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.

With the new season of So You Think You Can Dance hitting the airwaves and coming to our back yard (Oct. 28 at the Nokia Theatre) and the upcoming opening of the AT&T Performing Arts Center, Dallas is prime for an exciting season of ballet, modern and contemporary dance.  It started off with a bang last weekend with the much-anticipated premiere of Bruce Wood’s new work, A Prayer for Mary Catherine, and the 2009 Dance Council Honors. But this week holds even more thrills with performances by the Virsky Ukrainian National Dance Company, the season opener of Texas Ballet Theater and a premiere by Contemporary Dance/Fort Worth.

Virsky Ukrainian National Dance Company; Photo Credit: Columbia Artists Management Inc.

On Saturday and Sunday at 2 p.m., Contemporary Dance/Fort Worth launches its 20th season at the Dallas Museum of Art with the premiere of “A MUSE WAS HERE: musing on artistic inspiration in the MUSEum.” Working in collaboration with photographer Milton Adams, CD/FW choreographer Kerry Kreiman has created a unique performance designed to highlight the universal nature of creative inspiration across cultures and art forms. “The important role of inspiration and creativity in human experience is clear throughout history, and yet, we have little knowledge as to how or why we are inspired to create art or participate in the arts, whether as a creator or audience member,” Kreiman says. The piece features the work of costume designer Crickett Pettigrew, prop designer Michael Pettigrew and percussionist and composer Layne Redmond and explores the idea of transformation in performance and ritual.

The performances are free with admission.