Local competition to feature performers from around the world

NORMAN — One day while working out at the gym, Russ Tall Chief had an epiphany of sorts.

"I was watching a marathon of ‘So You Think You Can Dance,'” the Jacobson House Native Art Center executive director said. "I thought, ‘We could do this.'”

Tall Chief made a call to the University of Oklahoma School of Dance, and plans began for a dance competition that would celebrate the diversity of dance from around the world.

The first International Dance Competition, sponsored by Jacobson House and the OU School of Music, will begin at 7 p.m. Saturday at Catlett Music Center's Sharp Concert Hall, 500 W Boyd St.

"If you think about it, there's a dance competition every time there is a powwow,” Tall Chief said. "We decided to open our arms a little wider and embrace the cultures of the rest of the world.”

The competition will feature American Indian dancers, as well as dancers from Asia, Africa, Europe and North, Central and South America, including flamenco dancers from Mexico and Spain, and a group from France that will combine folk and techno to reflect both contemporary and traditional dances of France, Tall Chief said.

"The competition encourages dance that is distinct to traditional cultural expression, as well as contemporary dance that reflects innovation, evolution and interpretation of cultural expression,” he said. "There also is a Russian group that will be doing very classical Russian dance steps, and a group from Nepal has a very endearing narrative with their performance about courting rituals that are universal to us all. It's going to be diverse and a lot of fun.”

Before each dance, a "cultural ambassador” will introduce the dance, offering a brief cultural context for the dance to enhance the audience's understanding and appreciation of the piece as a cultural expression, Tall Chief said.

"We'll also be going around to audience members after each dance and getting feedback from them,” he said. "We hope people will have a lot of fun with it.”

Making the contest even more interactive, audience members will determine who wins the competition. With each ticket, each audience members receives a ballot along with their performance program. Upon completion of the performances, audience members will mark their ballots and hand them to an usher.

"The ballots will be compiled and tabulated during intermission, at which time the audience may enjoy refreshments in the lobby,” Tall Chief said.

The second half of the evening, which will be after the intermission, is noncompetitive. Belly dancer Kathleen Redwine, a lecturer in the OU School of Dance, will perform, and members of the OU dance company Oklahoma Festival Ballet will perform a new version of Igor Stravinsky's "The Soldier's Tale” choreographed by Tall Chief's wife, Holly Tall Chief, who is a ballet lecturer with the OU School of Dance.

The music for "The Soldier's Tale” will be performed live by the newly formed Red Rock Chamber Orchestra.

After the performances, the winner of the competition will be announced.

"I'm really interested to see what kinds of innovations people are going to bring to traditional cultural dance,” Russ Tall Chief said.

"We're trying to build cultural dialogue. We're interested in seeing what comes of this, and hopefully it will be something we can continue annually.”