The performance is free and open to the public and will take place in the Annelise Mertz Dance Studio, Mallinckrodt Student Center, Room 207.

Courtesy Photo

Michel Yang will present an informal concert of improvisational works at 7:30 p.m. Feb. 1 in the Annelise Mertz Dance Studio, Mallinckrodt Student Center, Room 207. The 2005-06 Marcus Artist for the Dance Program in the Performing Arts Department in Arts & Sciences, Yang will be in residence with the Dance Program Jan. 27-Feb. 1 to conduct a series of master classes with intermediate and upper-level dance students.

The program will feature one work from Yang's repertory as well as a duet with David Marchant, senior lecturer in dance, and an ensemble piece featuring WUSTL students.

In addition to the performance, Yang will be in residence with the Dance Program Jan. 27-Feb. 1 to conduct a series of master classes with intermediate and upper-level dance students.

Yang earned a special major in dance and dance science from the University in 1995 and a master of fine arts degree in dance from New York University's Tisch School of the Arts in 1997. She teaches contemporary dance at the Yantra Dance Academy in Brussels, Belgium.

Her work frequently involves improvisation and/or performance installations such as decompressed, a piece for two dancers, two inflatable chairs and video. Collaborators include Walter Verdin, Sachiyo Takehashi and Unidentified Flying Arts Company.

Yang has appeared at a number of prestigious dance venues, including New York's Dance Theater Workshop, Danspace Projects, PS122 and Movement Research at the Judson Church, as well as at the Centre Cultural Jacques Franck and DansCentrumJette in Belgium. In 2000, she was featured in the PAD's Dance Close-Up Alumni Celebration concert in Edison Theatre.

Major awards include a 2003 Vlaams Gemeenschapscommissie Dans Subsidie for her piece Waste Paper Basket.

The Marcus Residency is funded by a gift to the Performing Arts Department by Morris D. Marcus, M.D., a dermatologist and professor emeritus in the School of Medicine. Marcus established the annual residency in memory of his wife, Margaret, who was a dancer, teacher and choreographer.

For more information, call 935-5858.