Assyrian Women's Mourning Dance

Music: G.I.Gurdjieff/Thomas De Hartmann
Costumes: Paulette Campbell
Choreography: Traditional

According to John Bennett, this Movement was taken from, or inspired by, professional women mourners in Turkmenistan. Whenever somebody died, these dancers gathered and showed, in the gestures of this dance, how the spirit of the deceased had to leave the earthly realm behind and how it could gain access to the spiritual world.

Trembling Dervish

Music: G.I. Gurdjieff/Thomas De Hartmann
Costumes: Paulette Campbell
Choreography: G.I. Gurdjieff

There are numerous interpretations of the meaning of this Gurdjieff movement, portrayed in stunning fashion in the film "Meetings With Remarkable Men" : one being that the trembling dervish dancer moves in uncoordinated motion and so "unlearns" autonomic motion, while the more coordinated dancers are "working" by controlling their autonomic motion. Another is that the "trembling" dervish dancer reaches a state of ecstatic trance while being in the force field of sacred precision. Zikr feels that audiences should come to their own conclusion.

Ho Yah

Music: G.I. Gurdjieff/Thomas De Hartmann
Costumes: Paulette Campbell
Choreography: G.I. Gurdjieff

One of the Gurdjieff "warrior" dervish dances. "Ho Yah" means "Lord God".

Note Values

Music: G.I. Gurdjieff/Thomas De Hartmann
Costumes: Paulette Campbell
Choreography: G.I. Gurdjieff

One of the six "obligatory" exercises created by Gurdjieff in his "early" period, stemming from Gurdjieff's first stage of teaching. These "older" movements were practiced for 5 to 6 hours a day by the whole group of Gurdjieff's pupils from 1918 until the public demonstrations in 1923 and 1924. Of these, a total of 27 are remembered and practiced until this day in authentic lines of transmission reaching back to Gurdjieff. The Six Obligatories belong to this group. They belong to the very first movements Gurdjieff gave as early as 1918 in Tiflis, Georgia. As their name already indicates, each new student had to learn these exercises first before she or he could participate in the regular classes.

Los Penitentes

Music: Francis Poulenc
Costumes: Toni Ware
Choreography: David Taylor

Set to the Concerto for Organ, Strings and Tympani by Francis Poulenc, "Los Penitentes" is a portrayal of the secretive and profoundly religious Spanish Catholic Penitente sects of the American Southwest. The Penitentes are perhaps best known for their ascetic practices, which included self-flagellation in private ceremonies during Lent, and processions during Holy Week which end with the reenactment of Christ's crucifixion on Good Friday.

Parallel and Elevated

Music: Brian Eno
Costumes: Kathy Scoggins
Choreography: David Taylor

"Parallel and Elevated" is a metaphorical depiction of two beings, closely connected psychically and spiritually, existing on two different planes of existence.

Time's Up

Music: Ennio Morricone, Michael Stearns, Joby Talbot
Costumes: Paulette Campbell
Choreography: David Taylor
Om Circle choreography by G.I. Gurdjieff

As man develops and evolves spiritually, as the three "lower bodies" of the physical, emotional and mental are aligned, the soul is then provided the opportunity to manifest in this lifetime. As that occurs, past, present and future become one and linear time exists no more.

Zikr (the Whirling Dervishes)

Music: Harold Budd and Peter Gabriel
Costumes: Charles Rowbotham, sashes by Paulette Campbell
Choreography: David Taylor

The Mevlevi sect was founded in 1273 by the followers of Rumi, the great Sufi spiritual master, saint and poet. The Mevlevi believe in performing their zikr in the form of a dance and music ceremony called the Sema, which involves the whirling from which the order acquired its nickname. The Sema represents the mystical journey of man's spiritual ascent through mind and love to "Perfect". Turning towards the truth, the follower grows through love, deserts his ego, finds the truth and arrives at the "Perfect", which within the context of the whirling, becomes a trance state in communion with the divine. The Sema is practiced in the semahane (ritual hall) according to a precisely prescribed symbolic ritual with the dervishes whirling in a circle around their sheikh, (the Semazen bashi). The dervishes wear a white gown (symbol of death), a wide black cloak (hirka) (symbol of the grave) and a high brown cap (kûlah), symbol of the tombstone.

Sang Hyang Dedari (excerpt from "Bali Agung")

Original Music: Mark MCoin, Mark Fuller and the Denver Gamelan Orchestra
Costumes: Paulette Campbell
Headresses, Masks and Props: George Peters
Choreography: David Taylor

Sanghyang Dedari is a sacred dance of Bali which is used to ward off pestilence. Two pre-pubescent dancers are chosen from all the girls of the village for their psychic aptitudes by the temple priests, to receive the spirit of heavenly nymphs, Dedari Supraba and Tunjung Biru (Blue Lotus). After chanting, singing, music, and prayers, the girls rock back and forth in a trance until they fall. Then the women remove their white skirts, replace them with gilt ones, place holy head-dresses with fresh flowers on their heads and gently lift them to the men's shoulders. They are then carried to the place of the ceremony. Although never having a dancing lesson, the Sanghyangs stand and dance a kind of legong style with their eyes closed as if they were in a dream, their movements in perfect unison. The temperamental Sanghyangs may suddenly decide that the dance is over. Then they must be taken out of trance with more songs and offerings. They distribute the flower from their head-dresses as amulets and sprinkle the crowd with holy water. The ceremony can last for two or three hours.

In Your Eyes

Music: Peter Gabriel
Costumes: Sandra Carlson
Props: Loren Wilder
Choreography: David Taylor

One of David Taylor's most critically acclaimed works, "In Your Eyes" is an uplifting, mesmerizing and full-landscape reflection of Peter Gabriel's inspirational and world-famous tribute to being in the presence of God.

Cham Mandala

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Choreography: David Taylor

Vespers

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Choreography: David Taylor

Apsara

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Choreography: David Taylor

Third Force

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Choreography: David Taylor

Guides

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Choreography: David Taylor

Peter Strand

Peter Strand has danced with the Oakland Ballet, the Minnesota Ballet, the Granite State Ballet in New Hampshire, the Michael Mao Modern Dance Company, Les Ballets Trocaderos de Monte Carlo, the Connecticut Ballet, Pirouettes" International, the Lexington Ballet (KY), and The Quad Cities Ballet. He has also performed as a soloist in Anthony Tudor's Continuo for the Minnesota Ballet, as Sugar Plum Cavalier for Oakland Ballet, as the Prince in Sleeping Beauty for the Granite State Ballet, as Franz in Coppelia for the Lexington Ballet, as the Gold Slave in Scheherazade as a guest artist for the University of Wyoming, and as Don Jose in Carmen for the Quad Cities Ballet to name a few. He is happy to return after eighteen years to David Taylor Dance Theatre as a company member. In addition to his degree at the University of Colorado Peter has attended Colorado College, Loretto Heights College, The National Shakespeare Conservatory, and the Pacific Northwest Ballet School. Most recently he has choreographed Carmen for Opera Theatre of the Rockies, Hot Mikado, Singing in The Rain, La Cage Aux Folles, Damn Yankees, and Nuncrackers for the Colorado Springs Repertory Theatre, The Unsinkable Molly Brown for ActorSingers of Nashua (NH), Romance Romance for Studio Players in Lexington (KY). He has also choreographed and danced in Colorado Springs for Ormao Dance Company and Colorado Youth Ballet and performed in the UCCS Shakespeare Festival's production of Taming of the Shrew as Lucentio. Peter has recently started a new career as a Multimedia designer owning his own company: PSdesignphotography.com., and was able to lend assistance for the design of the poster for the Zikr Dance Ensemble.

Elvira Stewart

Elvira Stewart's formal dance training began at Ballet Arts Boulder under the direction of Barbara Demaree. She has trained with Carol Roderick, The Academy of Colorado Ballet, and with the late Maurice Béjart's, Ecole-Atelier Rudra Béjart, in Lausanne, Switzerland. Elvira has also trained at the summer programs The Harid Conservatory, Boston Ballet, and on merit scholarship at Pacific Northwest Ballet School and The Vail International Dance Festival. Elvira has danced with Colorado Ballet, Béjart Ballet, The Blue Moon Dance Company, Helander Dance Theatre, Delusions of Grandeur, Boulder Ballet, and most recently as a guest artist with David Taylor Dance Theatre (DTDT). Elvira is also becoming a recognized choreographer with works performed in Boulder Ballet and its youth company BB2, in the Dairy Center for the Arts, Artist Series Program, Delusions of Grandeur Productions, and most recently in DTDT's Valentine's Day show, L'Amour (2010). Elvira is a co-founder of the production company "Delusions of Grandeur" that provides performing artists, who would otherwise not have the opportunity, to choreograph and perform their own works while integrating various forms of performance art. Elvira is on the dance faculty of Miller's Dance Studio in Denver, CO. She has a Bachelors degree from the University of Colorado at Boulder graduating Magna Cum Laude in Economics and Psychology.

Danielle Sunseri

Danielle Sunseri is from Ohio, and trained as a competitive swimmer and gymnast before studying classical dance. She studied on scholarship with Pittsburgh Ballet Theatre School Schenley and Graduate Programs, North Carolina School for the Arts, and completed two years in a Dance Performance and Pedagogy Major at Mercyhurst College. After continuing studies in NYC, at the School of Ballet Arizona and the Colorado Ballet Apprentice Program, she danced diverse roles with the Colorado Ballet for two and a half seasons. Some of her favorites include roles in Swan Lake, The Nutcracker, Serenade, Stars & Stripes, and the role of 'The Pioneer Woman' in Martha Graham's Appalachian Spring. She performed modern repertoire with Kim Robards Dance for two seasons, and many and diverse contemporary roles with David Taylor Dance Theatre for four seasons, notably as 'Arabian' in The Nutcracker, 'Fate' in Carmina Burana and ensemble in Equinox. She enjoys dancing as a guest artist, most recently with International Youth Ballet and David Taylor Dance Theatre. Danielle specializes in teaching foundational levels of classical ballet, stretch and conditioning, character dance, and choreography and is a faculty instructor for the Academy of Colorado Ballet South School.

Caitlin Valentine

Caitlin Valentine began training in New Jersey, and later joined Orlando Ballet, directed by Fernando Bujones, where she danced for five seasons, dancing soloist and principal roles such as Cinderella in Cinderella, Lise in La Fille Mal Gardee, Odette/Odile in Swan Lake, Guinevere in Camelo and The Sugarplum Fairy in The Nutcracker, among others. Her honors include the Bronze Medal at the 2003 New York IBC, Dance Magazine's "Top 25 to Watch", and the Jury Award at the 2006 USA IBC. Since joining Colorado Ballet, Ms. Valentine has performed as Clara in The Nutcracker, Pas de Trois in Swan Lake, Hermia and Lead Fairy in A Midsummer Night's Dream, and leading roles in several contemporary works. This is her third season with Colorado Ballet.

Sharon Wehner

Sharon Wehner is from San Jose, California and joined Colorado Ballet in 1995. She trained with Jody White and the San Jose Dance Theater and has danced with Dance Theater Seven, San Jose Dance Theater and San Jose/Cleveland Ballet. She has danced the roles of Odette/Odile in Swan Lake, Juliet in Romeo and Juliet, Mina in Dracula, the principal roles in Rubies and Stars and Stripes, Swanhilda in Coppelia, the Cowgirl in Rodeo, Aurora in The Sleeping Beauty, Giselle in Giselle, Red Couple in Celts and the principal role in Antony Tudor's Leaves Are Fading. Wehner also performed in the Aoyama Ballet Festival and the Golden Ballet Costar and the Vail International Evening of Dance Gala in 2005.