Eisenhower Dance Ensemble
Posted by Cristina Almanza-Muro on 2015-02-26

Samford University’s Leslie S. Wright Fine Arts Center Signature Series continues March 3 with Eisenhower Dance Ensemble’s Motown in Motion. Show time is 8:00 p.m.

Tickets start at $15 and are free for Samford students and employees. Non-Samford students can purchase tickets for $10. Tickets can be purchased online or by calling the Samford Arts box office at (205) 726-2853. Box office hours are Monday through Friday, 9 a.m.-5 p.m. Tickets also may be purchased at the box office located in Samford’s Swearingen Hall.

The Eisenhower Dance Ensemble celebrates the music that made Motown famous in a razzle-dazzle evening of music and dance. Under the leadership of artistic director Laurie Eisenhower, Motown in Motion is a “playfully humorous and theatrical event of dance and music” that salutes such legendary artists as The Temptations, Marvin Gaye, Gladys Knight, Smokey Robinson, Michael Jackson, The Supremes and Stevie Wonder.

Eisenhower Dance has spent the last 23 years performing the repertoire of internationally known choreographers, as well as the highly acclaimed work of Eisenhower. Established in Detroit by Eisenhower in 1991, the company presents an annual subscription series and tours internationally. The company has performed works by choreographers David Parsons, Lar Lubovitch, Ron de Jesus, Michael Foley, Gina Patterson, Lauren Edson and Harrison McEldowney, among many others. The company’s mission of collaboration has resulted in performances with the Michigan Opera Theatre, the Great Lakes Chamber Music Festival, the Warren Symphony, the Immigrant Suns, Detroit Chamber Winds & Strings, the Rackham Symphony Choir, the Motor City Lyric Opera and the Toledo Opera. Motown in Motion is the result of several full-evening touring productions produced by the company.

The presentation begins March 1 with a four-day residency involving local dancing communities and a school performance.

“We are very proud to be part of SouthArts Dance Touring Initiative. Their support will allow a lot of Birmingham children to enjoy a dance performance that otherwise they would not be exposed to,” said Cristina M. Almanza, Wright Center director of external relations.

Eisenhower Dance Motown in Motion is part of the Dance Touring Initiative bringing the best in modern dance to the Southeast. The Samford performance is funded in part by a grant from SouthArts in partnership with the National Endowment for the Arts and the Alabama State Council on the Arts. Event sponsors include Weld for Birmingham, Birmingham Mountain Radio, Yelp! Birmingham and Taziki’s Mediterranean Café. Samford University is a partner with Create Birmingham.

 
Samford is a leading Christian university offering undergraduate programs grounded in the liberal arts with an array of nationally recognized graduate and professional schools. Founded in 1841, Samford is the 87th-oldest institution of higher learning in the United States. Samford enrolls 6,101 students from 45 states, Puerto Rico and 16 countries in its 10 academic schools: arts, arts and sciences, business, divinity, education, health professions, law, nursing, pharmacy and public health. Samford fields 17 athletic teams that compete in the tradition-rich Southern Conference and ranks 6th nationally for its Graduation Success Rate among all NCAA Division I schools.