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Swing, Irish, Jazz: Dance this weekend at Britt will have audiences smiling This weekend the Britt Dance Festival will cover several styles of dance. At 8 p.m. Friday, Aug. 22 the festival begins with Richard Jessup's new company's first effort, the Broadway musical, "Swing!" Jessup's company features an all-Rogue Valley cast and crew and will offer one of the country's first productions of the Tony-winning hit. At 8 p.m. on Saturday, The Trinity Irish Dance Company explodes the idea of Irish dance with their ground-breaking new take on the revered tradition of Irish step dancing. At 8:30 p.m. Sunday, Gus Giordano Jazz Dance Chicago takes another tradition - jazz dance - which the company has practiced for 40 years and reinvigorates it with extraordinary performers and stunning choreography. Swing! Friday, August 22 8 p.m. For Richard Jessup, who is producing Friday night's production "Swing!" which opens the Britt Dance Festival, the best part of the work was seeing the constant smiles. "It's impossible to dance to this music without smiling," he says. "People really love dancing to this music." "Swing!"opened on Broadway in 2000, was nominated for six Tony Awards and won the Tony for best music. The show, a revue, bridges the era from the later 1930s to today, celebrating the music and dance phenomenon that swept the nation in the '30s and '40s and has returned to become one of today's hottest trends. The all-singing, all-dancing evening features a mix of new and classic songs and over 30 tour de force dance numbers - some comic, some romantic, some nostalgic, some sexy. "Swing!" features a quartet of well-know Rogue Valley singers whose vocal performances tell the story through the show, accompanied by the dynamic sound of a live hot 8-piece neo-swing band. More than a dance revue, Swing! crosses ethnic and cultural barriers, highlighting an eclectic mix of jive, Latin swing, West Coast swing, hip-hop swing and country western swing styles. Six dancers handle most of the choreography and then three swing couples demonstrate each of the swing styles: West Coast Swing, smoother, sophisticated style, the jitterbug, Lindy hop, jumps and East Coast Swing, which bridges the two, with lots of tucks and turns. Jessup is thrilled to be presenting this dance form at the Britt Festival. "This is the perfect place for the show. Great seating and a perfect place for the audience." It's a show sure to send the audience home in a thoroughly happy mood. Trinity Irish Dance Company 8 p.m. Saturday, Aug. 23 For many Americans the wildly popular appearance of "Riverdance" on public television was their first experience of Irish step dancing. The long rows of colorfully-dressed, tightly-choreographed young dancers created a new, powerful and compelling image - and it was ethnic! Behind the flash of Michael Flatley's show was the strong tradition of Irish step-dancing and the solid training of Trinity Academy of Irish Dance, founded by Mark Howard. Over the years Howard has become well known for crossing dance and cultural boundaries in important ways. The Trinity Irish Dance Company quickly dispels whatever notions you may have about Irish dance. Founded in 1990 by Artistic Director Howard as a means of providing professional career opportunities to students who formerly had no outlet for their dance training beyond the competitive circuit, this innovative nonprofit company is constantly searching for original means of expression while maintaining a high regard for old traditions. Trinity, a uniquely Irish-American company, was the birthplace of progressive Irish dance, which opened new avenues of artistic expression that led to commercial productions such as Riverdance. Over the past decade the company has collaborated with many noted contemporary choreographers, which has led to an increased vocabulary of movement and the development of a new genre of dance. The company's unique form of dance conveys the ancient and modern American experience of the Irish people through movement and specially commissioned live music. The Company has toured internationally, and has been invited guests for dignitaries as varied as the royal family in Monaco, Irish and American Presidents. Trinity holds a unique place in the dance world, offering both a highly skilled presentation of progressive Irish step dance and a brilliantly engaging interpretation of contemporary world vision. Gus Giordano Jazz Dance Chicago 8 p.m. Sunday, Aug. 24 Gus Giordano Jazz Dance Chicago celebrates 40 years of bringing the excitement of American jazz dancing to audiences in countries around the world. Founded in 1962 as Dance Incorporated Chicago, the principal dancers were Gus Giordano, Ronald Colton, Gary Kaplan, Mort Kessler, Rita Rojas and Judith Scott. In 1968, the Soviet Union's critically acclaimed Bolshoi Ballet traveled the U.S. for a series of performances. A special performance was arranged for them, leading to the Bolshoi dancers inviting the jazz dance company to tour the Soviet Union. This focus on jazz dance led to a new name-Gus Giordano Jazz Dance Chicago-and its current mission to develop and preserve the indigenous American art form of jazz dance. Since then Gus Giordano Jazz Dance Chicago has brought the excitement of American jazz dancing to audiences in countries around the world - including Germany, France, Italy, Switzerland, Russia, the Bahamas, Brazil, Canada, Japan, and throughout the United States. The company serves as host performing company at each summer's Jazz Dance World Congress - 1996 at the Kennedy Center in Washington, 1997 in Wiesbaden, Germany, 1998 Phoenix, Arizona, 1999 and 2000 Buffalo, New York, and in 2001 Monterrey, Mexico. Gus Giordano Jazz Dance Chicago has a very active outreach and education program, including school performances in the Chicago metropolitan area, a residency with the Chicago Park District, and teaching residences on many college campuses. In describing the philosophy of contemporary art projects, Ann Barzel has written, "The jazz dance of Gus Giordano expresses feelings, portrays emotions, confronts problems, analyzes ideas in the tempo of today. It is accessible. In the exhilaration of its presentations, it mirrors the freedom that we like to think is the American way." LINKS: REVELS: Main | Calendar | Dining | Movies | T.V. DAILY TIDINGS: Main | Sports | Business | Obituaries | Opinion | Columnists | AP News | Subscribe | Archives | Weather | Classifieds | Contact Us | Privacy Copyright 2003 Ashland Daily Tidings 541.482.3456. 1661 Siskiyou Blvd., Ashland, OR 97520. Ottaway Newspapers, Inc. - Advertisers -