'Moving Bodies' redefines dance

Ohio University's School of Dance and faculty-led professional African dance and music ensemble, Azaguno, has reached across the Atlantic Ocean to create a dance concert that combines European and African contemporary dance.

Featuring the Cathy Sharp Dance Company from Basel, Switzerland, "Moving Bodies: A Euro-African Contemporary Dance Concert" will take the stage at Templeton-Blackburn Alumni Memorial Auditorium at 7:30 p.m., Saturday, Oct. 3.

"With funding for dance absent from public schools it is imperative that university dance programs work diligently to provide exposure to and training in contemporary dance forms, especially of diverse backgrounds, to ensure the position of dance in American cultural tradition," said Assistant Professor of Dance Zelma Badu-Younge.

The Cathy Sharp Dance Ensemble is an international group comprising six dancers from Switzerland, Italy, France, Belgium and Japan. Sharp, a native of Nashville, Tenn., was a soloist with the renowned Basel Ballet in Switzerland for 15 years before co-founding her company in 1991.

Azaguno is directed by Badu-Younge and Associate Professor of Multicultural Music Education Paschal Younge. The group is a colorful and vibrant multi-ethnic ensemble that focuses on research, preservation, education and performance of traditional African music and dance.

The concert is free for OHIO students with a valid ID, $9 for non-OHIO students and $12 for general admission. In addition, a free lecture and demonstration will be presented from 3 to 5 p.m., Friday, Oct. 2, at the Shirley Wimmer Dance Theatre in Putnam Hall and a free children's dance class will be held from 10 a.m. to 12 p.m., Saturday, Oct. 3, at Arts/West on W. State Street.