Odyssey Dance Theatre has spent the last two months in rehearsal – not knowing if any Salt Lake Facility would even be open for performances they were planning in March 2021!  And on February 23rd Odyssey was informed that their normal spring season venue, Kingsbury Hall, will remain closed indefinitely – and so it looked like the whole season would have to be cancelled!  Several anxious days followed – until on February 26th it was announced that all the large Salt Lake County Arts facilities would be opened for masked and social distanced audiences starting on March 25th!  “I jumped on this announcement and found that the Capitol Theatre had yet to be booked on that fateful first weekend – so I booked it!!”  says Founder and Artistic Director Derryl  Yeager.  “We are just so grateful the dancers will have a chance to actually perform and show off their talents they have been working on the last few months!  We were ready when the opportunity arose and we Leapt at the Chance to Dance!”

Odyssey, now in its 26th year, will be presenting the acclaimed productions Romeo+Juliet - One Funky Tale and Chicago Nights--back by popular demand for performances at the Janet Quinney Lawson Capitol Theatre, March 25 to 27, 2021.

March 25th & March 27th Matinee

Chicago Nights- a full-length work, directed and produced by Founder and Artistic Director Derryl Yeager, tells the story of Chicago in the 1920’s, when the specter of Prohibition gave rise to Speakeasys, Jazz and Gangsters.    Men and women who brought corruption, racketeering, vice and murder to the headlines of the day. Al Capone meets Roxie Hart! And it all leads up to the most infamous mobster event of all - The St. Valentine’s Day Massacre! Now in its third year, Chicago Nights is a unique show with an intoxicating variety of dance styles, techniques, passions and emotions! A collection of works by some of the most cutting-edge choreographers of the day, from ballet to contemporary, jazz to tap, ballroom to hip-hop, this amazing group of dancers will display not only their technical expertise and amazing versatility, but they will share these amazing stories of the 1920’s Chicago through the tapestry of dance styles available today.

March 26th & March 27th Evening

From the creator of Thriller comes one of Odyssey Dance Theatre's favorite and critically acclaimed full-length pieces of all time! See what the Deseret News said was, “…to die for!” Based on the Shakespearean tale about star-crossed lovers, but in the Odyssey tradition: a hip-hop/latin/contemporary dance version! Choreographed by former Odyssey Principal Eldon Johnson, along with sections by Ashleigh and Ryan Di Lello from “So You Think You Can Dance,” Derryl Yeager and others, Romeo+Juliet is a unique and powerful tour de force. And the audience will get to choose their own ending – whether they live or die!

To buy tickets, go to www.odysseydance.com.

Winner of Best of State in Dance for fifteen years in a row; Best of State of all Arts and Entertainment 2007 and 2015; Best Choreographer 2009 Odyssey Founder and Artistic Director Derryl Yeager; Best Individual Dancer 2010 Former Odyssey Associate Artistic Director/Principal Dancer Eldon Johnson; Best Individual Dancer 2012 Odyssey Associate Artistic Director/Former Principal Dancer Veronica Cabling; Best Individual Dancer 2013 Former Odyssey Principal Dancer Dayna Marshall; and Best Youth Dance Group 2011 and 2012 Odyssey 2, Odyssey Dance Theatre performs to critical acclaim and standing ovations at home and on tour, nationally and internationally, and has been proud to represent Utah on the world’s stage, most notably coinciding with the Beijing Summer Olympics.

Odyssey Dance Theatre is funded, in part, by Zoo, Arts and Parks, and this program, in part, by a Create in Utah, Phase 2 Grant from the Utah State Legislature and the Department of Heritage & Arts/Utah Division of Arts & Museums and a Shop In Utah Grant.

CONTACT: scarlson@energy8media.com