After more than 30 years as the comprehensive dance program coordinator for the Northern Illinois University School of Theatre and Dance, Professor Randall Newsom is retiring.

With its final production of the season, opening Thursday, April 23, the NIU School of Theatre and Dance honors Newsom’s retirement by dedicating the final performance day of Spring Dance Concert 2009 to his long career with the university.

The concert programs include three pieces choreographed by Randall Newsom (“La Vivandiere,” “Paquita” and “down so long it looks like up”), one piece co-choreographed by NIU faculty members Judith Chitwood and Karen Williamson, and one piece choreographed by Paula Frasz, a Geneva native and an NIU professor of dance.

“La Vivandiere” is a one-act ballet about a woman who travels with the French army during the Napoleonic Wars and the two men who pursue her.

The classical ballet “Paquita” tells the story of a Gypsy girl during Napoleon’s occupation of Spain, who saves an officer from execution and as a reward gets to marry the officer, once she discovers the truths of her noble birth.

The dance piece “down so long it looks like up” is a tongue-in-cheek look at the downtrodden, at winos, bag ladies and displaced elderly. Newsom first choreographed the piece in London for the Cycles Modern Dance Group in the early 1970s. His inspiration came from a record he heard while walking through a mall in London. He had found the dress, movements and lives of the homeless people along the way to be interesting and inspirational for the dance movements, clothing and sets for his work.

“With hints of comedy and vaudeville, the piece has been a favorite on the NIU campus over the years,” Newsom said. “It has been done multiple times since 1979. In fact, it is affectionately referred to as “done so much.”

Chitwood and Williamson team up to re-choreograph “With Timbrel and Dance, Praise His Name.” It was originally choreographed by James Truitte as a gospel ballet. Chitwood and Williamson incorporate their choreography using the Horton technique, a major codified modern dance technique reputed to fortify, stretch and strengthen the human body.

Frasz choreographed a piece called “After the Plow,” which draws from African-American culture and highlights the AIDS epidemic in Africa.

Sunday’s performance of the Spring Dance Concert 2009 differs from the Thursday through Saturday programs, and will focus primarily on pieces choreographed by Newsom. It also will feature pieces performed, arranged and choreographed by his former students. Alumni of the NIU School of Theatre and Dance will perform “Sleeping Beauty Pas de Deux” and “Romeo and Juliet Pas de Deux” to commemorate Newsom’s retirement.
           
Spring Dance Concert 2009 runs April 23 through 26 in the Stevens Building O’Connell Theatre on the DeKalb NIU campus, located behind McDonald’s restaurant on West Lincoln Highway (Route 38).  Performances begin at 7:30 p.m. Friday through Saturday, and 2 p.m. Sunday. Tickets cost $14 for adults, $10 for seniors, and $7 for students with an ID, and can be purchased at the Stevens Building box office, or by calling (815) 753-1600 or online at www.niu.edu/theatre.