Bodies & Souls at Texas Performing Arts, B. Iden Payne Theatre

Under the direction of Charles O. Anderson, Erica Gionfriddo and Lyn C. Wiltshire, the award-winning dance company, Dance Repertory Theatre, returns to the stage in Bodies & Souls. A celebration of emerging voices and visions of contemporary dance, Bodies & Souls features new works by Alvin Rangel, Johnnie Cruise Mercer and Jun Shen.

About Bodies & Souls guest choreographers

Alvin Rangel
Alvin Rangel earned a bachelor of arts degree from the Interamerican University (Puerto Rico) and a master of fine arts degree in dance from The University of Texas at Austin where he taught ballet, repertory and modern dance technique. He began his professional career performing ballet and jazz in his native Puerto Rico. He is currently a member of the Dance Faculty at California State University, Fullerton (CSUF) where he teaches modern dance, ballet, improvisation and dance composition. Rangel is also a member of Dance Theatre X –an afro-contemporary dance theatre company, founded by Texas Theatre and Dance faculty member, Charles O. Anderson.

For nearly a decade, Rangel performed with the internationally acclaimed Dayton Contemporary Dance Company (DCDC) where he worked with artists including Bill T. Jones, Dwight Rhoden and Kevin Ward. With DCDC, he participated in the PBS documentary entitled Free to Dance and the American Dance Festival’s film Dancing in the Light. Rangel has also performed classical and contemporary ballet repertoire with Ballet Señorial (Ponce, Puerto Rico), Charleston Ballet Theatre, and New England Ballet, among others. Awards include national and international recognition of his project Tango Vesre [Inverted Tango], the Josie Award for Best Male Concert Dancer (2001) and the 2011-2012 Austin Critics’ Table Award for Dance (_Tango Vesre [Inverted Tango]_).