Mordine cuts ties to college
After 32 years dance company relocates from Columbia
By Melanie Masserant
Assistant A&E Editor

     Chicago dance icon Shirley Mordine, the innovative artistic director of Mordine & Co. recently relocated her dance company from the Dance Center of Columbia to the Ruth Page Center for the Arts, 1016 N. Dearborn St. Mordine's company had been in residence since the 1969 conception of Columbia's Dance department.

     The contract between Mordine & Co. and the Dance Center not to house the resident company went in effect August 30, 2001. According to Mordine, the company's expired contract with the Dance Center is the sole reason for their move.

     This decision was not made hastily. Mordine decided to move her company when she resigned from her department chair position three years ago and signed an agreement with Columbia's ex-president, John B. Duff, to extend the residency to 2001. Bonnie Brooks replaced Mordine as the department chair.

     Mordine & Co. will benefit from the transfer because they will have their own rehearsal space. For the last several years it has been difficult to rehearse at Columbia due to a vast increase in the number of students enrolled in the Dance department and to the number of courses added to its curriculum.

     Although Mordine and her company members are still instructors in the Dance department and are actively involved with the department's artistic progression, they are enthusiastic about their new residency because it is a professional environment and learning center. The Ruth Page Center of the Arts' renowned reputation in the dance community played a key factor in determining their relocation.

     "I've known the people over there for years," Mordine said. "I hold them in high regard." Mordine & Co. have been searching for a space for three years.

     "After rehearsing there for a while the producing director, Allen Doederlein, and I approached them and proposed that we move there. They were very welcoming to the idea."

     The Dance Center will not replace Mordine & Co. with another resident company this year, according to Dance department Chair Bonnie Brooks. The department will continue to focus on attracting outside artists to the Dance Center.


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