Ottawa — "Carl Sandburg's Prairie!" a pageant of movement, color, music and voice, will be presented at 7:30 pm. today at Ottawa Municipal Auditorium, 301 S. Hickory St.
The work combines the choreography of the Prairie Wind Dancers, a Lawrence-based professional dance company; the poetry of Carl Sandburg; and costume designs by artist John Steuart Curry.
The concert will open with four short works from the Prairie Wind Dancers' repertory, followed by "Prairie!"
The "Prairie!" project was developed during a three-year collaboration involving composer and Kansas native Eugene Friesen, Lawrence visual artist Stan Herd, a variety of national and regional artists and residents of Cowley County. The work premiered in June at PrairieFest near Winfield, with Clayton Crawford as the narrator.
In 1941, Curry, a Kansas native, designed sketches based on Sandburg's poem for a ballet that was never produced. The sketches still exist and the costumes were brought to life by costumer Ione Unruh and theater designer Del Unruh, both of Lawrence. In addition, four masks were created from sketches by Robert Faust.
Members of the Prairie Wind Dancers are Kimber Andrews, Sarah Grunwaldt, J. Damian Houston, Mary Shahrokhi and Jennifer Wilson. Joining the company for "Prairie!" are Ellie Goudie-Averill, Michael Ingle and Jennifer Pierce. The company's artistic director is Candi Baker.
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