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Milestones have a way of stirring up old memories with fresh introspection, and RDT's 50th-anniversary performance "Revel" celebrates artistic ties to the past that remain relevant today and inform the company's future.

That's why RDT artistic director Linda C. Smith, now 75, never fails to acknowledge the "amazing individuals [who] have contributed their creativity, their energy, artistry and expertise to make the company succeed." Yet still the firebrand, Smith also insists that RDT's role in the community is "a valuable voice … to help people become aware, connected and courageous."

Three of the four pieces on the program running Nov. 19-21 are premieres; all four are created by dancemakers with ties to Utah, to RDT and to each other.

A main ingredient in Utah's primordial soup is modern-dance pioneer Virginia Tanner (1915-79), honored in "Revel" with a piece titled "She," choreographed by Jacque Lynn Bell. Tanner is the founder of Children's Dance Theatre, now Tanner Dance, which to this day takes a groundbreaking approach to creative processes for children. "She" features current students alongside RDT alumni, seven of whom are graduates from the Tanner program at the University of Utah.

Also on the program is a premiere by Bill Evans, whose roots run so deep in Utah that it's hard to call him a guest choreographer. His razor-sharp memory infuses his musings with accurate detail, such as his ties with "She" choreographer Bell.

"Oh yes, I've known Jacque for most of her life," said Evans, whose "Crippled Up Blues" also premieres on the program. "I taught Jacque at [Children's Dance Theatre] and then her freshman year at the U. was my first year as an associate professor."

Evans, also 75, grew up in Lehi, left Utah to dance professionally in New York and Chicago, returned to receive an advanced degree in dance from the U. and became a member of the nascent RDT the year after its founding in 1967 by Smith and seven others.

"Linda and I were undergrad students together at the U.," Evans said. "We both studied ballet with Willam Christensen at a time when ballet was in the department of speech and theater and modern dance was in women's phys-ed."

The third premiere on the program is by Claire Porter, who, although a more recent contributor to RDT's repertoire, goes way back with Evans.

"Claire is a brilliant writer; the texts she creates for her pieces are so beautifully crafted and full of insight," Evans said. "The pieces she creates are human and humorous, so people laugh at the same [time] they are moved. A very rare talent."

Many choreographers these days work collaboratively with dancers when setting new work. But Porter's choreography is performative, which requires a new set of vocal skills for the dancers.

"I do work that is both comedic and philosophical, and it also asks the dancers to perform with their voices — they speak — so I think that has been a stretch for them, and a welcome stretch at this junction of 50 years," Porter said.

Stretching the dancers' artistic muscle is what repertory companies do best and so even though the fourth dance on the program is not a world premiere, it is new to Utah and the RDT dancers. Joanie Smith's "Jack" humorously illuminates the classic nursery rhyme with additional verses and even some tumbling.

Evans and Smith met in the 1970s at the University of Maryland when the College Park campus emulated Utah's crossover concept of housing a professional company in its dance department. (RDT broke that tie with the U. in 1992.)

Smith and her late husband, Danial Shapiro, were in the university company when Evans came to set his most well-known work from that era, "For Betty" (1970), dedicated to Elizabeth R. Hayes, first director of Utah's modern-dance department.

Linda Smith isn't at all surprised by this half-century of mind-boggling symbiosis, emphasizing how "many people have shared their memories of how much the RDT experience has meant to them personally and professionally." So, she says, it is fitting that RDT decided to dedicate the 50th-anniversary program to former board members Susan Barrell and Anna Campbell Bliss, and to invite Kay Barrell (Susan's husband and former stage manager) to direct the lighting.

Particularly poignant is Evans' dedication of his premiere to his younger brother, Michael Evans, a highly regarded attorney in Utah's Third District Court who presided over more than 40,000 domestic-relations hearings as court commissioner and served as executive director of the Legal Aid Society of Salt Lake. Michael Evans died in September just eight days after being diagnosed with cancer.

Bill Evans' premiere is performed to live music composed by folklorist Hal Cannon and is a tribute to "the cultural traditions of generations who have worked and lived in the American Southwest."

"Mike knew the history and loved the geography of Utah like no one else," Evans said, promising to make this performance one for the ages. —

Time to 'Revel'

Repertory Dance Theatre's 50th-anniversary season continues with "Revel," an upbeat performance to acknowledge friends and colleagues who have gathered to celebrate the Salt Lake City company's half-century of artistry.

When • Thursday-Saturday, Nov. 19-21, 7:30 p.m.

Where • Rose Wagner Performing Arts Center, 138 W. 300 South, Salt Lake City

Tickets • $15-30; ArtTix