Season has in­
cluded a residency exchange with Sham Dance Company, which 1s a pilot project for a national lour­ing network Repertory Dance Theatre will perform two pieces from its repertoire of more than 200 master works which range from the early 20th cen· 1ury dances of Isadora Duncan to the most contem porary dance forms of today. Sharir Dance Company will offer two stimulating works by a.vard winning choreographers Yacov Sham and Jose Luis Bustamante. $10 general, $8 seniors, SS students. Call 320-8704. A Mid·Amerlca Arts Alliance Program with the Texas Commission on the Arts. The Umver· stty of Texas' Department or Theatre and Dance will host a masterclass taught by ROT Friday, May 3 on Anna HissGym. For Intermediate to advanced 
students, the class will be open to the community 
depending upon space. Call Sharon Vasquez at 
471-5793 for 1nforrnat1on. 
SHARtR DANCE COMPANY Is now taking reg•slra· tion for their second session, Spring semester Classes are ava11ab1e 10 Modern, Ballet, Jaa, and Body Cond111onrng at the scnoor In Synergy Studio at 1501W. 5th SI. Call 499-0720 

Michele Massoney and Anthony Roberts ol the Repertory Dance Theatre ol Utah will per· form in the New Dance Festival May 2·4 at Capitol City Playhouse. 
THE NEW DANCE FESTIVA L Thu.Sat, May 2-4. 8pm, will feature performances by Sham Dance Company and Repertory Dance Theatre ofUtah. Repertory 
Dance Theatre has built a reputation as the premier repertory company 1n the United States committed 
to presenting works covering the full spectrum of 
American modem dance nistory. Now celebrating Its 
25th year. RDT's Silver Anniversary Season has In· 
eluded a residency exchange with Sharlr Dance Company, which is a pilot proiect for a nallonal tour­ing network Repertory Dance Theatre will perform two pieces from its repertoire of more than 200 master works which range from the early 20th cen· tury dances ot Isadora Duncan to the most contem· porary dance forms of today Sharlr Dance Company will offer two stimulating works by awerd winning choreographers Yacov Sharir and Jose Luis Bus\amante. $10 genera:, $8 seniors, $6 students. Call 320.8704. A Mid-America Arts Alliance Program wllh the Texas Commission on the Arts The Univer­sity of Texas' Department of Theatre and Dance will host a masterclass taught by ROT Frrday, May 3 m Anna Hiss Gym For intermediate to advanced sh.rdents. the class will be open 10 the community depending upon space. Call Sharon Vasquez al 47Hi793 for information, 

The Aaatla Clu'otdde Mmiy 10, 19'1 
N I G H-T-8 E A T B Y J E .F F N I G H T B Y R D signed came to her as a "fossil frozen in 
bestofthefine miniatureworksassembled at the currentArtWorksgallery show. 
A double opening night was needed for the 33 artists and a packed throng. No­table work included constructions by Layne Jackson, and nudes by Layne LUD11trom who only picked up a brush 
three years ago. Collage artist Mike Basua who has refinedhis understated appl'OAcb to revealing hidden emotions says, "A collage artist must be able to see beyond what things are, to what they an not, then create the illusion they are pre­cisely that." 
Meanwhile the emerging south of 6tt. streetart scene crackled at Amdur Gal· lery withpainting-as-puns gathered in a humor show. Keith Gravee, award win· 
ningilluatratoriorT~MonthlyandBU8­
iness Week, among other mags, snatched first prize with bii; electric mobile "Love Machines... " ThetwocopulatingV-8behe­mothswiththeirsatisfied occupants rocked backandforthinGeneralMotorsrhythm, a memory ofourteenageyears. TheFest­ive crowd strolled down to Pro-Ju Gal· lerytocheckthegoodreviewsofphotogra· pher Park Street's Cibach.romea of dis­covered objects. HisAustinBuildings,like surrealmonolithsfrom2030,shotwithout filters, tookonanelegancethatonedoesn't usually associate with the reflective sur­faces of downtown architecture. Around the comer, MadelonUmlauf'• abstract expressionistworkglowedinthewindows oftheAcme Gallery. 
Around Town 
•
ComicJohnCheathamremainsa Bob Hopeful after producers for hie tour re­quested a videotape. •rm in ifBob only laughs," he says. Cheathamjust finished hismegatransstatetourculminatingwitb first billing at the monthlycomedy show­caseinSealy'scountrywestemdanceclub. Of the mysterious Sealy mind-set Cheatham says, "I was wring the urinal. looked down, and it was filled with coins. What were they wishingfor?" 

• 
Speaking of strange out oftown mind­sets.InDallasyoucannowrenta Rolexfor the night to impress your date. 

• 
What better place in theworldto watch Nolan Ryan's no hitt.er than with the raucous crowd at the Hole In the Wall? Over 40's softball sluggers, and everyone who ever dreamed about a comeback in anything,cheeredthe44yearoldpitching miracle, who along with Georc• Fore­manhasgivencredibilityto theneversay iie generation. . 

•
Berniethebookiecalled excitedly, 'Tve 


gotproofthatexactly19%oftheAmerican public are fools'" "How?" I ask. As Bernie figured it, 67% of the public says Dan Quayle is incompetent to take over the Presidency, 19% thinktheVPisqualified, 14%, reportedly including Dan Quayle, aren't sure. 
• CyberspaceresearcherDickCutler,zig zagging the country between computer andvirtualrealityconferencesreportsthe developmentofa retinameasuringdevice that continually logs what we really like (our pupils unconsciously expand with a favorable reaction-a trickevery sophis­ticated diamond merchant knows). Thia 
laser retinal measurer contradicts what moatAmericans sayabouttheirlives. For instance,weenjoyourisolatedautomobile environment during our commute home, butsay we don't. 
sheltered Body 
It'spuzzlingwiththeemphasisondance in Music videos, that Austin's dance per· formances aren't standing room only. ClassicalandModem danceprobablystill draws a limitedcrowdbecause people are afraid, that like modem art, they just might not getit. Too bad. 
Heywood McGrtff. Vacov Sharlr 
Creations likeahelteredBodydanced bypowerfulHeywoodMcGrlffand cho­reographedbyYacovSharlrwouldexcite thefans ofPaulaAbdulandMadonnaas muchasdancedevotees. Thisrobustspec­tacle presentedatthe Tenth.Anniversary DanceRepertoryTheaterconcert elec­trified the audience of five hundred at Bass Concert Hall. Designer Barbara Timko says the "body shelter" she de­timestrugglingto emerge from itsdreams.• As Heywood danced more pieces of the complex shelter were added to hie body until he ·was immobilized, suggesting physicalormentalrefugescanbecomeour own prisons. 
sheltered Body, which measures up to anythingone might see inNewYork, cul­minated a fine seasonofgrowth for dance in the UTorbit. One can see the cooleyed vision of director Sharon Vaaquez has attracted an impressive array of talent, givingyoung dancers one ofthe best pos­siblenourishingenvironments. Choreog­raphers like Stephen Milla whose Pel°" cuulve Strokes evoked a beautifully, fluid lyricism, like a rushing brook catch­ing the morninglight, and the continued excellent lighting design of Amarante Lucero, reveal the depth of talent that works in Austin. Dancers SU%anne Hayaahl now headed for New York, the always spiritualKathleen Atwood, and ToddPerdokwhoseperformancequality has developed over theyear, were among the noteworthy dancers. 
~emote is Not Very 
On the veranda ofGuero•a restaurant rested Mariano Venturino Champo Joee and his son Mariano Venturino Champo Nulutahua. These renowned maskmakersfrom theremotevillageofSu
EChiapa were enjoying their first trip to
I Austin, or in fact, to any large city, cour­
t:: tesy of Ruta Maya Coffee. Within 48 
!!l hours they had, for the first time, em­
• braced civilization's airlines, freeways, ecustoms agents, andfrozen margaritas. Itf made them laugh a lot. 
I asked youngMariano about the most exciting moment of the trip. Between rushing from UT art presentations to Auatin Folk Society gatherings some­thing extraordinary had occurred. On a FreshmanFieldsbasketball courtanath­lete performed especially for him, a re­verse, behind the back, slam dunk. For a young teenage boy who spent evenings ehooting hoops, but never onco watching NBAbasketballontelevi..sion,thisseemed a triumph greater than the 747. 
Perhapsinthefuture,ina remotevillage, during the beautifully costumed Jaguar ceremony,willappeartheperfectlyfrozen faceofMichaelJordanintheecstasyofthe slam dunk. Of course, inside will be one Mariano Ventutino Champo Nulutahua, regardedasoneofthefinestapprenticesin the ancientMascara tradition. • 
Tip me to any tnnda, even.ts, peTBO~•,or political indigestion that belong here in Nichtbeat. Info C/0 tM Chron~k, Bo:& 49066, Austin 78165, or leave Tm!IUJIJ6e °'448-6347. 


Austin American-Statesman Saturday, May 25, 1991 

Sharir Dance Company's annual Dancer's Fund Benefit, Thursday to June 2, features performances by Several Dancers Core of Atlanta, Thursday and Friday, Dancers Unlimited of Dallas, June 1-2 and the Dallas Arts Magnet Faculty Ensemble at Synergy Studio, 1501 W. Afth St. Admission Is $8. Call 320-8704. 
54 Tbe A..U. ~le 

The Sharir Dance Company presents Its An· nual Dancer's Fund Benefit May 30-June 1 at Synergy Studio. 
THE SHARIR DANCE COMPANY'S ANNUAL DANCERS' FUND BENEFIT will feature pertor· mances al Synergy Studio (1501 W. 5th St.) Thur· Sat, May 3Q.June 1 al 8pm, and Sun, June 2 at 2pm. The performances wtll feature choreography by SOC dancers Christopher Boyd and Stt>phen Marcello and a work by Heywood McGrifl Special guestson the program are Several Dancers Core of Allanta (May 30 & 31), Dancers Unlimlled of Dallas (June 1 & 2), and the Dallas AT1S Magnet Faculty Ensemble. $8 general, $6 seniors, $5 students. Tickets on sale May 6, call 320-8704 tm· mediately following the Sunday matinee, a benefit to support Sharlr dancers will be held at Manuel's Downtown, 310 Congress Ave. Become a host anCI receive 2 tickets to the pertoonance and benefit. 
For more Information, call Susan Pitchford at 320-8704 
.. ., 
2 Austin American-Statesman Sunday, May 26, 1991 
-·---r ---~-. . . ··--· ' 
-,,. '~ . ·--·~7-/'~v; . -. t 
. _ ~, . , ._,.. ., i l ~/ --..-~ ~. " to: ,., •, ,.@ l 
; I t ~ • • ~ • 
.r.,.7~
~-'9 
May 24. 1!191 
.. ~" "-=---"""= ~ • '-~ "" --~... -­

Photo by Jon l.lethllwood The Sharlr Dance Company perfonnl at Synergy Studio Thursday through Sunday In a benefit tor the DancerS' Fund. 
Studio Thur9day-Sunday In a benefit tor the Dancers' Fund. Tickets are $8, $8 and $5; tor Information call 320-8704. 

Registration for Summer Classes 
Complete and mail to: Sharir Dance Company 
P.O. Box 339 Austin, TX 78767 
,..,,..;___-----
Addr... 
Cl~ 
___z~.~-------­
__E_!enlf!9.P'!!ne-~~--­

Tot.I$ 
L JE1teloMd la my o....,k pay.tole to the Sharlr Dance ~ny. 
[] I would like to o...rge my r ] Meat..canl JVJM. ..;;.C•nl.:;.;..;;...;;;f__________~_E!'J'· dli~ 
The Sharir Dance Company School invites first-time students to attend one free class with this ad. One copy of ad per person, please. 
SHARIR DANCE COMPANY SCHOOL 
Summer Session 1991 Synergy Studio 1501 West 5th St. 
Beginning Modern  Mon./Wed. 6:00 -7:00 pm  
June 3 -Aug. 7  Instructor: Andrea Ariel  $130  
Intermediate Modern  Saturdays 1:00 -2:15 pm  
June 8 -Aug. 10  Instructor: Kate Warren  $85  

Int./Advanced Modem Mondays 7:00 -8:15 pm June 3 -Aug. 5 Instructor: Yacov Sharir  $65  
Intermediate Jazz June 8 -Aug. 10  Saturdays 11:30 -1:00 pm Instructor: Andrea Ariel  $65  

Kete's ldul Workout Wednesday Wednesdays 7:00 -8:15 pm June 5 -Aug. 7 Instructor: Kate Warren $85 
Kate's Ideal Workout Saturday Saturdays 10:00 -11:15 am June 8 -Aug. 10 Instructor: Kate Warren $85 
Kundalini Yoga• Tuesdays 5:10 -6:00 pm June 4-Aug. 6 Instructor: Ardas $65 
•tv.w Addition ro rite Schedule Enjoy greater strength and flexibility, enhance your 
respiratory and circulatory systems, improve your digestive system. strungthen your nervous system, build your Immune system and maintain a youthful apperarance . 
Single clanes and bulk rates are also available. 
For more information contact Kate Warren, School Director at 499-0720 or Sharir Dance Company at 320-8704. 
Don't miss the Dancers' Fund Benefit, May 30 -June 2. ' .. Call 320-8704 for more information. 
.·'The AU:.~n ChroiiJc1~ 'M•y JJ,...~9'1 " 11 
Dance Umbrella 
NEWS June 1991 
June Performance Calendar 
5/30-6/2 Th-Sun 
Sharir Dance Company's annual Dancer's Fund Benefit will feature perfonnancesatSynergyStudio, 1501 
W. 5th, with choreography by SDC dancers Christopher Boyd and Stephen Marcello and a work by Heywood McGriff. Special guests are Several Dancers Core of Atlanta (May 30 and 31), Dancers Unlimited of Dallas (June 1 and 2), and the Dallas Arts Magnet Faculty Ensemble. Thursday-Saturday 8p.m.; Sunday 2p.m.Tickets are $8 general, $6 seniors, $5 students. For tickets, call 320-8704. lmediately following the Sunday matinee, a benefit to support S harirdancers will be held at Manuel's Downtown, 310 Congress Ave. 
Activism: p.38; Art: p.38; Comedy: p.38; Events: p.38; Film: p.39;· Music: p.41; Roadshows: p.45; Singles: p.48; Sports: p.49; 
Stage:p.49 
Dance 
1.0 A:'l>D BEHOLD, right here in Texas, the much-maligned as miserl) Texll!> Commis.~on on the :\ru. might be the: agent behind 3 regional re<>urgcnec in the road husincss. The Tc\<I~ Touring Program has bl.'l.:n 11roun1i ~ fc,, }<.;;Jl"S. g:ivin~ iust :i link· bit of cash to dance, music, and rlwalL'T prnmuters acniss rhe s1a1c. The Proirram's assist:mcc ht'lpcd t~cablish a modest consortium or modem danc:c c:ompanit~ in Tcxa~, m~dc up of the renowned Sharir Dana: C.Ompan) from Au~1in, St:vcral Dancers Cure from Houston, und Dallas's own Dancers Unlimited. You can c:mh all rhn:c wmp~mi~ in acrion "hen till!) lmng rheir rra\elmg show "A \loving Art Form" ro the Dallru; .\lu~"tlum of Arr on Friuay. June 21 ut 8 p.m 
The Sharir Dance Compan) uf Austin (indudiug Stephen .\l;ircello and Jose J.uis Bustamante, picturcJ) b~n as a t'llfl\[Mn) of dcaf J~lllt'Crs. touring under 1 he olc.l i\EJ\ Touring Pmgram or 1hc '70~. In rhe '8o~ UlC) e\olvcd, added hearing pcrlhm1en., and won TL'\:ognitiun .is a force in the mi.Klem .1.mce worW. The Se' era! Dam..-c:rs Core has explored ~ct another unusual means of survival in 1oday's ch-.tllcngjng climate-lilt:)' have two bai.cs of opcmrion, Hou~ton and Atlanta., and split rcsi<lenq between them. Dancers t:nlimll­t'tl has gone through leadership change:> and the vio.:issitudes uf changing economics, but has sun1,ccl as one of Dallas's most important dance instirULioru.. ;rhe D.l\·I \ show gin'S u~ lite cham:c to see three i.lillerent and emerging dance companies in one evening, and to <.'Clcbratc S<)mcthing ~oo<l in the arcs-three companies working together, c.:oopcniting, and building the future. An<l wirh rhc help of the Sr.ite of Texa~. Amazmg. 
DENNIS TllREAD 
• Ser Events listi11gs far dttt11ls, f/1 ml! 522-89¢. 
DALLAS OBSERVER, JUNE 20, 199 I 
Contents 
ISSUE #433 •JUNE 20, 1991 

Austin's Sharir Dance Company brings moving .ttothe OMA, June 21. See c.ndar, p.37. 
Movlns Art. Three T~mod­
em dmcc comp.mies Dall.is\ 
Dancm Unlim11cd, AllSlin's 
Shanr Dan~C..ill1lp:1m. and 
Houston•s ~C."1111 l):mccr. Core­
,.tll fosc their cn:;nint) m a studio 
pcrform.mcc 8 pm. SS Dtlllas 
Uwum '1/ lrt, 1717 Jf11nrouJ. Cull S22-8998 /iir lttfJrt. 


ART ON THE MOVE: The Sharlr Dance ComlNlnJ of Auatln perfOrma •I the D•ll•• Muuum of Art FrtdaJ. 
FRIDAY 
Kinetic Hthet­
2 I 
lea: Dancers Un­limited Repertory Co. hosts "A Moving Form of Art," featur­ing its own dancers plus Sharir Dance Company of Austin and the Several Dances Core of Houston, at 8 tonight. Dallas Museum of Art, 1717 N. Harwood. Call 522-8988. $__·
5-~~~-­
FRIDAY, JUNE 21, 1991 

The Aspen Tlmes June 27. 1991 • 7-C 
DanceAspen festival 

Sharir Dance Company 
The Shnrir Dance Company is unique in its origins, begun in 1978 ns a troupe ofdeafdancers which toured until 1981. ' 
In past few years, the com­pany has incorporated hearing dancers and is noted for its broad audience appeal. 
The troupe will perform in Aspen Friday and Saturday, July 12 and 13. 
McCullough 
Theo1re 
(U.T. Am Complex) 25th St. and East Campus Dr. 
Admis:ion $10 Seniors $8 Students $6 FANClub$5 
Tidtets at UTTM Tidte!Centen Sox office 471 1444 
Charge·a·licket 477 6060 
Shorir O..nc.Company is in ,..Id.nee al the lhli· ..,.;iycl Texas College cl ~in• Aris ancl ls funded in part by the National En<lown-t lar the M, 
the Texas ComrniMion °" 
the Ms, the Mid·America M Alliance and !heCity of Austin under the ouap;c. of the Auslin Am C.......Jlion. 
ti :r 
CD=· 

...~• 
,_a

c: •

I. :I 
:I -·"CD 
ft 
0

• 

WILLIAMSON COUNTY SUN MARCH 6, 1991