Director hopes to engage crowd

New York choreographer Karole Armitage said she had never actually seen the dancers of the Ririe-Woodbury Dance Company until she arrived in Utah to work with them in August.

So deciding what type of dance for the company was a little difficult. However, Armitage had some ideas.

"I decided to use a piece of music that would be appropriate for people that I didn't know," Armitage said during a rehearsal break at the Ririe-Woodbury Dance Company offices. "I'm very happy with the choice. It's a piece of music by Rhys Chatham who made a seminal piece in New York City. It's called 'Guitar Trio.' It is one of the first pieces and made with electric guitars and drums and inspired by punk, but has deep roots in classical music."

The dance, which is still untitled, is "a very intense physical piece and has a visceral rawness that comes with rock," Armitage said. "But it also has just a great complex, almost balletic look to it as well."

There are six dancers in the work which features three duets that is a "provocative look at couples," Armitage said.

"There are also some group sections," she said. "It has come out very well."

Armitage, who was deemed the "Punk Ballerina" by Vanity Fair because of her contemporary angle on ballet, said it took her a couple of years to get the ducks lined up so she could come to Salt Lake City.

"I was so busy and couldn't come until now, but (RWDC artistic director Charlotte Boye-Christensen) said she wanted something that was really challenging for the dancers and pushed them technically. And she wanted something unique and different that brought a new flavor to the company.

"And from what I understand, it has certainly done that."

With all the unknowns, Armitage knew she wanted to come in and work with the dancers.

"I wanted to use a certain kind of music and a certain kind of vocabulary and existential spirit, or way of approaching a world that I knew," she said. "And it's this mix of visceral rock 'n' roll wild spontaneousness with this very controlled, refined balletic side.

"I wanted the dancers to look like they are really having an experience."

From day one, Armitage knew RWDC dancers were open to any idea.

"I could tell they were really brave," she said. "And they were ready to just go and try it. They had no psychological barriers and were just game."