At the annual Dance Assembly for the BYU campus community in the Marriott Center on October 28, the BYU Department of Dance presented a compilation performance called “Into the Mountains.' This entertaining, uplifting and fun program featured the best of dance art at BYU. The five BYU traveling dance groups: Ballroom Dance Company, Contemporary Dance Theatre, International Folk Dance Ensemble, Living Legends and Theatre Ballet performed highlights from their amazing, internationally-tested repertoire. Each number was selected specifically for this assembly, which was inspired by President Worthen’s Inaugural address to “go to the mountains.”

The Annual Dance Assembly is this Tuesday, October 28, at 11 a.m. in the Marriott Center at Brigham Young University. Five performance companies–The Ballroom Dance Company, Living Legends, Theatre Ballet, The International Folk Dance Ensemble and Contemporary Dance Theatre–will present a variety of performances focused on the theme “Into the Mountains.”

Join us for this fast-paced interdisciplinary exchange of ideas as four of your favorite BYU professors discuss different topics related to our current exhibition CUT! Costume and the Cinema. Each speaker will offer a five-minute talk about their perspectives on costumes, cinema, and the cult of celebrity.

Pilgrimage is an aspect of the human experience that has persisted through time and different cultures. While each journey may have different destination, each pilgrim will be influenced through the experience that they have.This theme is addressed in Movement and Meaning, the sixth exhibition by the Department of Visual Arts’ Faith in Works Committee. Through the works of a diverse group of artists, the purpose and change that their own personal pilgrimage brings is examined. International artists Alinka Echeverria, Beth Krensky, Dane Johansen will be featured.This free exhibitions will be on display from October 2 to October 30 in the B.F. Larsen Gallery. The gallery is open from 6 a.m. to 11 p.m. and is located in the third floor of the Harris Fine Arts Center.View images from the exhibition here.

Mozart’s comic opera recounts a single day of mischief and madness at the palace of Count Almaviva, near Seville, Spain, where acts of flirtation, revenge and mistaken identity abound.Music by Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart. Libretto by Lorenzo Da Ponte. Directed by Lawrence Vincent.

Celebrated Utah fantasy artist James C. Christensen will take center stage at the Marriott Center during BYU Spectacular on October 16-17, at 7:30 p.m., and one of the fanciful creations that first made him famous more than 30 years ago will join him. Tickets are on sale now for the event (BYUTickets.com), which will also feature eight BYU performing groups and is part of the university’s annual Homecoming week activities.

Featuring BYU alum fantasy artist James Christensen, BYU Philharmonic, Men’s Chorus, International Folk Dance Ensemble, Young Ambassadors, Living Legends, Ballroom Dance, Contemporary Dance Theatre, and scenes from the upcoming BYU Music Dance Theatre production of Frank Wildhorn and Jack Murphy’s musical, The Count of Monte Cristo.

The Department of Visual Arts will be split three ways commencing January 1, 2015, ending a two-year process that considered the growing needs of students and faculty, and the development of new curriculum. Stephen Jones, Dean of the College of Fine Arts and Communications, made the announcement Thursday in front of a group of faculty and staff of the college. 'We've got a lot of work to do! I'm excited for you and your students. I'm excited about the opportunities that will ride on the wave of this decision.' Earlier this week the BYU Board of Trustees approved the reconfiguration of the department. Brent Webb, BYU's academic vice president, represented the administration in the meeting and commented, 'It is not often that we create a department at the university.' According to Webb, the Art History program and faculty will move to the Department of Humanities, Classics and Comparative Literature in the College of Humanities. To better reflect the new alignment of disciplines, it has been proposed that the newly configured department name be changed to Comparative Arts and Letters. The remaining Department of Visual Arts be realigned, forming a Department of Design and a Department of Art. The proposed Department of Design will include the Photography, Illustration, Graphic Design, and Animation Programs. The proposed Department of Art will house the Studio Art and Art Education programs. 'We had good faculty putting forth their best efforts,' remarked Linda Reynolds, chair of the Department of Visual Arts who will step down at the end of the year. Reynolds said she communicated the voice of the faculty in thanking Dean Jones for “shepherding and leading a very difficult process.'

A participatory play adapted by Larry and Vivian Snipes Based on a story collected by the Brothers Grimm Directed by Néstor Bravo Goldsmith This tale of a fisherman, an enchanted fish, and three magic wishes taps into the imagination through clever storytelling and audience participation.

Please join us for the premier of Full Circle, a compelling new documentary film that tells the story of how one performance by a BYU dance group 30 years ago would inspire a legacy of future dancers in China.

Thursday, October 9, 20144:00pm-5:50pm260 MOAFather Terrence Dempsey is the Founding Director of the Museum of Contemporary Religious Art (MOCRA) at Saint Louis University in Missouri. He studied art history and religion at the Graduate Theological Union and University of California at Berkeley, he received his Phd in 1991. He has curated nearly sixty exhibitions on religious contemporary art and lectures frequently. For more info on the MOCRA click here.

The artistic director for BYU’s Ballroom Dance Company announced his retirement at the end of the school year after directing the group for 35 years.