Dance Concert to Leave 'Eyes Wide Open'

Westmont’s fall dance concert, “Eyes Wide Open,” breaks from tradition to explore Porter Theatre’s black-box space Nov 21-23 at 8 p.m. Tickets, $10 for general admission; $7 for students, seniors and children, may be purchased at westmont.edu/boxoffice or by calling (805) 565-7140.

Susan Alexander, who co-directs the show with Christina Sanchez, says the performance will be full of surprises. “The faculty and student choreographers are going to bring this unusual space to life in a variety of different ways,” Alexander says. “With the audience seated on three sides, an intimacy will prevail as choreographers present challenging and delightful works ranging from pure movement to dance/theatre pieces.”

Alexander was professor of modern dance at the Paris Conservatory of Music and Dance from 1989-2008 and for the Paris Opera Ballet Company from 1985-2008. A graduate of UC Santa Barbara, Alexander earned a master’s degree in dance at Mills College.

Sanchez, who performs with the Santa Barbara Dance Theatre based at UCSB, has danced and toured throughout Europe, South America and the U.S. with the Alvin Ailey American Dance Theater. She has also performed with Ballet Hispanico of New York, Complexions Contemporary Ballet and Buglisi Foreman Dance.

Both Alexander and Sanchez have been teaching at Westmont since 2011.