IF YOU GOWhat: Diavolo Dance Company.When: 7:30 p.m. Tuesday.Where: UTC Fine Arts Center, corner of Vine and Palmetto streets.Admission: $19-$22.Phone: 425-4269.Website: www.diavolo.org.
Bob Boyer thinks audiences will flip for Diavolo Dance Company.
The Los Angeles-based modern acrobatic dance company, founded in 1992, will be featured as part of the University of Tennessee at Chattanooga's Patten Performance series, of which Boyer is director.
"Historically, the goal of the Patten series has been to supplement the performing arts of Chattanooga with a very high-quality, professional series," he said.
The series has established itself as being fairly evenly divided among dance, music and theater performances. According to Boyer, the local audience has shown a particular reverence for contemporary dance performers.
"Dance in particular has a very active and devoted audience in Chattanooga," he said.
He attributes this to the presence of ballet companies such as Chattanooga Ballet and Ballet Tennessee, good programs in schools and a growing interest in contemporary dance.
"All of [these programs] are creating artists and an audience for those artists. When those kids get older, they have an appreciation for contemporary dance."
Diavolo is the largest dance performance they've had on the stage at the UTC Fine Arts Center, he said.
"The size of the props is quite large. There's a lot of acrobatics involved," he said. "They're a very strong contemporary dance company."
He said he expects a performance that will feature "a lot of movement, a lot of acrobatics, a witty presentation. Everybody in that company works to tell a story and make some comment about society today."
According to the company's mission statement: "Through working together, Diavolo dancers explore the challenges of relationships, the absurdities of life and the struggles to maintain our humanity."
In the performance, Boyer said, audiences will have the opportunity to see the result of a collaboration among artistic director, choreographer, dancers and acrobats.
"The students that are in the audience get to take back that experience. It probably provides some inspiration to keep on with the hard work, discipline and training it takes to become a dancer," he said. "It's one of the finest dance offerings we've ever had. The acrobatics adds a dimension we've not had before."