2 Utah troupes bound for Scotland

The Edinburgh International Festival in Scotland is considered one of the world's greatest celebrations of the arts. It has been around since 1947, and every arts organization that has appeared at the festival has been personally invited by the festival director.

So, it must mean something when two of the mere handful of dance companies that were invited to the festival for the next two weeks hail from Salt Lake City.

Both Ballet West and the Ririe-Woodbury Dance Company have accepted their invitations and are gearing up for departure.

Ballet West will leave in two separate groups Monday and Tuesday, and the Ririe-Woodbury Dance Company will soar across the Atlantic on Saturday.

Ballet West will be performing Friday and Saturday, and Aug. 29 and 30. Ririe-Woodbury will perform Sept. 1, 2, 3 and 4.

"This is a wonderful opportunity for our dancers," Joan Woodbury said in her office at the Rose Wagner Performing Arts Center. "This is a once-in-a-lifetime experience for these young, energetic dancers. We are so proud of them."

Woodbury, who along with Shirley Ririe, co-directs the RWDC, has seen a lot of doors open for her dancers in the past year.

In September 2003, the Ririe-Woodbury Dance Company premiered "Alwin Nikolais: A Celebration Tour" in Salt Lake City. The production was comprised of the late Nikolais ground-breaking works — "Noumenon Mobilus," "Blank on Blank," "Crucible," "Tensile Involvement," "Lythic," "Finale" and "Mechanical Organ." Last spring, the company found itself performing this unique program in New York, Italy and France to rave reviews.

And now, Scotland is calling.

"We're thrilled to be invited to Scotland," Ririe said in an earlier interview. "The company is on the brink of doing bigger things."

"We are excited and honored to perform Nik's dances for an international audience in Edinburgh," said Woodbury.

Meanwhile, one Ballet West dancer sees the Edinburgh trip as an opportunity to perform in front of his hometown crowd.

Ross Clark, who was born and raised in Scotland, joined Ballet West this season. And it was only after he was offered a job dancing that artistic director Jonas Kge told him the company was performing in Edinburgh.

"I was very surprised," said Clark during a break before rehearsals in the Capitol Theatre. "My home is only 20 minutes away from the city of Edinburgh."