Retiring Dance Authority Olga Maynard to Be Feted

Dance historian and writer Olga Maynard will be paid tribute through speech and dance at Cypress College on Sunday.

The event, sponsored by the Orange County High School of the Arts, will honor Maynard’s 32 years in the field, including teaching at UC Irvine for 20 years and writing for Dance Magazine since 1957. (Maynard plans to retire from the UCI dance department on July 1.)

Guest speakers will include Willam Christensen, founder and former artistic director of Ballet West in Utah; Gerald Arpino, artistic director of the Joffrey Ballet; Bruce Marks, artistic director of the Boston Ballet; Clayton Garrison, founding dean of the UCI School of Fine Arts and currently head of the music theater program, and choreographer Norbert Vesak.

Repertory will include:

David Allan’s “Villanella” (to music by Respighi), with Veronica Tennant, a former principal dancer with the National Ballet of Canada.

Tomm Ruud’s “Bella di Notte” (Prokofiev), with Wendy Van Dyck and Ruud. Both are principal dancers with the San Francisco Ballet.

Arpino’s “Light Rain” pas de deux, with Joffrey principals Leslie Carothers and Tom Mossbrucker.

Vesak’s “Belong” (synthesized score), with Eveyln Hart, a principal dancer with the Royal Winnipeg Ballet and winner of a 1988 gold medal at the International Ballet Competition in Varna, Bulgaria, and Rex Harrington, a principal with the National Ballet of Canada.

Tudor’s “Sunflowers” (Janacek) will be danced by the UCI-based California Theatre Ballet. Donald Bradburn is artistic director.

Students in the high school’s dance program will participate in two other works.

“A Tribute to Olga Maynard,” sponsored by the Orange County High School of the Arts, will be held at 7:30 p.m. Sunday at the Cypress College Theater, 9200 Valley View St.. Tickets: $20 (includes post-concert reception) and $12. Information: (714) 520-0474 or (213) 429-3084.