By Uri Sands, TU Dance

Dear Friends,

For me, one of the highlights of this 10th anniversary season has been the chance to collaborate with an artist I have long admired, master wood block print artist Hiroki Morinoue.  The result is a new work, Hikari, which has been commissioned by the Ordway for the upcoming TU Dance 10th anniversary concert, May 10, 2014.

Having been inspired for many years by Morinoue’s abstract vision, I was deeply honored by the opportunity of this Ordway commission to join Hiroki at his studio–a former Kona coffee plantation in Hawaii–where we imagined movement as a dialogue with his forms.

Through discussion and experimentation, we kept coming back to the concept of light as a sort of theme.  We studied the impact of light on translucent black fabric panels, and explored how forms applied in white paint can transform and even disappear as they are lit. Back in St. Paul, I continued this study with dancers in the studio, who brought their own perspectives on light–exploring its impact on body and movement.

For the premiere of Hikari (which is the Japanese word for light) this dialogue now moves to the Ordway stage, featuring 14 large fabric panels created by Mr. Morinoue and his studio artists.  I hope you’ll join us for this one-night-only performance and see how our collaboration ultimately unfolded.

This special anniversary concert also includes Lady, for which Toni and I will join the company in performance; the Minnesota premiere of One (2013), commissioned by Dance St. Louis in honor of Henrietta Lacks and the HeLa cell; and–by special permission–Alvin Ailey’s Twin Cities duet from his legendary The River (1970).   (Reserve your seats for this performance.)

Please plan to join Toni, me, and the company for a post-performance party in The Ordway’s lobby.   We want the chance to thank you personally for supporting TU Dance through our first decade.

With very best wishes, Uri Sands Artistic Director & Choreographer