Director’s Note

Dear Odyssey Patron,

Thank you for joining us one last time for our Final Shut Up & Dance Season!

Cheryl and I will be retiring and closing the doors to Odyssey Dance Theatre at the end of Thriller’s 26th Season this fall. It wasn’t an easy decision, but we are incredibly proud of what we’ve been able to accomplish over the last 28 years.

Though promoting art and making art are both important to me, my main goal in founding Odyssey was to provide a place where Utah talent could pursue a dance career close to home. Over the years, we have employed hundreds of Utah’s amazing dancers, and we are grateful to them for making Odyssey what it is today.

It was challenging to narrow down the works presented, since Odyssey has produced original, innovative works and, to date, has created over 60 original works, including seven full-length productions. We brought back some of Odyssey’s most popular and significant works from the last 28 years, and it will certainly be a dance lover’s buffet, with something for everyone. Although Thriller has remained the bread and butter of the Company, as the Deseret News said, “Odyssey Dance Theatre’s Shut Up and Dance season only proves that it is a company to be taken seriously. Bravo!”

Shut Up and Dance is where the dancers and choreographers get to stretch their artistic muscle and really show off their abilities and different styles in smaller repertoire-style works. We again stress accessibility but we are not afraid to explore more innovative choreographic styles of movement. The title says it all. Dance is an amazing form of expression that doesn’t require manuals and textbooks to understand. It communicates to all and across all boundaries.

Odyssey will return to its roots and restage its Sledgehammer and Let it Be pieces, ones that put Odyssey on the map and remain audience favorites to this day. Recent full-length hits Romeo+Juliet and Chicago Nights round out the program.

The fun aspects of Let it Be will resonate with children who attend, and they will be able to find something to relate to in art. I encourage Utahns of all ages and interests to see Let It Be! The shows are for people who love dance, people who don’t know anything about dance and even people who think they don’t like dance!

Act I of the Sledgehammer program will include the following:

Transitional Illuminations is a unique and moving piece created on Odyssey by Mia Michaels. This piece holds a special place in my heart! Its theme of staying true to yourself is as relevant today as it was when choreographed 20 years ago!

Buen Camino is Veronica Cabling’s wonderful homage to the music and experience she had with her husband, Eymard, as they walked the Camino de Santiago in Europe several years ago. Filled with delightful and meaningful choreography, this was one of my favorite pieces Veronica has done for the Company, and I wanted to see it one last time!

Christian Denice’s amazing choreographic tour de force, Between Disconnect, has won rave reviews all over the world. This work shows off the dancers and their ability to move and express themselves in such a unique and stylish way.

Sledgehammer was one of the first major works I created for Odyssey. A blue-collar rock ballet, it is an ode to the common man that takes the audience on an exciting, touching, heartbreaking and heartwarming journey through everyday life, danced in work jeans and t-shirts to Peter Gabriel classics. I’m so excited to bring this amazing piece back! It was created during a very difficult time in the Company’s Odyssey – and still has great meaning to me – a fitting tribute to Odyssey’s legacy and perseverance!

Thank you for sharing this Odyssey with us and enjoying Shut Up and Dance one last time!

Best wishes,

Derryl

Original Odyssey Dance Theatre Company, 27 years ago!