ADT season showcases ten years' growth.

ANCHORAGE--Alaska Dance Theatre, which is set to offer its annual Mobius dance concerts March 25-26 at the Discovery theater, looks very different than when it first appeared in Anchorage ten years ago. The company that began as a one-woman show (Alice Sullivan's) has become a hardworking team with an executive and artistic staff, a board of directors, and professional dancers on contract. Much of ADT's success, however, can be attributed to Sullivan, who was born in Cordova, Alaska, and danced with Duluth Ballet.

Today ADT is the only ballet company in Anchorage with a well established school and both city and state funding. The school, which is twelve years old, enrolls students from all over south-central Alaska.

"We've had a number of critical junctures in the development of ADT," says Sullivan. The first was moving the school from a 24' x 60' army barracks to the Grandview Gardens Cultural Center in 1991. Another big step that year was moving the annual Mobius concerts from a university auditorium to the Alaska Center for the Performing Arts (Anchorage's $72-million performing arts center). Moving again last fall to new studios, ADT has been able to expand its course offerings, to enroll nearly four hundred students, and to provide rehearsal space for visiting companies and opportunities for residencies and workshops.

This year's eclectic season will feature pieces set on ADT by three guest artists who have conducted residencies in Alaska. These include a jazz ballet by Judy Austin, a contemporary ballet by Jeffrey Marc Rockland, and another contemporary ballet choreographed by Israel El Gabriel.

Noelle Rose, artistic associate of ADT, has choreographed two contemporary ballets, one in conjunction with award-winning ballroom dancer Percell St. Thomass.

Modern dance premieres scheduled for the season include a short trio choreographed by Patricia Tipton and an evening-length work by John Recktenwald, both of Anchorage's Noumenon Dance Company. Recktenwald's piece, Robot Gagaku, is set to music by Philip Munger. The sets and costumes, by Alaskan fiber artist Sheila Wyne, draw attention to elements of the local landscape depicted in the music and the dance. One of the main characters of the dance is taken from an Alaskan Native legend. She is Volcano Woman, who lives at the edge of the Aleutian Trench.

Sullivan's contribution to the season, a premiere with the working title Shadows, is a classical ballet danced by the senior company members.

"It is true that in Alaska we have a relatively small group of professional dancers with which to work," says Sullivan. "But the percentage of professional dancers, and the sophistication of the dance audience are really the same here as everywhere. Despite the isolation, our dancers' exposure to Outside dance is impressive; one week they're taking class with the Bella Lewitzky Company, and the next they're working with Dance Theatre of Harlem. Our dancers are talented, confident, and versatile."