November 14 , 2005

The USA International Ballet Competition (USA IBC) will host Garth Fagan Dance, a world-renowned modern dance company based in Rochester, New York, for a two-day residency June 21-22, 2006. The company’s dancers are well-known for their individuality, unmannered approach and virtuosity. Fagan, the choreographer of Disney’s Broadway show “The Lion King,” founded the company in 1970 and continues to serve as its artistic director.

“Garth Fagan is one of the most respected modern dance artists in the country, and his work is well-known both on Broadway and in the dance industry,” said Sue Lobrano, executive director of the USA IBC. “We are excited to introduce this talented artist and his company to Jackson audiences. Their performance will be a must-see event in the year’s arts calendar.”

On June 21, the renowned troupe will conduct a master class for advanced and professional dancers and a lecture/demonstration, which is open to the public. These activities will culminate in an evening performance to be held June 22.

“We’re looking forward to the various activities we have planned for USA IBC,” said Ruby Lockhart, executive director of Garth Fagan Dance. “We know that wherever the Company performs, audiences will witness the magic that underscores Mr. Fagan’s choreography.”

Garth Fagan Dance, now in its 35 th anniversary season, has mastered a distinctive movement quality rooted in the Fagan Technique, a dance vocabulary and teaching method coined by Fagan when he started the company. The Fagan technique is a deft blend of modern dance, ballet, and African and Caribbean folk traditions, set to a range of eclectic music that functions as a counterpoint to the movement.

The company has performed throughout the United States, Europe, Africa, Asia, the Near and Middle East, South America, New Zealand, Australia and the West Indies. Garth Fagan Dance was chosen to inaugurate the American Center in Paris, France, and has also been featured at Turkey’s Istanbul Festival, Germany’s Internationales Tanzfest N.R.W. and the Festival of Two Worlds in Spoleto, Italy. The company has been cited for its excellence and originality with a New York Governor’s Arts Award and has five winners of Bessie Awards in its ranks. As well, its dancers have performed on the “66 th Annual Academy Awards” and “The Tonight Show with Jay Leno” broadcasts.

Fagan, a native of Jamaica, choreographs for Garth Fagan Dance and also produces commissions for a number of other leading companies, the Dance Theatre of Harlem and Alvin Ailey American Dance Theatre among them. His work on “The Lion King” has garnered critical and popular acclaim, including a 1998 Tony Award for Best Choreography, a 1998 Drama Desk Award, a 1998 Outer Critics Circle Award, a 1998 Astaire Award, a 2000 Laurence Olivier Award and a 2001 Ovation Award. Fagan is a Distinguished University Professor of the State University of New York, and he taught for more than three decades at the State University of New York at Brockport. In 1996, he was one of only 25 Americans recognized as Fulbright 50 th Anniversary Distinguished Fellows. He is also the recipient of a Guggenheim Fellowship and numerous honorary doctorate degrees.

For additional information about the Garth Fagan Dance master class, lecture/demonstration and performance, contact the USA IBC office at 601.355.9853. For tickets to the Garth Fagan Dance performance, or to any USA International Ballet Competition performances, call the box office at 601.973.9249. To learn more about Garth Fagan Dance, visit their web site.