Jazz performance Feb. 22

Tickets go on sale Monday, Jan. 26, for the Savage Jazz Dance Company performance on Feb. 22 at 7 p.m. in the Satellite Student Union

USU Productions, CenterStage, is presenting the performance in celebration of African People's History month.

Savage Jazz Dance company is dedicated to exploring through dance the beauty and complexity of jazz music -the authentic American form.  "The ultimate step for jazz fans and the person who likes both jazz and dance, Savage Jazz Dance Company is the best news in a long time," William Glackin, Sacramento Bee, "the company seems to add a different dimension to the basic experience of dance, which is the pleasure and excitement created when music is made visible in dancers."

Founded in 1992 by Artistic Director, Reginald Ray-Savage, Savage Jazz Dance Company is a convergence of artistic forces, where the energy, improvisation and syncopation of jazz is expressed through athletic, lyrical, and explosive dance. The only all-jazz concert dance company in Northern California (and one of the few in the U.S.), Savage Jazz's repertory includes works to the music of such jazz legends as Miles Davis, Duke Ellington, Dave Brubeck and Charles Mingus, as well as some of the country's best contemporary jazz composers, including long time collaborator and award-winning jazz bassist, Marcus Shelby.

\Savage Jazz Dance Company combines the fundamental movement vocabulary of contemporary dance, jazz dance, Dunham technique and ballet to draw out the complexity of jazz music. This mixing of styles perfectly echoes the fusion of cultural influences, individual improvised expression and classical technique that make up jazz music. Savage Jazz Dance Company and its Artistic Director, Reginald Ray-Savage have been awarded numerous grants and awards for its original and innovative blending of dance and jazz music. Some of these awards include a Creative Works Fund grant (2000) from the Haas Family Fund and a recently awarded three-year Meet The Composer residency to work with Marcus Shelby (2001-2003). Savage Jazz's highly-trained dancers respond to the music in the moment within the framework of the choreography. The dancers and musicians perform with the same sensibilities, reflecting the myriad of moods and styles of jazz music.

Tickets will be on sale at the Information Center in the University Student Union. Ticket prices are Fresno State students, $7 in advance, $10 at the door; 

alumni/staff/faculty/other students, $10 in advance, $15 at the door; and general public $12 in advance, $15 at the door.

For more information, call the USU Information Center at 8-2078.