The651.com

Enjoy the grace and beauty of dance this weekend as the renowned Zenon Dance Company takes the stage of the O’Shaughnessy to kick off of its 27th season. Yes, 27th! Impressive, right? The modern/jazz dance repertory company is well-revered in the Twin Cities and beyond for its top notch performance value, its inventiveness and its ability to fluidly convey emotion through movement. The program will include a reprise Danny Buraczeski’s “Swing Concerto,” the world premieres of Morgan Thorson’s “Deluxe Edition” and Seán Curran’s “Still Life,” and from the repertory, Wynne Fricke’s “Shape of Wind.”

Famed jazz dancer Danny Buraczeski’s critically acclaimed “Swing Concerto” originally debuted in Minneapolis in ye olde 1993, under Buraczeski’s now-defunct dance company, JAZZDANCE, which folded in 2005 after he accepted a position as Associate Professor in Jazz Dance at Southern Methodist University’s Meadows School of the Arts in Dallas, Texas. Buraczeski has returned once again to his old stomping (or dancing) grounds in Minneapolis to ressurrect this extremely popular dance piece with the help of the talented Zenon Dance Company.

Zenon founder and artistic director, Linda Z. Andrews says “‘Swing Concerto’ is Danny’s signature work, like Paul Taylor’s ‘Esplanade.’ We’re thrilled to be back in the studio working with the nation’s master jazz choreographer and our dear friend. We’re also excited to present this remounted work to new audiences, and to those who remember its lively charms and remarkable interpretation of urban life during the Big Band era.”

Also on task for the season opener is the premiere of modern dance piece “Deluxe Edition” by nationally acclaimed Minneapolis choreographer Morgan Thorson, who recently scored herself a prestigious Guggenheim Fellowship for choreography. An artist who has been called “a powerhouse” by the New York Times, Thorson is most certainly on the “hot” list. Her new piece is based on an “analytical model found in the study of art history,” which is is designed to re-frame the figure of the dancer and evolve the bond between artist and viewer.

Audience and critical fave, NYC-based choreographer Seán Curran will delve into spirituality, faith and religion in his new work “Still Life” created for Zenon. The experimental piece is set to the backdrop of early music by John Cage, and Curran claims that it will be “very different from the other dances I have made for Zenon, more experimental, more political, less music driven and a bit more philosophical perhaps.” Additionally, on May 8th and 9th, Zenon Dance Company premieres yet another new work by Curran in concert with the Minnesota Boychoir, “Songs of Sanctuary,” performed at the Ordway Center for the Performing Arts.

Zenon Dance Company’s 27th Spring Season will premiere at the O’Shaughnessy Auditorium at The College of St. Catherine this weekend Friday, April 30th and May 1st at 8pm, with a Sunday matinee performance at 2pm on May 2nd. Tickets are $27 Adult, $25 Groups of ten or more, $25 O’Shaughnessy Season Sampler, $16 Students (with valid ID) and Children under 12. For Tickets call the O’Shaughnessy box office at 651.690.6700, or TicketMaster

For more info on this weekend’s Season premiere and Zenon Dance Company in general, visit www.zenondance.org. 800.745.3000.