Odyssey Dancers Thrill
The Odyssey Dance Theatre is bringing the Halloween spirit to USU with its Michael Jackson-inspired production of “Thriller.” With dancing zombies and vampires on the hunt, this show has something for everybody said Chyna Smith, a company dancer.
“The show is just so entertaining. It’s funny,” Smith said. “You’ll laugh, you’ll get scared. It’s just two hours of pure entertainment, you’ll go through all the emotions.”
She said “Thriller” appeals to all ages, whether the viewer is a student or senior citizen, because there is such a wide variety of acts.
“The show is basically a series of vignettes of your favorite Halloween characters,” said Derryl Yeager, the founder and artistic director of the Odyssey Dance Theatre. He said there are acts that will provoke laughs and acts that will spook the audience.
Yeager said he started the show 17 years ago after moving to Utah. Back then, when he was preparing to do the company’s first performance, he said he was asked if he wanted to cancel the show due to low ticket sales.
“I felt that there was something special about what we were creating,” he said, regarding why he declined to cancel.
Yeager said he he figured if he was going to go down he wanted to go down in flames.
Fortunately for Odyssey Dance, Yeager said the first-year buzz was so high that it’s brought back the performance every year. The show is now sold out in six different locations throughout the state.
Yeager said “Thriller” is definitely made for the college crowd. “Every time that we come up to USU (tickets) are sold out,” he said. “We love coming up to (USU) because they really, really dig it.”
Eldon Johnson, the primary dancer and associate artistic director of the show, said all of the dancers are actors as well.
Johnson said his favorite part of the process is getting to interact with the audience. He said that is what makes the performance different every time, which makes it so much fun to perform.
He said another reason it’s so fun to perform is that he gets to play a variety of parts.
“There’s a lot of different things that we get to do and different feelings that we get to portray each night,” he said.
Smith said her favorite part of the show is the point duet called “Frankenstein’s Bride.”
“The Frankenstein is hilarious,” she said. “It’s a fun story, and it’s entertaining.”
“(The show is) not just geared to those people that know a lot about dancing,” Johnson said.
Smith said sometimes people think the show is just going to be a dance recital, but they change their minds after they’ve seen the performance for themselves.
“Everyone that comes says, ‘Wow, that was actually really, really good,'” Smith said.
Yeager said patrons can bring dates and feel like they’re showing off their cultural side while enjoying themselves at the same time. He said one of his favorite parts of the show is the fact that people who don’t really know a lot about dancing can still enjoy it.
“The best thing about ‘Thriller’ is that it has every kind of dancing,” she said.
Along with its own performers, the Odyssey Dance Theatre has guest performers who travel with it. The group has singers who perform as well as a step group known as “The Steppin’ Wolfs.”
Yeager said the show has gotten so popular that Odyssey Dance Theatre has two separate companies.
Johnson said “Thriller” has become a big part of the Halloween culture in Utah.
“I think people should definitely come out to the show to get away from their everyday life,” he said.
The performance is Oct. 18 in the Kent Concert Hall. Student tickets purchased in advance are $5 and tickets at the door are $8.
“Those who haven’t seen (the show) should definitely come and check it out to see what all the hype is about,” Smith said. “It will be a fun night.”
– karlee.ulrich@aggiemail.usu.edu
