This weekend Bill Evans and his dance company saw the curtain fall for the last time.
Evans, a professor of dance at UNM for 16 years, will no longer produce concerts for the Bill Evans Dance Company he formed 30 years ago. Friday and Saturday the company performed "30" at the South Broadway Cultural Center in front of a packed crowd.
"I am just moving on to a new stage in my life," Evans said about his decision to quit producing for the company. "My top priority is writing books about my dance techniques and an autobiography, and I can't do everything."
Through the years Evans has had interesting experiences while working with the nationally known group.
"I helped establish a culture exchange with Mexico in the early '90s," he said. "It was called Dance Across the Border and my company toured to several locations in old Mexico, and several Mexican companies came here."
He also established the University of New Mexico Dance Ensemble, and in 1993 it were selected as the only dance company in the United States to represent the nation at an international festival in Japan.
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"It was a great honor," he said. "I took 15 dance majors, and we had a three-week tour of Japan. We had a wonderful time."
Evans said that throughout the years he has seen the UNM Dance Department change greatly.
"We have developed more and more diversity. Now we have African, Mexican folkloric and hip-hop," he said.
The show featured a combination of contemporary, rhythm tap and jazz dance. Twenty-two performers were involved in five works, all trained by Evans. One piece, titled "Velorio" was a ceremonial dance that Evans created to help a woman he knew whose brother was dying.
"The dance is about helping the woman through the grieving process, so it is very poetic," he said.
Lisa Nevada, a former UNM student and a dancer in the show, said the performance was a mix of emotions for her.
"I feel really good about it. It's been inspiring and challenging working with Bill," she said.
Nevada has worked with Evans for several years and said Evans is unique in style.
"The way in which he works is he studies breathing, really moving from the inside out," she said. "So on stage we are trying to draw people out rather than pulling them in. I try and take that with me everywhere I go."
She said she was saddened by the final performance.
"Going into it, the first thing you think about is that it's never going to be this way again, and so the performance was kind of bittersweet," Nevada said.
She said the group got standing ovations both nights, and she felt the performance was well received.
"It was all just so powerful," she said. "It left me drained and exhausted."
Although Evans is retiring from his company, it doesn't seem as though he will be slowing down anytime soon. He plans to concentrate on his writing and creating a DVD series that documents his choreography. He will also begin working on the sixth annual New Mexico Dance Troupe Jams held in April.
Overall, Evans is happy with everything he has gained from working with his company.
"We started rehearsals for this particular concert in the fall," he said. "To see them on stage last night, it was all very satisfying - seeing young artists open themselves up to positive change and growth."
