As international choreographer Della Davidson winds up her three-week residency at the University of Utah's modern dance department, she is happy the students still have a love for movement.
"The '70s was the peak of modern dance," Davidson told the Deseret News. "We thought we would go out and conquer the world. Today with the funding for arts in decline, the kids are more realistic about things. But they still have a driving passion to dance. They recognize they are in a difficult field. And it's a real joy to be able to be here."Davidson is no stranger to Salt Lake City. She graduated from the University of Utah in 1976 and started her first dance company, Fairspace. Soon after, she moved to the University of Arizona to attend graduate school in dance theater.
"I actually started dancing when I was 3," Davidson remembered. "I began with ballet. That was always something I wanted to do. When I got older, like in high school, people told me I was too tall for dance (Davidson is nearly 6 feet tall). After high school, I attended Michigan State University and studied anthropology. It was then I decided to step into my first modern dance class."
Though Davidson really wanted to dance and perform, she had her mind set on choreography.
"After Michigan State, I went to New York and studied at the (Alvin) Ailey school," she said. "I also applied to Juilliard and the University of Utah to further my education."
Davidson was accepted at both schools, but since Juilliard had a policy that prevented students from choreographing, she chose the U.
"The U. also had an emphasis on developing individual talent," she said.
In 1989 Davidson received the Isadora Duncan Award for Outstanding Achievement in Choreograpy for her works "Tongues" and "Angels of Clay." She is also the recipient of the 1990 North American Choreographer Award.
Since October 1993, Davidson has been a guest teacher/choreographer at the Laban Centre for Movement and Dance in London.
"Coming back to the U. is a great experience," she said. "For one, it's a real joy to be in such a beautiful building (the Marriot Center for Dance). And it's nice to be in a more intimate atmosphere. In London it's like a conservatory. There are over 300 students I teach . . . and it can get to be a little overwhelming. Here I can focus on certain things and give the students the attention they need."
Davidson is teaching technique as well as choreography. She is currently choreographing a work for the Performing Dance Company's November concert. And though the times and ideas have changed since she last set foot on the U. campus, the quality of dancers is the tightest she's ever seen.
"The (modern dance) department is still a strong department, and there still exists the same caliber of standards. The quality is very high," she says.