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Ririe-Woodbury Review

45 Years and still Makin' the Moves!

Ririe-Woodbury Dance Company furthers contemporary dance as an accessible and valued art form. Through our performances and our educational outreach, we raise the standards, deepen the understanding and promote personal connections with contemporary dance.

The Ririe-Woodbury Review is designed to keep those connections with our audience members and supporters strong. Thank you for exceeding our expectations with your interest and support.

We hope that you’ll take a minute to read on and consider making a donation today. Come share in the excitement. Come be inspired!

Click here to download the entire Spring 2008 Ririe-Woodbury Review

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Moving Forward into the Future

There is only one direction that Ririe-Woodbury Dance Company is moving in, and that is forward. The beginning of April, the Board of Trustees announced the appointment of Charlotte Boye-Christensen as Artistic Director and Jena Woodbury as Associate Managing Director.

“We are very excited about these decisions and hope the community will join us in our plans for the future,” says Shirley Ririe, who with Joan Woodbury co-founded Ririe-Woodbury Dance Company in 1964. This will be the first time that a new Artistic Director has been named since the beginning of the Company.

Charlotte has served as Ririe-Woodbury Dance Company Associate Artistic Director since 2002. Since joining the company she has choreographed 18 new works, one accompanied by a Choo San Goh Award. Her most recent work, “Lost” was named as the Best Premiere of 2007 by The Salt Lake Tribune. “There isn’t any difference with what I’m doing with the company now than what I’ve been doing the past six years,” says Charlotte, “The challenge has been, and will always be, to creatively challenge ourselves and the audience.”

Jena Woodbury, also trained as a dancer, will fulfill the responsibility of Associate Managing Director, while continuing her role as Company Touring Manager. Jena Woodbury has worked with the company for approximately 20 years, fulfilling several managerial positions during that time and has been involved in working with the artistic vision and long-range planning. Previously, she worked as company manager for Marcel Marceau in North America and Asia, and for theater and dance companies in Portland, Ore.

Shirley and Joan will remain on the Board of Trustees. Shirley will continue her work with the State Legislature and the Office of Education, while Joan will continue her work with the Nikolais/Louis Project and as Managing Director for an interim period.

Farewell to Part of the Ririe-Woodbury Family

“Completely fluid” and possessing a “clarity of style” are two descriptors of dancer Ai Fujii Nelson who is leaving the Company after 8 seasons. The Japan native is well-known for her larger-than-life image on the outside of the Rose Wagner Performing Arts Center and elsewhere, including Delta Air Lines’ in-flight magazine and the 2002 Olympic Arts Brochure.

Ai’s figure over the years has become somewhat of an icon in the Utah arts community. But it is her sophistication and refinement, according to Artistic Director Charlotte Boye-Christensen, which distinguishes her as a dancer. “She has an amazing ability to make any work her own while still staying true to the choreographer’s intent,” says Boye-Christensen who has worked with Ai since 2002.

“One of my most memorable moments with the company,” says Ai, “was the opportunity to perform at the Theatre de la Ville in Paris.” The diminutive dancer with the winning smile met her husband, landscape architect Aaron Nelson, through the Brazilian band, Jinga Boa, in which they both play. They were married a year ago.

And where do former Ririe-Woodbury dancers go after they retire? Well, for dancers, retirement can be a relative term. Ai teaches dance and she and Aaron are thinking of doing some traveling, maybe checking out the dance scene in Europe as well as New Zealand.

One thing is for sure, when she takes her final R-W bows at the Utah Arts Festival on June 29th more than a few tears will be shed.

The newest member of the Company, Andrea Dispenziere, will be begin performing with the Company this summer.

Click here to download the entire Spring 2008 Ririe-Woodbury Review

make a donation »

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