With the same great dancing groups, but with a different twist and a new name, the opening BYU dance show, Evidance, will amaze and inspire audiences September 12-17.

The Deseret News featured an article today about the upcoming performance, “Mandy Patinkin: Dress Casual, with Paul Ford on Piano.” The show will take place at the HFAC in the de Jong Concert Hall on August 31 at 7:30 p.m. and on September 1 at 2:00 p.m. View the full article here.

A limited number of spaces are available for free piano lessons for children ages six to 10 for fall semester. The lessons will be taught by seniors and graduate students who are piano performance majors in the BYU School of Music as part of a supervised teaching pedagogy course.

As part of Westminster College's 42nd annual Classical Greek Theatre Festival, Sophocles’ “Antigone” will be performed at Brigham Young University’s de Jong Concert Hall Monday, Sept. 17, at 5 p.m. A free pre-performance lecture will start at 4 p.m.

Theatre and Media Arts professor Megan S. Jones was honored at the 2012 Annual University Conference with the Alcuin Fellowship. The Alcuin Fellowship award recognizes teacher-scholars who have gone beyond the regular limits of their disciplines and made significant contributions to the general education and honors curriculum.

At the 2012 Annual University Conference, Jeremy N. Grimshaw, professor in the School of Music, was honored with the Young Scholar Award. The Young Scholar Award encourages and acknowledges outstanding promise and contributions by faculty members in the early stages of their academic careers.

The new 2012-2013 BYU Arts Season Brochure is currently being printed for the new school year. Flip through the pages of the pdf online to find out what is happening in the arts over the next year. Open publication

by Marissa Ballantyne

Jeff Martin and Rebecca Ott were honored this morning for their service to the College of Fine Arts and Communications. Dr. Stephen Jones, dean of the college, presented the awards at an impromptu meeting at the dean's office in the Harris Fine Arts Center. Martin, head of BYU Arts Production, was given a five-year service award. Ott works in the dean's office as an administrative assistant. She was presented with a 20-year award. We are thankful for their superb service!

Starting Monday, Aug. 20, the Museum of Art at Brigham Young University will offer a 45-minute tour of the exhibition “Beauty and Belief: Crossing Bridges with the Arts of Islamic Culture” at 1 p.m. each day, Monday through Friday. The tours will run throughout the remainder of the free exhibition, which is scheduled to end Saturday, Sept. 29.

Mandy Patinkin, Emmy Award-winning TV star and Tony Award-winning Broadway legend, will perform “Mandy Patinkin: Dress Casual with Paul Ford on Piano” in a program of popular songs, old favorites and Broadway classics at the de Jong Concert Hall on the Brigham Young University campus Friday, Aug. 31, at 7:30 p.m., and Saturday, Sept. 1, at 2 p.m.

Equipped with an eight-foot trampoline, benches, and mattresses, Contemporary Dance Theatre will travel this summer to India to perform The Rhythm of Life. The show explores the rhythm of the world interpreted through dance and music–from the simple rhythm of a heartbeat to the rhythm of the street. The last group traveled to India in 2001. The company will be performing for audiences in Delhi, Mumbai, Vishakhapatnam, and Goa–to name a few. Members of the company are excited to share the experience of dance with the people in India. “I am most excited to be exposed to a totally new culture,” said group member Kristin Brown. “I can’t wait to dance and share our light with so many amazing people in India. I know I am going to learn so much about myself and be changed for the rest of my life.” One of the dances, “Chakra,” is choreographed by Ivan Pulinkala, originally from New Delhi, India. The dance applies the principles of balance and energy as a metaphor for the human struggle to regain equilibrium in modern society. The word chakra is derived from traditional Indian medicine, which identifies seven energy craters that reside in the human body. The dance requires an eight-foot, wheel-shaped trampoline that rolls across the stage, symbolizing the cycle of life from birth to death. Each of the members of the company has a favorite. For Jeneca Frederiksen that number is “Woman the Pioneer,” a tribute to women of faith and courage everywhere. The dance depicts a woman who has suffered the loss of a child as she travels across the plains with the Mormon pioneers. “The piece shows her grief and sorrow over losing a child and the process of moving forward despite that,” Frederiksen said. “It is a very moving piece, and one that is difficult emotionally to perform and see. But it is by far my favorite.” Although the tour to India is months away, the group practices 12 hours a week. Contemporary dance is a conglomeration of dance genres molded into one. It requires dancers to move their torsos, fly through the air, and communicate through intricate and abstract movements. Logan McGill considers storytelling a key component of contemporary dance. “Contemporary dance is about allowing the audience to become a part of the dancing experience,” McGill said. “It is about the audience and performers giving and taking from each other to create an experience that is fun, emotional, and, most important, unforgettable.” Source: Performing Arts Management