TORONTO, January 21, 1998 -- The York Dance Ensemble (YDE), York University's dynamic student repertory company, will celebrate its tenth anniversary with a showcase performance at Toronto's Betty Oliphant Theatre on Sunday, February 1.

The concert program will feature new works by noted Montreal choreographers Luc Tremblay and Harold Rheaume.

Tremblay, who took up the artistic directorship of the YDE this season after a ten-year term as artistic director and principal choreographer of the Quebec City company Danse Partout, has created Kabbale especially for the Ensemble. Set to music by John Zorn with costumes by Toronto designer Denis Joffre, Kabbale is a powerful work of almost mathematical precision. Showcasing the wonderful physicality of the Ensemble's young performers, it illuminates the complex interplay between movement and musical form.

Also premiering will be Rheaume's latest work, Fresk. In this highly emotional piece, the YDE's eleven dancers form a sensual human fresco, playing out the fears and hopes of the human journey. Rheaume, who was recently honoured with the Canada Council's Jacqueline Lemieux Prize, choreographed Fresk for the company during his recent artist-in-residency in York University's Dance Department.

Other program highlights will be an excerpt from With the Moon Falling your Eyes, which former Ensemble director and York dance professor Darcey Callison originally choreographed for his own company, Da Collision, and Ariel's Hiatus, a duet by York graduate and YDE alumna Barb Stekly.

Rounding out the program will be works choreographed by two current company members: Tara Lee's trio Action Figures, first seen at fFIDA 1997, and the premiere of Suddenly Out, a dynamic ensemble piece set to an original score by York music student Rob Gurvits.

Established in York University's Dance Department in 1988, the YDE showcases the talents of outstanding student dancers, choreographers, musicians and production crew. The Ensemble's repertory ranges from modern dance classics to original and experimental works created for the company by faculty, gifted students, and guest artists, including many leading Canadian and American choreographers.

The York Dance Ensemble's 10th anniversary performance will take place Sun. Feb. 1 at 7:30 p.m. at the Betty Oliphant Theatre, 404 Jarvis Street, Toronto. Admission is $12, students/seniors $8. Tickets are available at the door or in advance through the Harbourfront Box Office, tel. (416) 973-4000.

For more information, please contact:

Brigitte Kleer
Manager, Public Relations
Faculty of Fine Arts
(416) 736-2100 ext. 77143
email bkleer@yorku.ca