Rachel Allen
rallen19@uwyo.edu
This spring University of Wyoming faculty along with guest artists will be presenting a dance concert titled “Un/Modified.”
“Un/Modified is our spring dance concert featuring contemporary ballet and modern pieces choreographed by UW dance faculty and guest artists,” Trevor Cook, first year senior dance major, said. “We have
been working on the show for a variety of time. Some pieces were cast last year, some in the summer, some last semester and some at the start of the year.”
Cook, along with Jennifer Deckert, Marsha Knight, Margaret Wilson and Aaron Wood, choreographed Un/Modified.
The winter dance production, “Passage” was presented Dec. 8 through Dec.12. “Passage” featured vertical dance, and was choreographed by Wilson, Wood and Deckert.
Cook is a guest artist for “Un/Modified.”
“I also am very fortunate to have a piece I choreographed in the show. It is titled ‘VIA AIR MAIL’ and is based on a collection of World War II love letters that I have,” Cook said.
Cook bought the letters on eBay and used the correspondence to inspire his work.
“I am fascinated by stories lost to time,” Cook said. “And after reading these letters, I felt it my duty to tell this couple’s story. I have abstracted difference emotions and concepts from the letters into a dance looking at love separated by war.”
Cook said that working on the piece with his dancers was rewarding and that the dancers were able to create their own connections with the piece.
“We felt like we knew these people through their letters,” Cook said. “It is an honor for me to have a piece in a faculty concert, and seeing my piece be produced in its full glory is incredibly exciting and rewarding.”
The piece “VIA AIR MAIL” has been selected for adjudication at the American College Dance Festival, which is being hosted at UW this year.
“I am excited to share the piece and story with as many people as possible,” Cook said.
The other choreographers teach dance classes at UW. Deckert teaches advanced ballet, pointe technique, dance history and modern technique. Knight teaches ballet, composition and historical dance. Wilson teaches modern dance, kinesiology for dance, vertical dance and Pilates and Wood is a temporary assistant lecturer teaching jazz and modern dance.
“Our department is relatively small,” Cook said. “Which allows all of us to be very close knit. We have worked hard on all of the pieces in the show, each cast of each piece feels like a little family as we have gone on the journey of learning each piece together.”
Cook, as well as being a guest choreographer, was cast in the piece “The Winged.” Famous modern dancer José Limón choreographed the piece in 1966.
“The piece is based on the ideas of flight and human desires to fly with influences from birds and winged creatures,” Cook said.
The José Limón Dance Foundation is divided into the Limón Dance Company and the Limón Institute. The Company is described as “this country’s first modern dance repertory company,” while the Institute,
which is based in New York City, “reaches close to 5,000 students and scholars annually through it’s education programs, archival library, and New York City classes and workshops.”
Cook said that a member of Limón’s company, Pablo Fransisco Rubacaba, came from New York City to teach the choreography and the Limón technique.
“The experience working with Pablo on the piece was incredible,” Cook said. “And as a cast we grew together learning the technique and repertory of Limón who was such an influential man in dance history.”
Un/Modified will be presented at the Buchanan Center for the Performing Arts on the Main Stage, this Thursday through Saturday.
