Ririe-Woodbury's 'Circle Cycle' delights young fans

"CIRCLE CYCLE," the Ririe-Woodbury Dance Company, Capitol Theatre, Jan. 27, additional performances through Jan. 30 (801-355-2787)

SALT LAKE CITY — The dreamlike floating balloon is always a huge hit with the kids when the Ririe-Woodbury Dance Company performs its educational, family oriented repertory program "Circle Cycle."

The balloon appears in the "My Circle Friend" segment, as RWDC dancer T.J. Spaur walks lucidly onto the stage to the electronic score by Jon Scoville.

Spaur's lightweight friend rests on his arm until he tosses it into the air and dances underneath.

Then, with excitement in his eyes, he releases the balloon into the audience and sits back and watches the kids bat the balloon back and forth.

The screams of delight from the children — who were in the audience Wednesday morning — added to the celebratory atmosphere of the performance.

"My Circle Friend," choreographed by Tandy Beal, is one of 11 eye-catching segments in "Circle Cycle."

Hula hoops galore find their way to the stage during Joan Woodbury's "Me and Other Hoops" and "Super Circles." And then there's Jerry Pearson's "Sea Rollers," which has the dancers, dressed in aqua-marnie colors, rolling liquidly across the stage on large multipurpose balls.

Shirley Ririe's "Cycle/Metamorphosis" captures the kinetic lifecycle of a butterfly, and her "Ball Passing" taps into the athletic and gymnastic technique of bouncing, juggling and tossing volleyballs.

More strange and imaginative imagery slithers out from the wings with Woodbury's "Dream Cultures," and more gymnastic cartwheels and somersaults tumble about during "Celestial Circus."

Threading the pieces together is the spry narration by Gigi Arrington, Ririe-Woodbury Dance Company's education director. Arrington's personable interpretations of University of Utah theater professor Xan Johnson's script leads the audience from one piece to the next with joyful diction.

The last time RWDC performed "Circle Cycle" was in 2001, and while some of the script's wording has been updated, the dancing is still fun to watch.

e-mail: scott@desnews.com