USIU DANCE SHOW HAS COLORS FLYING

U.S. International University intends to live up to its name this weekend by presenting a program of dance and song that draws its inspiration from around the world.

The ambitious “Flying Colors” concert will showcase 60 performers from the School of Performing and Visual Arts. Using a variety-show format, the concert will be held at the USIU-managed Theatre in Old Town at 8 p.m. today, Saturday and Sunday.

“We’re an international university,” said Gordon Hilker, program creative director. “That’s our whole thrust. We’re also making a Mozart orchestra (at USIU) and we already have (representation from) 16 countries. This weekend’s concert was designed to showcase our international orientation.”

Hilker borrowed the title and concept for “Flying Colors” from a global event he conceived for “Expo ‘67” in Montreal.

“I did the production for the festival when I was artistic director there, and I thought it would be kind of fun to do the same thing under the same title here,” Hilker said. “We try to be as international as possible, since we have campuses in Mexico City, Nairobi and England, and this program just seemed so perfect for us.

“It’s visually soft. There’s no scenery. The whole (atmosphere) is created out of colorful drapes. We’re using fabric, just as we did at Expo. The effect of ‘Flying Colors’ comes from the movement of the fabric and the lighting design.”

Among the entertainments to be featured are vibrant folk dances redolent of Eastern European Gypsies (“Grand Tarantella”); ancient Oriental expressions, created by Mi Ran Whang, a 21-year-old Korean graduate student; 1930s-style show dancing, conceived by veteran musical comedy choreographer and USIU professor Jack Tygett, and a mix of modern, jazz, ballet and tap dance.

Guest choreographer Dace Dindonis of the Indianapolis Ballet set “Glinka Divertissement,” an effervescent evocation of Russian classical folk dance, while Elizabeth and Steven Wistrich of Interlochen Center for the Arts in Michigan were on hand to set the “Grand Tarantella.”

The two extremes of the rock ‘n’ roll-based dance spectrum are also represented. Contemporary theater jazz dance, designed by Angela Blackledge, will be contrasted with the lyrical jazz jargon dished out by former Jazz Unlimited dancer Lolly Kyne.

“We have a great many dancers here,” said Hilker, “and our productions haven’t given them many opportunities to dance. We teach many forms of dance--from show dancing and tap to ethnic, including Flamenco and Korean, and this gives us a chance to show them off.

“We have six specialized teachers, and we always bring in visiting choreographers to work with our dance students. There’s a whole range of dance styles that go into show dancing, and we want to expose our students to the work of different choreographers.

“When they graduate, many of them will . . . have to learn to work with a lot of different approaches. We’re not turning out Balanchine dancers. We’re turning out versatile show dancers.”

Tygett, who designed a lively travesty of Hollywood tap-dance motifs for this production, said the dances showcased this weekend will be original, stylistic fusions--not pure forms.

“The objective is to give students from different dance orientations a wider background,” Tygett said. “Most of the material is a joining of styles--not pure ethnic. For example, Mi Ran Whang plans to go back to Korea, and she’s going to blend Eastern and Western forms of dance. In her ‘Crying Out to God’ (one of two pieces by the young choreographer on this weekend’s program), you’ll see a strong modern dance influence and some traditional Oriental posturing.

“This is not a pure Korean (dance work). We want them to go back to their countries with different styles--not with the limited vocabulary they came with.”

The program will include a non-dance interlude of show tunes by Stephen Sondheim as well, to introduce the International Singers of USIU.

“It will make for a change of pace,” Hilker said, “and will give our choral group some exposure. We haven’t shown them to the public yet.”

“Since many of our students are training for musical comedy, they do both (sing and dance),” Tygett added. “So you’ll see them in the dance as well as the musical segments. Our training features all components of musical theater. They need to learn acting, dancing and singing--and we make sure they get everything they need.”

Hilker believes USIU has an accomplished group of “triple threats” (dancers, singers and all-around musical theater performers) to flaunt in “Flying Colors,” and selected the variety-show format to present these emerging artists in their best light.

“This will give them a chance to show their stuff,” Hilker said, “and it will show the community just how versatile we are.”