Just as Cedar City Music Arts Association is celebrating a new decade, Salt Lake City’s Ririe-Woodbury Dance Company is celebrating a grand event in the world of dance. 2010 marks the 100th anniversary of the birth of “National Treasure” Alwin Nikolais. Enjoy the double celebration Tuesday, March 23, at 7:30 p.m. on stage at the Heritage Theater as the Alwin Nikolais Centennial (1910-2010) is presented under the direction of Alberto del Saz. 

Ririe-Woodbury is at the center of the worldwide centennial commemorative of the birth and extensive works of choreographer Nikolais. Festivities began last fall and will span two years and two continents. The U.S. Postal Service has even been petitioned to issue a stamp in his honor. 

Joan Woodbury, managing director, and assistant managing director Jena Woodbury, have worked closely with del Saz from the Nikolais/Louis Foundation for Dance, as well as with alumni from across the globe, to create the most fitting retrospective imaginable. It began last summer in Salt Lake City when the Ririe-Woodbury Company and the Foundation converged to reconstruct a four-ballet suite from Nikolais’ early work entitled “Kaleidoscope.”

Cedar City native Joan Woodbury and Shirley Ririe began dancing together in 1952. These early performances and collaborations became the foundation for what is now an internationally acclaimed modern dance company, having performed in every state in the U.S. as well as the British Isles, Canada, China, Eastern Europe, the Philippines, Puerto Rico, Singapore, South Africa, the Virgin Islands, France, Spain and Italy. The Company was eventually founded in 1964 and has been a part of the CCMA season many times in the past. Rire-Woodbury has always strived to meld creative, innovative modern dance with a variety of choreographic styles. The company’s repertoire ranges from minimalism to multimedia dances. CCMA always looks forward to their arrival because they bring such color and flavor to the season.

Single adult tickets can be purchased for $30. Tickets are $15 for SUU and Iron County School students. For further information and tickets, call the Heritage Theater box office in Cedar City at 865-2882.