The University of Arizona School of Dance brings its third annual "Student Success Scholarship Series" concert to the 2026 Tucson Desert Song Festival on Thursday, Feb. 19, for the first of five performances through Sunday, Feb. 22.
Don't be surprised if, when you see the ensemble perform "Calling" to close out the concert, you feel like you're watching musical theater, UA Dance Director Duane Cyrus said.
The piece, created by Cyrus with choreography from Cyrus, D. Jerome, Billy James Hawkains III and Christian Paris Blue, has all the feels of a Broadway musical, Cyrus said last week.
"I see this as something that could grow into a larger show, because it has a feeling like a musical," he explained.
UA dancers will join Jerome, a Broadway singer-dancer-actor whoΒ played the Tin Man in "The Wiz" that Broadway in Tucson brought to Centennial Hall in January, as he performs the work's five songs. TheyΒ thread together pivotal chapters in the lives of the creators:
There's Nat King Cole's "Nature Boy" that explores the world of possibility and change through the lens of youth; Dionne Warwick's "Alfie," when the young artist questions love; Sam Cooke's "A Change Is Gonna Come" looks at hope and the resilience of the women in their lives and how historically marginalized communities navigate injustice and survival in the face of change; the gospel hymn "Pressing On the Upward Way" looks at the complicated yet sustaining relationship with faith and spirituality as a compass through uncertainty; and Stevie Wonder's "Higher Ground," celebrating the self-realized man rooted in community and fully present in the world.Β
"It feels like a musical already, like maybe the audience will see that, but our intention is to have that kind of feeling with the five musical numbers that D. (Jerome) will do with our students dancing," Cyrus said.Β
The theme for this year's "Student Success Scholarship Series" show, which raises money to help provide financial assistance for students, is mentorship and community.Β
The performance reunites Cyrus with Jerome and Hawkains, two performers he mentored early in their careers through his Theatre of Movement LLC, a performing and visual arts collective that he formed while he was teaching at the University of North Carolina at Greensboro.
Cyrus met Jerome when he was still in high school and joined the company; he later attended UNC Greensboro and studied under Cyrus.
Hawkains has known Cyrus since 2018, when he arrived at UNC Greensboro as an MFA choreography student and joined Theatre of Movement.
Broadway actor/singer/dancer D. Jerome, center, spent time in Tucson last fall rehearsing "Calling," created by UA School of Dance Director Duane Cyrus, who has known Jerome for years. The work also was created by the dancers, Jerome, Billy James Hawkains III and Christian Blue.Β
While Jerome went on to a career on and off Broadway, Hawkains has forged his path in performance and academia, including as a visiting lecturer at Kennesaw State University in Georgia and at the U of A, where he is an adjunct, teaching choreography and a techniques class, as he helps to restage one of Cyrus's earlier works.
"I call them my dance sons," Cyrus said. "Having them here is important, because they are exemplars of the success of that type of mentorship."
"That's my dance father," Jerome said in an interview in early January. "It's been amazing to work with someone who has such a passion for the arts and for inspiring young men in the Black community, the BIPOC communities. I just feel like it definitely is something that we need."
Billy James Hawkains III, center, works with students dancing in this weekend's third annual "Student Success Scholarship Series" concert. UA Dance Director Duane Cyrus mentored Hawkains earlier in his career.
The community aspect comes from connecting students to the local community and to the dance community. In years past, the event has hosted the legendary ballerina Misty Copeland, tap dancer Maurice Chestnut, the Hubbard Street Dance from Chicago and Ballet Tucson.Β
The concert also features the return of Blue, who graduated with a BFA in dance from the UA in 2020 and went on two years later to dance in the historic performance of Terence Blanchard's opera "Fire Shut Up In My Bones" at the Metropolitan Opera.Β Β
The concert opens with "Three Rooms" and "Infinite-E" featuring UA dancers and premieres of two works: Charlie Macdonald's "Vanitas" and Kefauver Wilson's "Seeking Campground," danced by Wilson.
Pierce Pennington's 2025 work "Hear Me," featuring music by Senking, Bon Iver and AVA, comes before the concert finale "Calling."
Tickets are $42, $36 for seniors and $16.50 for students throughΒ dance.arizona.edu. Performances are at 7 p.m. Thursday and Friday, 1 and 7 p.m. Saturday and 1 p.m. Sunday at Stevie Eller Dance Theatre, 1737 E. University Blvd. in the Ina Gittings Building on the U of A campus.
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