Guest blogger Danielle Marie Georgiou is a Dance Lecturer at the University of Texas at Arlington where she serves as the Assistant Director of the UT Arlington’s Dance Ensemble. She is also a member of Muscle Memory Dance Theatre – a modern dance collective. Danielle is currently pursuing her Ph.D. in Arts and Humanities at UT Dallas, and her first book, The Politics of State Public Arts Funding, is out now.

Over the weekend, TITAS released it’s line-up for the 2009-2010 season, and many of the dance performers will be familiar to local audiences. Mark Morris, Bill T. Jones, David Parsons and Complexions Contemporary Ballet have all been a part of past TITAS seasons. Although they are TITAS veterans, they will have a new home: the Winspear Opera House at the new Dallas Center for the Performing Arts. It’s nice to see that TITAS is maintaining its mission to bringing fresh and innovative artists to North Texas.

Evening-length works, collaborations between national performers and local artists and live music accompanying some of the dance programs mark the historically oriented season. Among the highlights are:

• The Mark Morris Dance Company will perform V, Morris’ response to the September 11 attacks, among other works. (June 18-19)
• Remember Me, a multimedia collaboration between the Parsons Dance Company and the East Village Opera Company will kick off the season at the McFarlin Auditorium. (Oct. 9-10)
• Complexions Contemporary Ballet will once again delight Dallas audiences with the new work Rise. The company was co-founded by Alvin Ailey alums, dancer Desmond Richardson and choreographer Dwight Rhoden. Bad Boys of Dance founder Rasta Thomas guest stars. (Oct. 29-30)
• The Bill T. Jones-Arnie Zane Dance Company will present Serenade/The Proposition. The first of Jones’ Lincoln-inspired trilogy deals with the nature of history, accompanied by a live trio performing Mozart’s Requiem, “The Battle Hymn of the Republic” and “Dixie.” (Jan. 8-9)
• Up-and-coming choreographer Dominic Walsh and his Houston-based ballet company will perform contemporary ballets to Mozart and the “White Swan” section of Matthew Bourne’s all-male Swan Lake. (March 17-18)

Not only will audiences be able to witness the works of these nationally and internationally renowned dance companies, dancers have the opportunity to take master classes from many of the choreographers. In the past, TITAS has hosted successful workshops with the Parsons Dance Company, and this season holds even more promise. Experienced and beginning dance students have the chance to learn from some of the most inventive choreographers and dancers performing now. If you watch So You Think You Can Dance, you will remember the duet Richardson and Rhoden set on dancers William Wingfield and Katee Shean. It was one of the most memorable dances of the season, YouTube-d thousands of times, and replicated by many. Now dancers might have the chance to learn from the masters themselves. I hope so. I know I’ll be there!