The Spin

Dance by Rachael CarnesPosted on
Eugene Chinese School children’s dance troupe performing at the Asian Celebration.
Eugene Chinese School children’s dance troupe performing at the Asian Celebration. Photo: Melissa Nolledo Photography.

Dance in 2015 is beginning to bloom! The Eugene Ballet Company offers Carmen, a sultry love story set to Bizet’s romantic score. Choreographed in 2007, the piece pulses with the passionate influence of Spanish flamenco and features Danielle Tolmie and her fiancée Mark Tucker in the lead roles. Check out the free “Ballet Insider” conversation with EBC Artistic Director Toni Pimble 45 minutes prior to each performance. Carmen runs Feb. 14-15 at the Hult Center; $28-53.

Annual EBC fundraiser “Table Dances” on Feb. 21 gives ticket holders a chance to wine and dine with EBC dancers. Individual tickets are $125, or $1,000 for a table of ten. And don’t miss the collaboration between EBC and the Eugene Concert Choir when they perform Mozart’s Requiem and a Choral Ballet in memory of dancer Juan Carlos Amy-Cordero Feb. 28 at the Hult; $10-$42.

Ballet Fantastique premiers The Odyssey: The Ballet, created in collaboration with composer and live-looping violinist Cullen Vance. Based on Homer’s epic poem about a war hero’s homeward journey, Ballet Fantastique puts its own narrative spin on the Greek classic Feb. 27 through March 1 at the Hult Center; $29-$49.

The UO Department of Dance presents its annual faculty concert Feb. 12-14 in the UO’s Robinson Theatre. Performance highlights include Light.White. — a new work by New York-based choreographer Michelle Boulé that looks at the “invisible architecture created by movement.” Also on tap are pieces by Steven Chatfield, Brad Garner, Rita Honka, Habib Iddrisu, Walter Kennedy and Shannon Mockli; $5-$10.

LCC presents its Collaborations Dance 2015, Feb. 26-28, featuring pieces by LCC alumni Shannon Knight, Dorene Carroll, Eileen King, Lisa Bradley and LCC Dance faculty Bonnie Simoa, Sarah Nemecek, Anita Sanford and artist-in-residence Heidi Henderson in the Raggozino Performance Hall; $8-$10.

Kudos to the Eugene Youth Ballet for securing funding from the Lane County Cultural Coalition in support of the Northwest Dance Festival 2015, a series of master classes and performances bringing together 150-plus students this spring.

And check out the many dance offerings at this year’s Oregon Asian Celebration, including Chinese lion dancers, hula and dance from Bali, Nepal, Northern India and more Feb. 14-15 at the Lane County Events Center. All performances are included with admission, which is $6 for adults and free for children under 12. For a complete schedule of events, visit asiancelebration.org.