Tuscaloosa, Ala. – The University of Alabama will present soloist Shouze Ma who will perform with the Alabama Repertory Dance Theatre at Morgan Hall Auditorium on Feb. 22-25. All performances are at 7:30 p.m. in Morgan Auditorium in UA’s Theatre District.

Choreographed by UA faculty members Edith “Edie” Barnes, director of the dance program and professor of theatre and dance, Rita Snyder, assistant director of dance, and Hilary Hodgens-Howard this twice yearly concert features a variety of dance styles. A solo piece performed by acclaimed dancer and choreographer Shouze Ma will be premiered on the Morgan Stage.

Ma is a founding member of Guangdong Modern Dance Company, the first modern dance company in China. He is the director of the dance program and assistant professor at Elon University in North Carolina and is the founder and artistic director of The Visionary Dance Company.

His choreography has earned critical acclaim at dance festivals in France, Korea, Japan, India and the American Student Dance Festival, as well as Beijing and New York. His performance and choreography has been praised to have, “an intensity so strong that it seemed at a breaking point,” by The New York Times.

Barnes is thrilled about Ma’s premier. “It is always a privilege, and a major part of the University’s dance program’s mission, to present world class artists choreographing and performing with our students. There is no better way to learn and master excellence in the art of dance than to experience first hand the premiere of a new work on our Morgan Stage that is performed and choreographed by a true professional in the field,” said Barnes.

The Alabama Repertory Dance Theatre showcases the pre-professional dancers of UA's department of theatre and dance in original works choreographed by faculty members. Founded by Cornelius Carter, the dance company is designed to prepare and enrich dance students for the diverse demands of a professional career. Dancers are admitted to the pre-professional dance company in residence by audition only to study classical, ballet, jazz and modern dance.

For more information please visit www.as.ua.edu/theatre or call 205/348-3400. Tickets may be purchased at the theatre and dance box office located in the lobby of Rowand-Johnson Hall. The ticket office is open noon-5 p.m. Monday through Friday and on the evening of the performance from 6 p.m. to curtain call. Ticket prices are $12 for general admission, $10 for UA faculty and staff and seniors, and $8 for students and children.

The department of Theatre and Dance is located within the College of Arts and Sciences, UA’s largest division and the largest public liberal arts college in the state, with approximately 5,500 undergraduates and 1,000 graduate students. The College has received national recognition for academic excellence, and the College’s students have been selected for many of the nation’s top academic honors, including 13 Rhodes Scholarships, 14 Goldwater Scholarships, seven Truman Scholarships, and 16 memberships on USA Today’s Academic All-American teams.